Via Prima Latin

Entry requirements

The deadline to apply is - Friday 17 January 2025

There are no specific academic entry requirements to apply for this course, but you will need to be age 18 or older to study this course.

Months of entry

February

Course content

Have you ever wanted to learn some Latin? Via prima, which means 'first road', is our short course for complete beginners. You'll explore the language of the ancient Romans, taught by a Latin and Classics expert.

You don't need to have studied a language before or have any academic background at all. All you'll need is enthusiasm and to spare six hours a week to give Latin a go. After completing this course, you'll develop a confident understanding of the basics of Latin.

Why study this course?

Via Prima will get you working actively with Latin from the first day on the course.

You'll begin by exploring how Latin was written and pronounced, how its sentences communicate their meaning through ‘inflection’, and some basic terms for talking about grammar and syntax. You'll also learn about the most common kinds of noun (‘declensions’) and verb (‘conjugations’), and start to think critically about translation choices. The course was developed for our University by Ruth Taylor-Briggs, a specialist Latin language instructor. During the course you'll work through the opening chapters of Henry Cullen and John Taylor’s Latin to GCSE (2016).

• Distance learning: access teaching from anywhere in the world and cover bite size topics each week
• Based around an affordable and acclaimed modern textbook, Latin to GCSE (2016)
• Regular contact with a Birmingham academic and ancient languages expert to support your progress
• Understand the foundations of Latin, the language at the heart of historic European culture and the basis of many languages we use today

Course delivery

Every week you'll watch explanatory videos that get you ready to work with Latin to GCSE yourself and submit written exercises for feedback. There will also be a regularly timetabled discussion hour with the module tutor.

A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.