Latin
Cogito ergo sum
I think therefore I am
Latin tuition for learners of all ages, online or in person: curious beginners, adults returning to the language, and students working towards an exam.
Lessons are one-to-one and shaped around what you want to learn. We can explore the language and the ancient world for pleasure, build confidence with grammar and translation, or prepare carefully for GCSE.
Teaching Latin can seem a little odd to some, perhaps anachronistic, elitist or irrelevant. I firmly believe the opposite is true.
Latin can have a valuable place in learning at any age. Its value stretches beyond learning an ancient language: it gives learners a different way to understand words, notice patterns and think carefully.
English and modern languages
Latin helps learners grasp grammar and syntax, and builds their vocabulary. Consider contemporary and temporary, from the Latin root temp, meaning “time”; ambiguous and ambidextrous, from ambi, meaning “both”; or dictate, dictator and contradict, from dict, meaning “to say”. Even contra means “against”.
Learning roots can help us work out unfamiliar English words and understand what we read. It also gives them useful connections when learning French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Romanian.
Even maths…
Mathematics is also a language: a logical one that asks us to pay attention to systems and detail, and to think in an orderly way. Latin offers another opportunity to practise that kind of careful reasoning.
Latin and computer programming
Every Latin sentence is a little like a code to be decoded. Translation asks a learner to work out core meanings, identify patterns, test possible solutions and assemble the parts into a whole. It can feel like solving a jigsaw.
Coding languages change, but the habit of organising your thoughts and working through a problem step by step remains useful.
Science, medicine and law
Latin supplies roots for much of the specialised vocabulary of science and medicine, and appears in legal language too. Recognising those roots can make unfamiliar terms easier to understand. In any new subject, getting to grips with the vocabulary is an important first step.
Learning Latin your way
I have experienced particular joy in studying Latin with my neurodivergent students. The volume of vocabulary, complex grammar and memorisation can be challenging. Yet many learners also excel at pattern recognition, logical thinking and detailed analysis, all of which can help them make sense of Latin.
In online lessons I can use shared texts, visual aids, on-screen games and quizzes; in every setting I use mnemonic devices, flexible pacing and different ways of checking understanding. The aim is to find an approach that works for the individual learner.