Pedagogy

Why the Grammar-Translation Method Does Not Work (And What Does)

I’d like you to picture a young student sitting in a classroom. The subject is Introductory Spanish. On the blackboard is written the name of the teacher and the agenda for today’s class: “Pop quiz”.  Our teacher stands at the head of the class and calls on each student in turn.  “Michael, answer question 14.”  […]

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How to Escape the Hyperclassical Trap

From its outset, the modern classical education movement has been primarily conceived as a reaction against the powerful progressive forces that shape our current educational landscape. Many of the foundational philosophical books in classical education begin with a chapter titled something like “Our Education Crisis” or “The Loss of Learning” or “The Failure of Modern

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The Future of Classical Education: A Symposium

Many people have already noted that the coronavirus outbreak accelerated a variety of trends already occurring in the United States, and nowhere is this clearer than in education. With school-age children and college students alike consigned to Zoom School, parents and students improvised—both out of necessity, and out of the openness to change that necessity

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“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 the natural approach (which we mention here), discovered a forgotten quaestio of none other than Thomas Aquinas, defending the use of conversational Latin contra the Grammar-Translation Method’s dogmatic adherents. Fearing

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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 Great Knock”). Lewis narrates what it was like to “cross the Rubicon” from incomprehension to fluency:      We opened our books at Iliad, Book I. Without a word of introduction Knock

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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, we will trace the development of Ancient Greek, clear up a few misconceptions, and explain how our approach to language learning equips our students to enjoy Greek literature from any

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