Module CLAS1072: Beginners' Greek 1

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS1072: Beginners' Greek 1

Type	Open	Level	1	Credits	40	Availability	Available in 2024/2025	Module Cap		Location	Durham

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Beginners' Latin 1.

Aims

• To offer intensive language training at beginners' level.
• The course is designed to introduce the students to all main aspects of Ancient Greek morphology and syntax, and to equip them with the skills needed to read and interpret texts in the original languages.

Content

• This module provides an intensive, challenging and exciting introduction to the ancient Greek language.
• At the end of the course, students will have learned Greek morphology and syntax and will be ready to read ancient Greek texts in the original.
• The classes will focus on all the main aspects of the Greek language, starting from morphology and moving on to the main syntactical constructions of the Greek language.
• The course also draws attention to the ways in which knowledge of Greek enhances our understanding of ancient Greek culture: the meaning and etymology of words, the challenges of translation, the oddness of English, as well as Greek, will all be discussed, in an effort to understand the ancient Greek language and culture.

Learning Outcomes

• A knowledge of ancient Greek morphology and syntax sufficient to enable the student to begin reading continuous texts in the original language.

• An ability to reduce lexical items in ancient Greek to their dictionary form, to identify the main syntactical constructions in the language, and so to construe passages of text in Greek with the aid of a dictionary; an ability to interpret such passages accompanied by a selection of translations.

• A basic ability to break down an Indo-European language into its component elements and structures, and to see how those elements and structures together contribute to meaningful utterance.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Interactive and frequent language classes will be offered as the most appropriate and effective way of teaching an ancient language at beginners' level.
• Students will learn through regular preparation for the classes, short tests, and interaction with the teacher and each other in the process of learning.
• The course will be assessed through two exam papers, which will be designed to test the topics and questions addressed in the classes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total/Hours
Language classes	88	4 per week	1 hour	88
Preparation and Reading				312
Total				400

Summative Assessment

Examination 100% (two-hour paper 1 50%, two-hour paper 2 50%).

Component: Examination		Component Weighting: 100%
Element	Length / duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Written Examination 1	2 hours	50%	Yes
Written Examination 2	2 hours	50%	Yes

Formative Assessment:

Homework in the form of weekly language exercises. Formative tests in class. No collections.

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■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University