Forward to the Past
Backgorund on the
Origin & Development of the Course
The Academia Latina was founded in 1989
after a visit to universities and schools in the USA. Our Scola
Fles programme was a development from the Foreign Language
Elementary Schools project which was launched in Philadelphia
as a bridging programme to help children augment their English
language skills. As English is increasingly becoming the most
important medium of communication in our country there is an
urgent need to promote the language among school pupils. It is
our intention to expand this programme and focus on schools in
disadvantaged areas in particular. Three pilot groups have been
selected and monitored by the Academia Latina in co-operation
with the Department of Education.
Experimental lessons with a group of English
Second Language learners inspired ideas that eventually formed
the main content of the course Forward to the Past. This
group of Afrikaans-speaking grade 8 learners spoke of their 'Latin
lessons' although the lessons primarily focused on the development
of meaningful communication in English. Lessons were structured
around themes from ancient Rome. The repetition of English communication
skills slipped in naturally enough that learners did not feel
self-conscious about their incomplete skills. Today these 'guinea
pigs' believe that their command of English definitely improved
while - simultaneously - they gained insight into both themselves
and the makings of the world. Currently we are teaching the programme
at Cornerstone College to grade 11 black pupils and at High School
Rodean to grade 9 white pupils.
