The Alexander Arguelles Academy
of Languages & Literatures

French / German / Spanish – Reading and Discussion Circles

• Literary readings for intermediate and advanced learners
• Increase your vocabulary, gain cultural knowledge, and improve conversational skills
  
  

Conversational Latin

• For those who know how to read and analyze Latin and want to think and speak in it as well
• Read a variety of medieval, Neo-Latin, and contemporary texts as a basis for discussion
  
  

Medieval Literary Languages

• Learn to read Old French and/or Middle High German
• Use modern French and German to learn medieval forms through textual comparison
  
  

Comparative-Historical English + Gothic

• Read and discuss Gospel translations from the years 360, 995, 1389, and 1526
• Compare and contrast the features of Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, and Early Modern English
  
  

Great Books Reading and Discussion Seminars

• Lifelong learning through conversing and Socratic dialogue for the intellectually curious
• Challenge your mind to grow continuously by discussing and digesting difficult but important texts
  
  

Self-Teaching Language Support Group

• For those teaching themselves one or more foreign languages
• Get guidance, structure, material, and weekly consultation for your progress
  
  

Live Study Sessions (Members Only)

• Study with me – join me in my weekly maintenance routine to revise and review language groups
• Languages will include: Arabic & Persian; Greek & Russian; Hindi & Sanskrit; Korean & Hanja; Germanic & Romance (currently Dutch, Swedish, Italian, and Portuguese)
• Available to members only, free of charge with a subscription to other offerings
  
  

Office Hours (Members Only)

• For discussing matters related to circles or seminars.
• Available to members only, free of charge with a subscription to other offerings

3rd Quarter 2022 (July, August, September)

Note: All times are in U.S. Central / Chicago time

The purpose of the academy is to foster a community of lifelong learners. Instead of classes or courses, the offerings are referred to as circles, which will be kept small so as to provide for an intimate learning environment. There are two kinds of circles:

1. Smaller circles [an average of 6 participants] for foreign languages

French / German / Spanish Literature

These are for learning to read literature in foreign languages with ease, enjoyment, and understanding. In these circles, participants prepare readings ahead of time, then, during the session, go around the circle in turn, reading aloud, summarizing what they have understood, and discussing the material in the target language.

• Suitable for intermediate and advanced learners of French, German, and Spanish
• Meet for 60 minutes once per week via Zoom
• Read aloud, summarize, and discuss texts exclusively in the target languages
• Homework for each session roughly 20 pages per week
• $125 per month (= 4 weeks), planned in 12-week quarterly sessions as of July
• The readings (whether short stories, novels, or non-fiction) will be suggested by the academy, but chosen by the participants in any given circle to reflect their interests.
  
  

As far as possible, these foreign language circles are grouped by proficiency level, judged by your responses to the sample text reading provided in the application form.

Conversational Latin

• Suitable for those able to read and analyze Latin
• Focus on developing the abilities to think and speak the language
• Meet for 60 minutes once per week via Zoom
• Read aloud, summarize, and discuss texts exclusively in the target language
• Use a variety of authentic and didactic texts from medieval and contemporary Latin
• Homework for each session roughly 20 pages per week
• $125 per month (= 4 weeks), planned in 12-week quarterly sessions as of July
  
  

Medieval Literary Languages (Ancien Français & Mittlelhochdeutsch)

• Suitable for those who are comfortable reading modern French or German
• Focus on using the contemporary language to work back to the medieval literary form
• Meet for 60 minutes once per week via Zoom
• Read aloud, summarize, and discuss texts exclusively in the target languages
• Homework for each session roughly 20 pages per week
• $125 per month (= 4 weeks), planned in 12-week quarterly sessions as of July
  
  

Comparative-Historical English + Gothic

• Suitable for those interested in comparative historical linguistics and the evolution of the English language
• Focus on using the contemporary language to work back to earlier forms
• Meet for 60 minutes once per week via Zoom
• Read and discuss Gospel translations from the years 360, 995, 1389, and 1526
• Compare and contrast the features of Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, and Early Modern English
• Homework for each session roughly 20 pages per week
• $125 per month (= 4 weeks), planned in 12-week quarterly sessions as of July
  
  
  

2. Larger circles [an average of 12 participants]

These are for discussing the content of Great Books read in English, and for support group consultations for self-study of languages. These are in a more traditional seminar format than the smaller circles, with focus on content rather than language. Thus, there is greater responsibility for participants to actively engage in discussion.

Great Books seminars in English [for native/fluent readers]

• Seminar-size groups (average of 12 participants)
• Suitable for native/fluent readers of English (focus on content, not on language support)
• Meet for 60 minutes once per week via Zoom
• Equivalent to a college-level Great Books seminar
• Homework for each session roughly 50 pages per week
• $65 per month (= 4 weeks), planned in 12-week quarterly sessions as of July
• The Great Books readings are taken from two collections available online:
  • The Great Books of the Western World
  • Sacred Books of the East
    
    

For the Great Books of the West, we read the texts chronologically and thematically, beginning with works of history and biography. 

