Conversational Ancient Greek for Daily Life

Led by Rogelio Toledo

1. Logistics & Schedule

• Instruction Language: Ancient Greek

• Day & Time: Saturdays, 10:00–11:00 EDT / 16:00–17:00 CET/CEST.

• Course Duration:

  • Start Date: September 5, 2026

  • End Date: November 7, 2026

• Lesson Structure:

  • Duration: 60 minutes per session

  • Total Instructional Hours: 10 hours total

2. Course Overview

• Abstract: This immersive seminar focuses on the communicative acquisition of everyday vocabulary to solidify a functional command of basic and intermediate Ancient Greek grammar.

• Comprehensive Description: Each session is dedicated to the interrogation of distinct semantic fields. Vocabulary is introduced through visual elicitation and contextual definitions, bypassing translation to foster direct association. Participants will engage in active dialogue, collaborative problem-solving, and interactive games designed to simulate authentic communication. To bridge the gap between spoken and literary Greek, each session concludes with the analysis of a brief original text related to the day's theme.

• Course Units:

  1. Diet & Gastronomy: Groceries, ingredients, and kitchen implements; verbs of preparation; ordering in a θερμοπολεῖον.

  2. Daily Routines: Waking, commuting, and household management; temporal adverbs and frequency expressions.

  3. Domestic Spaces: Interior architecture and furnishings; discussing household maintenance and neighborhood dynamics.

  4. Commerce & Attire: Textiles, garments, and sizing; the language of the marketplace, pricing, and transactions.

  5. Health & Physicality: Anatomy, symptomatology, and pharmacological needs; navigating a medical consultation.

  6. Navigation & Transit: Directing movement and route planning; vocabulary of travel and public infrastructure.

  7. Meteorology & Chronology: Weather phenomena and the rhythm of the seasons; seasonal activities and agricultural cycles.

  8. Professional & Academic Life: Occupations, institutional tasks, and university schedules.

  9. Leisure & Social Interaction: Hobbies, athletics, and the arts; formal invitations and the etiquette of declining.

  10. Interpersonal Dynamics: Family, friendship, and kinship; describing personality traits and navigating social requests.

3. Proficiency & Requirements

• Language Level:

  • Framework Reference: Designed for students who have attained active mastery of Athenaze Vol. I or an equivalent curriculum.

  • General Description: Intermediate. Intended for participants who can comprehend spoken Greek and provide basic explanations of difficult passages using the target language.

• Estimated Self-Study Time:

  • Time Commitment: 30 minutes to 1 hour per week.

  • Preparation Type: Students are expected to review the lexical sets and idiomatic phrases from previous sessions and complete brief reading assignments to prepare for in-class discussion.

4. Materials & Bibliography

• Required Materials: All primary instructional materials will be provided by the instructor.

• Further Reading:

  • Eleanor Dickey, The Colloquia of the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana (Cambridge, 2012).

  • Adrian Hundhausen, Ὁ Φάρος: A Thematic Guide to Ancient Greek Vocabulary and Set Phrases (Argos Press, 2024).

  • P. Guisard & C. Laizé, Lexique Nouveau de La Langue Grecque (Ellipses, 2006).

  • F. Henshaw & M. Hawkins, Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom (Hackett, 2022).