I have just uploaded the content for the second year of the course for those intending to sit the exam in 2026, 2027 and 2028. The old content is still available and should be used if you are sitting the exam in 2025. If I tweak any of the lessons I will give notice of the fact on this blog page. I am about to start work on preparing the material for the third year for the 2026-8 syllabus which I hope to have uploaded and ready for use by September 2025 at the latest.
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I am now preparing the lessons for the new IGCSE syllabus for exams in 2026-8. Those taking the exam in 2024 and 2025 should continue with the lessons (years two and three) that are currently on the website. Those taking the exam in 2026 can still use the first year's lessons on the website as these are unaffected by the syllabus changes. I hope, God willing, to have the new lessons up on the web so that those using the first year this year can proceed to the new second year in September 2024. Please pray that I will have clarity of thought, time and the necessary resources to hand to tackle the task. The new syllabus remains current until 2028.
The new syllabus has, as expected, a new selection of set texts. These are: Virgil's Aeneid Book 11, lines 532–596, lines 648–698 and lines 768–831. Sallust, Cateline 53, 6 and 54 Pliny, Convalescence of a Sick Slave. Tacitus, Annals XIV, 3–5. The last three are all contained in Two Centuries of Roman Prose, edited by. E C Kennedy and A R Davis (Bristol Classical Press or Bloomsbury Publishing). If you are doing this course you do not need to buy copies of the set text as I will be presenting the actual texts in the lessons and also uploading them with basic translation as sets of flashcards on Quizlet. (Relevant links will be provided in the lessons.) The Roman authors selected for set texts always provide plenty of opportunities for Christian reflection, through contrasting the behaviour of Roman deities with Biblical morality, by tracing the origins of wrong ideas in modern society and thought back to their roots in pagan philosophy or by considering the re-emergence of pagan practices in post Christian society. The new set texts present a wider opportunity for thinking about such things than any selection of texts that have been set since I began the website. I'm sure nothing was further from their minds than the teaching of Biblical morality but this year the exam board has excelled itself. The lines chosen from Virgil's Aeneid present the life and death of Camilla, an Amazon warrior and servant of Diana the huntress goddess. I'm pretty sure they have been deliberately chosen to allow even Latin lessons to be hijacked for the presentation, in schools across the world, of fashionable themes such as lesbianism and gender fluidity. I say this not because there is actually anything in what Virgil wrote here that concerns such topics but because, unlike most of the Aeneid, these lines can be manipulated – and have been manipulated – to do this. You only have to look at the abstract for this scholarly article, for instance, to see what I mean. My feeling is that if you are going to mess about with the Aeneid at this level you can make it support almost any crackpot idea. You will be pleased to know that it is perfectly possible to study these lines in depth without giving a thought to such perversions, as people have done for hundreds of years, and that is what we will be doing. However, as I said earlier it is too good an opportunity to miss. I will therefore prepare some additional notes for parents that can be used or adapted at their discretion. As a bonus the Pliny extract resonates well with Luke 7:1-10 and the Tacitus extract was set in 2005 so there is a past paper available that we can use to help prepare. God is Good! In checking through the second year recently I have discovered a number of broken links. I have started to restore these. If you come across a broken link anywhere or notice that I've restored an incorrect page, please email me at once and I'll restore the link.
The new syllabus for exams in 2026, 2027 and 2028 is now available. Those working on the second and third year of the course on this website are unaffected as they will be sitting the current syllabus exams in 2024 and 2025. Those working through the first year of the three year course offered on this website will be taking the new syllabus exam in 2026. The first year's course remains unaffected. I will be re writing the second and third years to bring them in line with the new set texts prescribed in the syllabus. I aim to have at least the second year available by next September. Please remember me in your prayers as I undertake the writing of lessons for the new set texts. It is quite a big task and very time consuming.
Please note: there seems to be a problem with the postal service at the moment. Some customers have waited over three weeks for Mothers' Companion flashdrives to reach them after I posted them off. If you are thinking of ordering a flashdrive to use with the course please be aware of this. If you need your flashdrive urgently I can post it recorded delivery but will have to charge the extra postage.
The papers from the June 2023 exam are now available. If you are doing the course and would like to see them contact me and I'll send you a link/copies.
Here is a home educated youngster from the USA who will inspire you to work hard at your Latin.
I often get asked about the importance of correct pronunciation. Why does it matter how you say it? – after all no one speaks Latin nowadays! Who knows how the Romans said it?
In one sense I suppose it does not matter how you say Latin words, although if you ever want to talk to another Latin enthusiast about the subject it might be difficult if you didn't say the words the same way. Imagine the situation for instance if you decided to take your Latin to undergraduate level and you arrived at university to find you were saying it differently to everyone else... rather embarrassing! For the purposes of IGCSE it is important to adopt a standard pronunciation. Firstly it is important when you come to the “scansion question” in the exam. Scansion can to a certain extent be worked out by rules and I do teach the rules in the course when we come to deal with the scansion question. However the aim of the rules is to enable you to read the lines with the correct scansion. That involves correct distinction between long and short syllables. The effect of Virgil's poetry often depends on the sound of the line which may not be correct if you are not saying the words “properly”. The course uses Latin Without Tears on the Mothers' Companion flashdrive as a textbook partly for this reason. The flashdrive includes audio as well as pdf files and everything is read out for you. That means that when you come to chant out your nouns, verbs etc. you will be doing it correctly automatically. Unless you have someone helping you who can pronounce Latin make sure you use the audio on the flashdrive. I was taught a slightly non-standard way of pronouncing Latin (sometimes called parochial Latin) where the most noticeable difference is that the letter v is pronounced as we say it in English not as a “w” sound. This is reflected in the method used on the Mothers' Companion. This makes no difference to scansion but you should be aware that many people will say Weni widi wici.... I have now uploaded the new syllabus materials for year 3. The set works have changed for exams beginning in 2023. The current set works remain in force until the end of 2022. Please refer to the syllabus for details. Complete resources for both syllabuses will remain available here on Classics for Christians until the current syllabus expires when I will remove the out of date material to avoid confusion. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy the lessons. Please let me know if you spot any errors or have any quesitons.
Just to let you know that I have updated almost all the Aeneid lessons on the Year 2 (2023-5 syllabus) page. The updates are mainly to do with Virgil's use of language.
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