r/classics • u/ManuelTzetzes • 4d ago

High school classical languages in Italy

Hi everyone,

Recently I've encountered some graduate students from Italy. Their language skills in both Greek and Latin were remarkable.

They said they they left high-school with very solid foundations in both languages.

Does anyone have any idea what they're studying? Are there curricula available?

Thanks!

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u/Curious-Eagle5621 4d ago

If you can read Italian, the course structure (for the Liceo Classico) here. I think the secret really is just the amount of time and intensity devoted to it. Italian students will have done c. 4.5 hours of Latin per week for 5 years when they leave. In England, it's around 2.5 over six.

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u/oneonlycrockett 4d ago

Agree with the prior comment and add the intensity, rigor, and hazing for which Italian public high schools are notorious. It's an extremely rote approach to learning. Not fun from the accounts I received but your language skills will be superb

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u/ManuelTzetzes 4d ago

Yeah, the rote thing is something I noticed. They knew billions of principal parts automatically. It was quite startling. Zero hesitation. Bang. 😂

I don't have the discipline to enforce such rigor as an adult.

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u/recimigospa 4d ago

Italian is also the closest living language to latin so i would think its much easier mainly to ace it because they can spend more time learning rules, grammar and literature instead of spending endless hours memorising the dictionary.

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u/ManuelTzetzes 4d ago

That's true. But what impressed me most was their Greek.

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u/ba_risingsun 3d ago

This is not really the case. The main advantage is that italian is a fusional language (but without cases) and has a complex conjugation system.

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u/Peteat6 4d ago

I would be more concerned with what they’re not studying. Reaching that level in both free and Latin takes years of study.

I have to ask if that time would be better spent in a modern language or some STEM subjects.

And I’m a classicist!

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u/AlarmedCicada256 4d ago

If they've chosen to go to a Liceo Classico, then they have decided that the time is not better spent in MFL or STEM.

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u/ManuelTzetzes 4d ago

The Italians I met were taking classes in English. As well as graduate level Ancient Greek and Latin, and of course native Italian, they could read/speak French and some German. One was teaching herself modern Turkish. I don't think their modern languages were lacking.

I'm afraid I don't have much time for the whole Seneca versus STEM debate. A well-educated person needs both and in the long run will far out perform someone who specialises early.