Aequora Arrives in Mainland China: Teaching Latin in Hefei

Culver Academies first-year student, Ashley (Yuqi) Zheng ’24, leads third graders at her former elementary school in Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China, in an exploratory Latin course based on the Aequora Curriculum. In this interview, she says what inspired her to start her very own Latin class while attending the Culver Academies remotely this fall.

Ashley (Yuqi) Zheng (Culver Girls Academy ’24) welcomes third graders from Hefei Nanmen Primary School for an exploratory Latin course. Nearly 25 students have signed up for this after-school elective.

I teach Latin at the Culver Academies, a boarding school in Northern Indiana. This fall, like so many other institutions around the world, we adopted a hybrid teaching and learning model to accommodate the needs of our entire student body during the Covid-19 pandemic. Over ten percent of that body comes to Culver from Mainland China, and some of our Chinese students are unable to join us in-person for the time being.

One of my online students this fall has been Ashley (Yuqi) Zheng, a remarkable young person by any measure, full of the curiosity, love of learning, care for others, courage, and devotion to self-growth and realization that characterize an emerging student-leader. I’ve immensely enjoyed being her teacher in Latin II, and have been continually inspired by her vitality, energy, and excitement for learning and sharing the Latin language.

I was so happy when Ashley wrote that she would like to do some teaching of her own. On her own initiative, she wrote asking whether I knew of an elementary school curriculum for teaching Latin, as she wanted to give back to her primary school by leading an after-school enrichment program. I thought of Aequora, a literacy-based Latin learning curriculum specifically designed for younger language learners, developed by the Paideia Institute.

I was familiar with Aequora through the efforts of another of our students, Nicole Pare, a 2020 Culver alumna, who had used the Aequora curriculum in an enrichment program in the Town of Culver with senior citizens in fall 2019. I was excited for the ways the Aequora curriculum could enrich the after school activities of Ashley’s elementary school in Hefei.

Ashley got to work, crafting introductory, proficiency-oriented, literacy-focused lessons based on the Aequora curriculum, providing translations when necessary into Mandarin Chinese and soliciting feedback from me on her lessons. In her teaching, she provides generous input in comprehensible, spoken Latin (a focus for our program at Culver), engaging the students directly in the Latin language, and has sought out additional educational resources that immerse the students in Ancient Mediterranean cultures (for instance, she’s drawn from these spectacular ancient Roman cooking videos I shared with my students, from Historical Italian Cooking).

I had a chance to “sit down” with Ashley to ask her a few questions about what inspired her to teach this course and to reflect on how it’s going so far. I’ve included her responses below (interspersed among beautiful photographs her father took of her first and last classes and images from her lesson plans):

Ashley’s promotional sign for her first session using the Aequora curriculum.

1. What made you interested in taking Latin at the Culver Academies?

Dr. Dutmer, of course! On my school visit, Ms. Jessica Harding (Director of Diversity and Intercultural Life at the Culver Academies) led my parents and myself to several classes. The Latin class left such a strong impression on me that it was one of the reasons I came to Culver. Though I didn’t understand a single world, the delicate, trilled “R” and the beautiful rhythm of the language made me fall in love almost immediately. When I started taking Latin 2 this year, I was surprised to learn that I will be learning with Dr. Dutmer, the amazing teacher who sparked my interest in Latin.

2. What interests you about Latin and the Ancient Mediterranean world more broadly?

Studying Latin gives me so much joy. I was ecstatic to understand the meaning of “carpe diem” printed on sweatshirts, and watch students in The Dead Poets Society memorizing declensions. Furthermore, the similarities and differences between the ancient/modern worlds and Western/Eastern cultures intrigue me. For example, I can see Caesar’s personality reflected on modern political figures. Another: The Vestal Virgins and the myth of reincarnation in the Aeneid have Eastern counterparts.

Ashley helps the children decorate their holiday cards for their parents and teachers using Latin letter writing conventions and phrases.

I also find the changing modern interpretations and receptions of the Mediterranean world very interesting. Cleopatra, for example, was considered a charming seducer just 50 years ago, while researchers nowadays argue that we should eliminate this sexist stereotype and see her as a successful, capable monarch. In Red Pill blogs, texts written by Greek and Roman authors are used to support misogynistic views. These varying interpretive perspectives often show current trends, prejudices, and biases. The extensive influence of the Ancient Mediterranean on our modern cultures never ceases to impress me.

Ashley shows a clip from a Roman date recipe on the YouTube page “Historical Italian Cooking.”

3. What gave you the inspiration to teach the Aequora curriculum to younger students in Hefei?

Dr. Dutmer recommended the Aequora curriculum to me. This curriculum is indeed perfect for introducing Roman culture and comprehensible Latin! There are mythological stories, cultural practices and vocabulary lists in each lesson. So far, I’ve used the vocabulary lists to teach salutations and retold the story between Ceres, Proserpina and Pluto.

