Award-Winning Latin Courses & Classes in Chicago, IL

Whether you are just someone that loves learning new languages, find yourself studying Latin at the University of Chicago, or are a student enrolling in Latin at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School or Jones College Prep High School, Varsity Tutors is here to provide you with the required building blocks for learning Latin through a Chicago Latin course. Perhaps you don't learn well in a conventional classroom with traditional curriculums, or perhaps you just want a supplement to your studies. Learning another language is a difficult thing to do, but you could improve your Latin skills when you utilize the guidance and resources that an online course can provide.

It doesn't matter if you already know some Latin or if you are just starting to dive into the language; it is important either way to get some practice in communicating through speech and through the written word. A Chicago Latin course can provide this necessity as well as give you access to an expert Latin teacher who can help you brush up on your skills or learn new ones.

Latin is a precursor to the Romance languages, which include Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, French, and Spanish. Out of the Germanic languages, English is the one that is most heavily influenced by Latin, and you will find a lot of similar words.

By the beginning of the Roman Empire, there were two types of Latin that were spoken: Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin. Classical Latin was known for being an elegant and formal tongue that modeled much of its style, grammar, and vocabulary after Greek. Vulgar Latin is the more popular form of Latin still spoken. During the Roman Empire, both colonists and soldiers used it. Vulgar Latin uses more prepositions than the classical version, does not put as much emphasis on inflection, and relies more on word order within a sentence.

By the seventeenth century, society had already begun to change. European vernacular languages including English, French, and Italian had become much more developed and were considered Classical languages. This decreased the need to know Latin, and by the nineteenth century, the use of it was mostly overshadowed by other languages. It still remains the official language of the Roman Catholic Church and is used in Vatican City.

Enrolling in a Chicago Latin class can help you achieve any personal goals you have that pertain to learning Latin, whether that involves learning more of the language to help pass a class, or because you want to be able to read Latin literature, such as poetry or prose.

What kind of material will be taught in a Chicago Latin course?

There are a lot of English words that come from Latin, which can make it an easier language for native English speakers to pick up. Indeed, a lot of English words are nearly identical to those in Latin. Some examples of words that are very similar include "persuadeo" for "I persuade", "adulescens" for "a young man, youth, or adolescent", and "finis" for "finish or end".

When speaking Latin, the ending of a word is critical to knowing how the various words in a sentence will relate to one another. Particularly, verbs and the subject which carries out the action are highly dependent on understanding the inflection given at the end of a word. Latin does not usually have need of a pronoun.

This can seem quite complex to a native English speaker because in English, it is word order rather than word ending that determines what subject is involved in the action. Consider the sentence "the lion eats the mouse" and how in English, you know that the lion is the one that is eating the mouse because of the word order. If you disrupt the word order to say "the mouse eats the lion", the meaning becomes very different. In Latin, you must always pay attention to the ending of a word to determine the meaning of a sentence. While this may sound very complex, your Latin instructor will be able to help you make sense out of this with plenty of discussions and practice.

You will learn much more in your Latin class, such as the way nouns have a gender that is either masculine, feminine, or neuter. You will learn how adjectives will agree with the described noun in both gender and number. This is true even if the word is singular or plural.

During your course, common phrases will be taught, essential vocabulary will be learned, and reading in Latin will be encouraged. Pronunciation is taught, though obtaining an authentic Latin accent is mostly unnecessary since it is considered to be a "dead" language. Your instructor will be there for you when things get difficult and will help guide you through the grammatical rules, the sentence structure, and more.

How does a Chicago Latin course help me learn?

A Chicago Latin class takes place in an interactive, online classroom that is taught by an experienced Latin instructor. You will have opportunities to regularly practice your Latin with the instructor, by yourself, or with your classmates. If you run into any difficulties, you can try asking another student for help. That way, both of you are learning more.

If you still continue to face challenges in learning a particular part of Latin, your teacher may be able to offer you some reserved one-on-one time. This personalized instruction can help you with topics that are more difficult.

The courses begin on a rolling monthly basis, so you won't have to wait long to get started learning Latin. You can also learn at multiple points during the day, including the weekends and at night. Since it is an online course, you don't have to worry about commuting to a certain place at a certain time each day or week.

How can I begin enrollment?

If you are ready to learn Latin, no matter your reason, and no matter your skill level, you can contact Varsity Tutors to begin. We can provide you with some necessary information. This includes knowing when a Chicago Latin class begins, how you can get enrolled, what classes are currently offered, and more details about what topics the class will be teaching. With the aid of an expert Latin teacher and the different language learning resources that the class will offer, you could begin to make headway in learning Latin.