For Sacred Books of the East, we work through major texts by respective tradition.

Support for Self-Study of Languages

• Weekly consultation / tutorial / support group (average of 12 participants)
• Suitable for autodidactic learners teaching themselves foreign languages
• Meet for 60 minutes once per week via Zoom
• Offers accountability/structure for learners; opportunity to discuss methods, progress, obstacles; demonstrate techniques, problem-solve, etc.
• $65 per month (= 4 weeks), planned in 12-week quarterly sessions as of July

Live Study Sessions

This is an invitation to join me in my actual weekly maintenance routine to revise and review the following language groups:

• This is suitable for those at a similar level to mine who wish to learn together with me
• This is also suitable for those who wish to learn by observation what I do when I study
• This is not a question and answer session, though we may discuss what is done during office hours
• This is currently for members only, free of charge with a subscription to other offerings

The purpose of my Virtual Academy to continue to offer the guidance I have provided for over 20 years as a university professor of languages and literature, but now to participants from all over the world who want to continue the journey of lifelong learning.

The focus of the academy will be on weekly reading and discussion circles exclusively in the target languages. These circles provide the support you need to become an independent reader of literature in a foreign language. The regular meetings ensure that you form the habit of reading consistently, and in them you will gain cultural knowledge, conversational ability, and enriched vocabulary. Whether you have just finished teaching yourself a language or whether you studied it in the past and have now grown rusty, these circles can help you make the transition from intermediate to advanced.

The overall purpose of the academy is to take advantage of advances in technology that now permit people from all over the world to congregate together virtually. This ability represents a development that can and should revolutionize education, which has become too enshrined in degree programs for those primarily in their first decades of life, with institutions offering little in the way of continuing lifelong learning opportunities despite the fact that this is held out as an ideal.

The academy aims to remedy this by offering opportunities for adults to develop the ability to read literature in foreign languages at any stage of life, as well as support for learning languages in the first place, and for reading and discussing the Great Books of various civilizations in the kind of ongoing seminar environment in which they can be increasingly appreciated. This learning environment is designed to be suitable both for those who want to develop abilities in a single language or area, as well as to provide a foundation for those who might wish to develop more wide-ranging skills and understanding.

Academy Subscriptions

How the Academy Works

If you are interested in the academy’s offerings, you should plan on attending for at least several months.  You may sign up for a single month initially to see if this form of continuing adult education is for you, but after that, we urge you to become a member by signing up for a continuing subscription. 

This is because the Academy works by reading and discussing significant longer texts, which is naturally a question of multiple months.  To do this effectively, we need to form cohesive cohorts whose participants can commit to conversing together for long enough to digest, analyze, and enjoy a text of 300+ pages.  To that end, the Academy will run on a quarterly basis:

1^st Quarter = January, February, March

2^nd Quarter = April, May, June

3^rd Quarter = July, August, September

4^th Quarter = October, November, December

Each quarter will consist of 12 weekly meetings (an average of 4 meetings a month, with some months having 5, others only 3), with a 1-week break either between or during quarters.  Please note that quarters may begin or end on the first or last days of adjacent calendar months.  When you subscribe, you will be asked how many quarters in the calendar year you currently plan to attend.

Advantages of Subscription

Becoming a member of the Academy with a recurring subscription provide the following benefits:

1. You will have a strong voice in selecting the texts to be read and the hour of meeting.
2. You will have access to further discussion during office hours.
3. You will have access to study-with-me language practice sessions.
4. You will pay a lower price (currently $125/month instead of $140/month for circles, $65/month instead of $75/month for seminars).
   
   

Cancellation of Subscriptions

You may cancel your subscription at any time should your circumstances change, but in that case we ask for as much advance notice as possible.

Single “Month” (4 Meetings) Price

You may also opt to pay for a single “month” (4 sessions) at a time.  However, please note that you will not have access to the first three advantages listed above, and the price will be higher at $140/month for circles and $75/month for seminars. 

Those who recall my old website may also recall the extensive description I had there for an ideal systematic training in polyliteracy and the ideal of developing it into an academic discipline. This virtual academy represents the initial steps in that direction.

First and foremost, the above offerings should provide the stability to eventually offer more and more specialized instruction. Furthermore, the offerings themselves combined can form the core of a master’s of arts program. For instance, someone who takes two full years literature courses in two languages, two full years of two Great Books seminars, and two full years of guided self-instruction in an exotic language should have completed the equivalent of enough credit hours for the award of a degree pending completion also of a master’s thesis.

Anyone interested in this should indicate his intentions from the outset so that hours and progress may be carefully tracked, and should also understand that this is still an ideal with accreditation and affiliation with an awarding body still pending.