The summer school offers courses in Ancient Greek at all levels, from complete beginners to those who have just taken A-level. Whatever stage you are at, there will be a group that is right for you.
Whether you are a complete beginner, an A-level student or studying Greek at university, all our courses aim to help you make progress in your Greek. The summer school doesn’t offer revision courses, and you should expect to be learning new material (alongside consolidation of any previous Greek) throughout the course.
Students are placed in teaching groups of 7-10, with other students at the same level as far as possible. Our tutors are experienced teachers from schools and universities.
Our courses are intensive; you will have just over 3 hours of classes most days and be expected to do at least as much independent work between classes. The course requires a lot of hard work, with big rewards, and the vast majority of our students find their time at the summer school hugely enjoyable and stimulating.
We are firmly committed to providing financial support to anyone who needs it, so your financial situation should not be a barrier to you attending the course. We have generous bursary funds which can cover up to the full cost of the course, and we can provide support to help with other expenses too. Please see the Bursaries page for more details and contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
For those with no experience of Greek at all, beyond recognising the alphabet
For those not yet at GCSE standard who are unable to tackle unadapted Greek
For those of GCSE standard or beyond, who are already reading Ancient Greek texts
Beginners use the JACT course Reading Greek (copies are provided by the summer school). By the end of the course, beginners will have covered enough Greek to allow them to read some short unadapted passages in their groups, probably including some Homer and/or an extract of Greek Tragedy. The course introduces you to a lot of new Greek knowledge, and to get the full benefit you will need to consolidate your learning after the course ends.
There are a range of groups to cater for students who are more advanced than beginner level, but have not yet had the chance to learn Greek to GCSE level. Intermediate groups use either Reading Greek or Taylor’s Greek to GCSE course, starting at a point appropriate to the group level. Classes consolidate and build up students’ linguistic knowledge during the fortnight, and most intermediate groups go on to read unadapted Greek, using books such as the World of Heroes or The Intellectual Revolution, or other texts (all resources are provided by the summer school). Generally, all intermediate groups will have read some substantial passages of texts by the end of the course.
Students with Greek to GCSE level or beyond are placed in advanced groups, ranging between those who have just taken GCSE to those who have completed A-level. These groups normally aim to read three texts: a book of Homer, a tragedy and a prose text (texts with commentaries and vocabulary lists will be provided by the summer school). The texts will be chosen by the group’s tutor. We aim to avoid texts that students have already read, as well as texts set for GCSE and A-level, to ensure that advanced students have the opportunity to progress in their Greek reading. Likewise, if students hold a university offer, we aim not to read texts set by those universities at the summer school.
The reading classes provide a very different experience from the intensive study of set texts that most students are familiar with from their schools – please be prepared for this. Literary critical appreciation of the texts will of course play a part, but the primary focus of the course is building linguistic confidence and reading fluency. Historical, cultural, aesthetic and philosophical exploration of texts and Greek culture is offered by our series of lectures and seminars.
Inevitably, reading texts entails learning some new grammar, and consolidating existing grammar knowledge. Advanced classes will teach and consolidate this new grammar, but the primary focus of the advanced course is on reading texts throughout. The voluntary grammar clinics organised outside of class time offer students further opportunities to discuss specific grammar issues with a tutor.
Intermediate and Advanced students will also have the opportunity, if they wish, to take part in a rehearsed reading or performance of a Greek Tragedy (in Greek) at the end of the course in Bryanston school’s open-air theatre.
