������Ƶ

Imagine rolling into class, stressed from the test you’ve just completed. The teacher then takes some time to make a joke before you all sing a verse from “Old McDonald Had A Farm.”

But this is a college class and aside from the animal noises, the language you’re speaking isn’t even English. It’s ancient Greek or Latin.

“The students feel like they’re kids again,” said Valerie Spiller, a recent adjunct lecturer in the (CNES) at ������Ƶ. “Latin and Greek language students often get comments: ‘Oh, you must be the smartest, you must be the most academic if you’re taking those languages.’ You close the door, and it’s like ‘We’re having play time right now.’ Students get the credit of a classical background and get to play. It changes the classroom dynamic; students don’t feel as if this is only a space for the nerdiest or the smartest. It’s for anyone who wants to join.”

Spiller, along with CNES colleagues Tina Chronopoulos and Andrew Scholtz, have employed spoken Latin or Greek in their classrooms. Spiller focuses on English as a second language, education and teaching methods at the intersection of classical and modern languages. Her previous position as a middle school Latin teacher at the Mott Hall Science and Technology Academy in Bronx, N.Y., provided her with ways to create a nurturing environment.

Spiller taught introductory Latin for the past four years at ������Ƶ, where she earned a TESOL certification extension from Binghamton. She will begin teaching Latin at the Chenango Valley Central School District this fall. Carina de Klerk (Columbia University) will teach Introductory Latin at ������Ƶ this fall.

“The students in my class are stressed out all the time,” Chronopoulos said. “It’s more important that they have a positive learning experience. I’m less concerned with the outcome; I’m more concerned with the actual learning that’s happening. I try to get them to work toward speaking and writing in Latin in tiny steps because even just saying yes or no in answer to a question shows me that they are comprehending. I would never want to teach in a different way now.”

Chronopoulos has also participated in the North American Institute of Living Latin Studies (SALVI) retreats, where she learned more about active use of Latin through total immersion in the language. Although she was required to use Latin all the time while on the retreat, she allows a mixture of English and Latin in her classroom. The techniques from the retreat, however, still inform her teaching.

“Those retreats are basically like summer camp, where we all get to be children. It makes you slow down and it creates an environment that’s very kind and very supportive,” Chronopoulos said. “It’s an environment where what’s relevant, what’s happening right now, is often what we talk [about]. ‘Where are my glasses? Where is the food? I am tired.’ It just creates a certain kind of atmosphere that’s very lovely. “

Scholtz, the chair of the department and an associate professor, concentrates on Greek and Latin literature and Greek and Roman culture. His current research focuses on the emotions of desire and envy in the ancient Mediterranean world, but he originally became interested in his research while watching a 1976 BBC television series called I, Claudius. Although the characters were “utterly reprehensible,” he “fell in love” just the same.

Although Latin can still be encountered occasionally in a K-12 setting, the ancient Greek that Scholtz studies isn’t seen as frequently.

“Ancient Greek, somehow, has gotten to be proverbial for incomprehensibility, as in the saying ‘It’s Greek to me,’” Scholtz said. “Asking students to start processing the language aurally through the ear and orally, which is through the mouth, can seem doubly strange. Above all else, I regard the use of oral Greek as a way of making this language seem a little bit more normal.”

Together, these methods, as they are employed in CNES, seek to create a department that is accessible and open to all.

The faculty members believe that speaking these languages — usually through an approach that contextualizes and embeds the context into physical objects, like toys or props rather than words on a page — makes the language more salient.

“Language is not the glass half-empty or half-full. Every drop counts,” Spiller said. “And if I say something and you can point to the picture that relates to what I’m saying, you’re learning, and you don’t have to write an essay. You don’t have to translate an ancient passage. You’re still learning. It lets students realize that they’re growing and lets that confidence breed more success. That doesn’t always happen with other methods of learning the language.”

Errors will eventually fade with increased practice, Chronopoulos said.

Faculty members hope to see more students engage with their department and discover the many ways Latin and Greek can help them learn.

“When you study Latin, any other foreign language you take gets easier,” Spiller said. “You [start to say] ‘I know that a language can get inside me. I know that I can use it. I’m not afraid to make mistakes.’ Students who go through this experience will have the confidence to take up another language as their professional or personal needs require. Whatever life throws at them, they’ll be ready for it.”

If you are interested in taking Latin, the introductory sequence of classes begins this fall; instruction in ancient Greek starts in the spring. Those curious about studying an ancient language can contact Undergraduate Director Mary Youssef at myoussef@binghamton.edu, or Scholtz at ascholtz@binghamton.edu.