Two sources have been nourishing the Western World ever since ancient times: the Judeo-Christian culture and the Greek and Latin literature. However, most of this heritage remains inaccessible to the general public.
For example, the treatises of Galen, who has bequeathed us more than 20,000 pages of medical knowledge in Greek, have been translated entirely only into Latin and Arabic. Less than ten percent of Galen’s writings are now available in translation to the major European languages. Likewise, only a small part of the writings of Alcuin, the architect of the Carolingian Renaissance, is accessible in any language other than Latin.
More than half of the writings from Ancient and Medieval times can be read today only in Greek, Latin, Hebrew or Arabic. Hence, the 21st century man finds himself unable to understand and to assimilate his spiritual heritage, as it has become impossible for him to access his cultural roots. For this reason we consider languages to be an indispensable gateway to Human sciences.
However, languages must be taught in an effective manner; that is, in an appealing way. Thus, the Polis method was developed, turning Polis into one of the very few institutions in the world that teach the so-called dead languages (e.g. Koine Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin) as modern languages. From the first day, the language being taught is the only one spoken by the instructor, and the students are requested to do the same.
Jerusalem, the city of the Bible, the cradle of monotheism, and the melting pot of the Semitic and Hellenistic heritages, is a unique place in the world for discovering the roots of our civilization through the study of languages.
Polis, the Jerusalem Institute of Languages and Humanities, comes to fulfill this need.
The Polis Institute is so far the only place in the world where a student can study at the same time both Ancient languages (Greek, Latin, Biblical Hebrew and Classical Syriac) and Modern ones (Modern Hebrew, Colloquial and Literary Arabic) as living languages. From the very first day, the language that is taught becomes the only language spoken in the classroom. Applying the most efficient language acquisition techniques (TPR, TPR Storytelling, Story-building, etc.) the course quickly develops functional spoken vocabulary and grammar through constant communicative exchange between the instructor and the students. Here are samples of our courses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDE-7z66OHg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJrGaOF-bOw
This method allows the student after two years of study to start reading and understanding easy ancient texts without using a dictionary.
Reception Hours:
Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday between 8:30 and 12:30
