Languages at St. John’s In the language tutorial, students
examine the relation between language and thought— and the many
ways of using language. To achieve this, they study two foreign
languages: Greek in the first two years and French in years
three and four. In addition to the rewards intrinsic to learning
these languages, students gain facility in the precise and
effective use of English as the differences and similarities
between the languages are brought into focus. The study of
ancient Greek in the first year goes especially well with
freshman seminar readings inHomer and Plato, among other
classical authors, as well as with the study of
earlymathematicians such as Euclid and Ptolemy. Portions of some
seminar works are read in the original by students, illuminat-
ing subtleties ofmeaning easy to overlook inEnglish
translations. Furthermore, as students sharpen their
attentiveness towords through the language tutorial, they
increase their competence in the skills of grammar, rhetoric,
and logic that gi