David DeCosta Leitao

Based on reputation, I was expecting a less minion of Satan. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find the opposite to be true.

Leitao as a person and an instructor I think is quite fair, given the nature of the class. