Itinera
Θεριναὶ Διατριβαί - Greek summer school 5th-19th August 2023
Θεριναὶ Διατριβαί - Greek summer school 5th-19th August 2023
Whatever your current level of Ancient Greek, whether beginner or already advanced, this trip offers you the opportunity for immense growth in fluency.
We will stay at the beautiful Candili Estate, which has been welcoming guests since it was bought by a relative of Lord Byron in 1832. Situated just outside the village of Prokopi on the island of Euboea, the estate is about two hours north of Athens by car; other nearby airports include Volos and Skiathos. Accommodation will be in rooms of two, three or four.
You will spend the majority of each day speaking ancient Greek with each other and with your instructors. After breakfast there will be an optional grammar session in mixed groups, followed by focused study in classes organised by level of Greek fluency; in the afternoons there will be an hour dedicated to silent study, with teachers on hand to answer any questions, followed by a seminar-type class in mixed groups. In the evenings, after dinner, the whole group will come together for optional activities such as music, singing and games. While your morning sessions will always be with the same instructor and the same classmates, following a structured course with clear progression from the first day to the last, the afternoon seminars and evening activities will be led by different instructors each day, allowing you to interact with other students and teachers while experiencing different genres and styles of ancient Greek prose and poetry and participating in open, guided conversation.
One day each week, classes will be replaced by a field trip. On the other days, you will have time off immediately after lunch to do as you like, e.g. relax in one of the hammocks slung between various trees, cool down in one of the two pools, read in the shade, or explore the nearby village. The morning grammar sessions, silent study hour, and evening activities are all optional, and the middle Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday will be free from scheduled classes.
The estate is beautiful, peaceful, and secluded, the food is excellent, and the clear night skies are perfect for star-gazing. Full board for the entirety of the two weeks is included in the course price.
The best route to rapid language acquisition is full immersion, so we will encourage the use of ancient Greek as the only language spoken for the duration of the course, including on the field trips.
Academic excellence
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The course will be organised and run by the highly experienced Oxford Latinitas Greek teaching team.
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Pre-course diagnostic: one of the team will have a short 1:1 call with each applicant to ensure that everyone is placed in the right group, and to answer any questions about the curriculum.
Price and payment schedule
The price of this two-week course will be £2,500, including accommodation, full board, instruction, materials and field trips. A non-refundable deposit of £500 is payable at the time of application, with the balance payable by the middle of July.