Online tutoring
Classical Greek tutors
More inflected than Latin and with a new alphabet to absorb first. The reward is direct access to Homer, tragedy and Plato; the cost is a heavier upfront investment in morphology.
- USD 20-40 per hour
- IGCSE
- A Level
- University
Who takes Classical Greek, and who should
Students taking Greek at school, usually alongside Latin, and those heading for classics, ancient history or philosophy degrees. It suits people who enjoy the puzzle of translation and are prepared to invest heavily in morphology early, because nothing else in the subject works until that is automatic.
Where students actually lose marks
These are the patterns we see repeatedly. None of them are about ability, and every one of them is trainable, which is why a diagnosis is worth more than a general offer of help.
- The alphabet and accents not fully automatic, which slows every subsequent task
- Participles and the middle voice, both without close English equivalents, translated loosely
- Principal parts of irregular verbs not learned, making unseen passages guesswork
- Set texts translated but not analysed for rhetorical and metrical effect
Classical Greek at each level
Classical Greek at IGCSE and GCSE
Unseen translation and set texts, with the alphabet, accents and core paradigms as the upfront investment. Automating those early is what makes the rest of the course feasible, because every unseen passage depends on recognising endings instantly rather than working them out.
Classical Greek at AS and A Level
Extended unseen passages and substantial set texts in verse and prose, with literary analysis of style, rhetoric and metre carrying significant marks. Participles and the middle voice cause the most trouble in translation, since neither has a clean English equivalent to fall back on.
Classical Greek at University
Classics degrees expect fluent reading of unadapted Greek alongside scholarly criticism, usually with a set-text load far beyond school and an expectation that students can handle dialect variation between Homer, tragedy and Attic prose without much hand-holding.
What Classical Greek tutoring costs
| Level | Typical years | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| IGCSE and GCSE | Years 10-11 | USD 20-28 |
| AS and A Level | Years 12-13 | USD 28-34 |
| University | Undergraduate | USD 34-40 |
One-to-one, per 60-minute lesson, billed monthly against lessons actually taught. The same rates apply in every city we teach in, and the subject does not change the price. Paired and small-group rates are on the pricing page.
How lessons run
One-to-one over video with a shared whiteboard, so tutor and student work on the same page at the same time. Sixty minutes weekly as standard, twice weekly in the eight weeks before a paper.
Every session starts with marked work from the previous week, moves to the day's topic with a worked example, and ends with the student attempting a real past paper question while the tutor watches how they approach it. After it you get a written note from the tutor saying what was covered and what needs to happen next. The full process is here.
Classical Greek: questions parents ask
How much harder is Greek than Latin?
There is more upfront investment, a new alphabet, more inflection, and constructions such as the middle voice and participles that have no clean English equivalent. Students usually take it alongside Latin, which helps considerably.
What causes the most trouble in translation?
Participles. Greek uses them far more than English does, and students who translate them loosely lose the structure of the sentence and, with it, the marks.
Is the set text just translation?
No. Literary analysis of style, rhetoric and metre carries significant marks, and students who translate accurately but analyse superficially leave a substantial number of them on the table.