Ashley introduces greetings from the first page of the 2020 Aequora Curriculum.

4. How did students respond? What did they enjoy? What parts were more difficult?

The kids are very enthusiastic. Originally 16 kids enrolled; 7 more came to the second class. The children ask fascinating, unexpected questions. When I told the love story between Aeneid and Dido, they asked “Why are stories always about love and death?” When I showed them a picture of the amphitheatre in Pompeii, they were interested in the price of an entrance ticket.

Generally their favourite is watching videos made by Magister Craft and Historical Italian Cooking. They also like to learn about Roman mythology.

Teaching reading is relatively difficult. They told me that incomprehensible Latin words disguised in English letters (which they are still learning!) make them dizzy. Inspired by Dr. Dutmer, I shorten the readings and add cartoons/photos to explain each word.

Ashley paired students together and facilitated conversations in simple, comprehensible Latin.

5. What do your parents think about your achievements in Classical Studies?

My parents are always supportive. They helped me take the photos and gave me valuable advice on teaching. Classical Studies interests them too. We have watched several documentaries about Cleopatra and Hannibal together. My parents think teaching Chinese students Latin helps connect Ancient Mediterranean cultures with Chinese culture. They would encourage me to continue these intercultural activities and be the “Hermes” or “Mercurius” (the messenger god in the Olympian pantheon) between our cultures.

As part of Ashley’s lesson, she introduced students to the famous first line of the Hebrew Bible in the Latin Vulgate translation.

6. What did you learn about yourself in teaching? What do you think you’ll always remember about this experience?

Studying by yourself is the easiest thing — teaching is so much harder! Though I have enjoyed interacting with the children, I have to admit that teaching is much more difficult than I expected. Third grade kids in Chinese public primary schools have not learned much English. Most connections between Latin and English words that seem obvious to me do not make any sense to them. I found myself devoting much more time in preparation for each class than expected. The patience I have developed will certainly help me study Latin in the future.

Ashley used an image from the Aequora curriculum and other open source images to help make these sentences comprehensible to her students.

7. What inspired you to take leadership and teach this class on your own? What has it taught you about becoming a leader yourself?

Warm-hearted Culver students and alumni dedicating themselves in volunteer work inspired me, and I definitely didn’t lead this class all on my own. Without the support from Dr. Dutmer and my parents, I would not have been able to actualize my plan.

Culver emphasizes community service as an important part of leadership. At the beginning of term 1, Culver alumni from various professions shared their experience and wisdom with us. I am thankful for our teachers hosting the seminars and alumni who expanded my horizons.

Inspired by the alumni, my parents, and my teachers, I wish to spread the happiness of learning Latin in my primary school. In a city like Hefei, it is next to impossible to find a Latin teacher; many kids I taught have never heard of this language. I want to offer an opportunity for them to learn something that they may otherwise never encounter, making a tiny contribution to my community.

Students show off their very first Latin compositions: Thank you letters to their teachers and parents.

From this experience, I learned that leaders sometimes need to take risks. I didn’t know whether anyone would be interested or whether I would be a good teacher. But I considered what could be the worst result of trying, and decided to take on the challenge anyway. And I’ll respond to feedback now that I’ve taken that risk. Learning from my students’ responses, I’ll gradually refine my plan to teach better.

Ashley writes out two customary Latin greetings — “Quomodo te habes?” and “Ut vales?”.

Ashley led a thank you/holiday/Saturnalia card writing session for the third graders’ teachers and parents on their last day together, introducing them to Latin letter conventions (e.g., “Salve,” “Vale,” “Gratias,” “S.V.B.E.E.V.” etc.)

The third graders say “Vale!” to their exploratory Latin class, ending on December 25, 2020.

For more on the Aequora Curriculum, please follow this link. Make sure to follow Divus Magister Craft, Scorpio Martianus, and Historical Italian Cooking on YouTube. For more on the hateful appropriations of the Classics referenced by Ashley, see Donna Zuckerberg’s Not All Dead White Men (Harvard 2018). Also see Pharos: Doing Justice to the Classics here.

Ashley (Yuqi) Zheng, (she/her/hers) Culver Academies Class of 2024, is a first-year student in the Culver Girls Academy. She is from Hefei, Anhui, China. In addition to her Latin studies, she is a member of the Culver Academies Prep Fencing Team and the Culver NACLO (North American Computational Linguistics Open) Team. She also enjoys Chinese painting, practicing calligraphy, and playing the piano.

Evan Dutmer, Ph.D., (he/him/his) is Instructor in Latin, Ancient Mediterranean Cultures, and Ethics at the Culver Academies, a boarding school in Northern Indiana. He holds a Ph.D. in Ancient Philosophy from Northwestern University. He is the 2020 Indiana Classical Conference Teacher of the Year, Rising Star.

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