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| A-Level Latin & GCSE Latin
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Remember that scene from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”? “…OK, OK, besides the roads, the system of Government, Sanitation, Personal Safety, Language, Culture, and the rule of Law. What have the Romans ever done for us?”
If you want to develop qualities of perseverance and determination, then Latin can help you along the way.
More than 52% of our language, as well as the names of the 206 bones in your body, come from Latin, so to start with, there’s the thrill of finding out where and why these words are still being used. Why is someone ‘honest’? What is ‘probity’? For what reason do we call someone ‘avaricious’? There, what I’ve just done is very ‘Latin’, I’ve grouped a statement in a ‘three’. Maybe in English you’ve heard about the ‘power of three’. Why did Tony Blair say his priority was “Education, Education¸ Education”? Latin will help you understand why.
OK, to learn to read Julius Caesar’s actual words (we still have them!) takes a bit of an apprenticeship, but once you’ve learnt about the all important ‘terminations’ of words that determine their meaning – and there are loads of modern languages that still do this today, such as German, Greek and Russian – the Latin world is your oyster. Seize the opportunity to read some of the greatest poetry ever written – and what is more 2000 years old.
Be amazed by how many modern day writers would be nowhere without the knowledge of the ancient poets. Read about those mad and bad Roman Emperors. And, it’s not only literature and history that you will come across; any Classical subject is a full curriculum, including Geography, Science, Technology, and even the History of Sport as well as a large dose of Mythology.
Finally Latin teaches you to analyse and to think logically. Who needs a course in Critical Thinking? Paul Getty, the oil billionaire, only employed people with degrees in Latin and Greek in executive and management positions, for he realised that they had the power of clear thinking and of clear communication. Furthermore, they had the ability to see through something complicated swiftly and boil it down to its essentials.
To study Latin from scratch at GCSE can be done over two years, and will demand great determination and hard work, but will be fun and very rewarding. The main reason why it needs two years, is that you study some literature for the examination as well as the language. The board is helpful though, in that they provide a vocabulary list of about 350 words, and guarantee that any word that’s not on the list will be ‘glossed’ (i.e. its meaning given) on the examination paper. So if you’ve learnt the list carefully, you will be fine.
To take AS, demands previous knowledge of Latin, for it is only a one year course. We study more authors and talk about how elegantly the Latin is constructed, for a Roman writer practically bit off the top of his stylus to hit the right note. Once again, there is a helpfully supplied vocabulary list from the board; around 1000 words this time, but with the same guarantee. In addition to translation, there are two set books to be studied; the examination assesses whether you can translate short passages of Latin from the book or books studied. You are also asked to comment on the content and the historical and mythological background of a book as well as the effectiveness of the writing.
You also get a choice of essays about general themes connected with the books you have studied.
At A2 the student develops these same skills to a higher level, and the examination culminates in two literature papers as before (in genres not met previously at AS). In addition your translation and comprehension skills are tested in a Latin story slightly adapted from a Roman author and in poetry. This sounds daunting, but you have a whole year to prepare. These comprehension skills come along with practice, so you work through many past papers to reach peak performance.
Since 2009, it is possible to mix and match modules of study from A. Level Latin, Greek, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History, and come out with a qualification in ‘Classics’. Obviously your choice would be determined by your personal interests and previous knowledge.
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GCSE - OCR
A-level - OCR |
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