ANCIENT LATIN

Salvete Amici! – Greetings Friends!

This is how Marcus Cicero would have greeted and welcomed you. With these words I would like to greet and invite you to find out more about the Latin language and our offering at the University of Pretoria.

Latin is a classical language - the language which authors like Cicero, Vergil, Caesar, Horace and Ovid used when they wrote their masterpieces.

But Latin also became the language of science and played such an important role in the formation of scientific vocabularies in a variety of disciplines: not only Law, but also Medicine, Biology, Theology, et cetera. It was the language of scholarship and it established a scientific language which is still used today.

The words university, faculty, humanities, professor, doctor, lecturer, student, library and campus all derive from Latin and there are thousands of other English words in all the different disciplines which come from Latin, like jurisprudence. Some of them, like philosophy and psychology, come from Greek while others are hybrid forms, which have Greek and Latin stems, like sociology, criminology and political sciences.

The STUDY of ANCIENT LANGUAGES and especially Latin offers inter alia:

  • Critical reading and writing skills: indispensable for professionals, language and law practitioners, politicians, preachers and professors.

One thing which all students need is good language skills.

  • Insight in the grammar and syntax of ancient and modern languages – which provides an excellent basis for learning other foreign languages, especially French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

In the first year (LAT 110 and 120) we do the basic Latin grammar. We use the Oxford Latin Course and we learn Latin by reading Latin. Within the first week you’ll be able to read a short paragraph in Latin. Each chapter has also a section on the historical and social background, which introduces you to the culture, the history, the religion, the daily life, in short, the world of the Ancient Romans.

Latin is for those students who want to do something extra to equip themselves better for their professional career. Small groups ensure that you’ll receive individual attention.

Please come and attend the first class if you are interested in taking LAT 110.

Curate ut valeatis! – Take care and be well!

First year Course Codes: LAT 110 & LAT 120

For more information, please contact Dr Koos Kritzinger ([email protected])

   

- Author Dr Koos Kritzinger

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