Pretty much every year, at around this time, I advertise the JACT Durham Greek and Latin Summer School – so this post will come as no surprise to anyone!
I was 17 when I first went to the Durham Summer School. I was just about to start a degree course at Newcastle University, which was called ‘Latin (with Greek)’. It was the ‘(with Greek)’ part that had me worried. I’d been lucky enough to take up Latin at the age of 12, so by the time I went to university I was fairly comfortable with reading Tacitus, Horace, Ovid and all the other Big Names. But Greek was… well, it was all Greek to me.
I heard about the Summer School through my school Latin teacher, Alan Beale, who went on to become a Summer School institution himself. He encouraged me to attend. I wasn’t keen – in fact I was completely terrified!
But it turned out to be an excellent experience. I learned an awful lot of Greek there (to put it in context, it took us six months in my first year of university to cover the material we got through in one week of summer school!), and that gave me confidence. I also made a lifelong friend (shoutout to the fabulous JT Wolfenden at Durham!).
People come back to the Summer School year after year, and it’s no wonder. There are beautiful surroundings, interesting people, superb teachers, good food (so I’m told!), and much classical fun to be had. I try to wander in that direction every year myself, just to take in some of the classics-y vibes coming from the college (and maybe to sneak a look at the second-hand book sale!).
If you’d like to sign up, or find out more about it, don’t wait too long, because they do get booked up…!
Here’s the poster with all the basic information:
…and here’s the timetable for this year’s courses…
Finally, if you’d like to read more about the Durham Summer School, I refer you to my MANY previous blogposts on the subject:
Classical Studies Support 
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