The ALI Blog
Announcing the New Humanists Podcast
We’re excited to announce that the Ancient Language Institute has launched a brand-new podcast: New Humanists. Jonathan Roberts and Ryan Hammill founded ALI in order
“Whether Speaking in Latin Is a Worthwhile Pursuit for Latin Learners?” Thomas Aquinas’ Forgotten Quaestio
Editor’s Note: While surreptitiously rooting around in the Vatican Archives, an employee of one of those organizations that opposes spoken Latin and the principles of
What Are the Romance Languages? (And Are They Actually “Romantic”?)
The Romance languages: We love to learn them. Even as other languages rise in global significance, French, Spanish, and Italian remain among the most popular
Classical Schools Are Not Really Classical
In an exquisite passage about language learning, C. S. Lewis recounts his early forays into Ionic Greek, taught by the legendary William Kirkpatrick (a.k.a. “The
What Is the Difference Between Koine Greek and Attic Greek?
Do Attic Greek and Koine Greek represent different eras, different dialects, or something else entirely? More importantly, which one should you learn? In this article,
How Long Does It Take to Learn a Language?
One reason many people never master a language is that they simply don’t put in the time. Language acquisition happens gradually, and it takes many
How We Teach Ancient Languages
Imagine being able to read 1,000 pages of riveting myths, epics, and novellas—in an ancient language. Now imagine doing this in an introductory language course.
Is Latin a Dead Language?
No, Latin is not dead. It’s not that your teachers deliberately lied to you – they simply repeated a widely circulated claim they’d also heard
When Did Latin Die?
People often say that Latin is a dead language. So why bother learning it? But what does it mean for a language to be dead,
How Old is Latin?
You have probably heard someone call Latin a “dead language.” There was a time, however, when Latin was very much alive and young. While students