Level
Middle School & Lycée
At this level, the subject is optional (Latin or Chinese).
Language of tuition: English or French
Curriculum
Syllabus: Cambridge Method
Textbook references
Sixième
Cambridge Latin Course, Book 1, Fourth Edition
Cinquième
Cambridge Latin Course, Book 2, Fourth Edition
Quatrième
Cambridge Latin Course, Book 3, Fourth Edition
Troisième / Seconde
Cambridge Latin Course, Book 4, Fourth Edition
Timetabling
Three 45 minutes periods per week.
Course Objectives
To provide pupils with a livelier way of learning the language and to ensure better vocabulary acquisition.
Teaching strategies
To approach Latin as a modern foreign language by favouring the use of the language rather than its analysis and by relying on the progression – both an empirical as well as intelligent one – of the Cambridge method.
The first book centres on daily life in Pompei and on the tragedy of the sunken city. The dramatisation of this incident makes it easier to hold the pupils’ attention.
The second book explores the various provinces of the Roman Empire, each with their own specificities.
The third book looks at life in Roman Britain and investigates religion, cities, travel and communication, and the Roman army.
The fourth book focuses on imperial Rome, looking at key features of the city itself as well as various aspects of Roman life, including social structure, architecture, religious beliefs and entertainment.
Characters from the first book appear in the subsequent books again, making it easier for pupils to relate to their stories.
Multimedia Teaching Aids
The Books I & II E-Learning Resources offer video documentaries, dramatisations, interactive activities, language exercises, and print items and audio for all stories.
The Cambridge School Classics Project website offers a wide range of online e-learning resources for Books 3 & 4.
Assessment
Diagnostic: N/A
Formative: never confine the pupils in a guilt-based relationship with learning but give new impetus to their hesitations, their questions and potential mistakes so that once these have been analysed they can become a source of progression.
Summative: regularly, every three or four weeks but nurtured by a summative approach as each test can be the subject of a rewriting so as to create a confidence building environment for the pupils.
Suggested Learning Strategies
Autonomous use of the study book.
Average weekly home study time
30 minutes per week.
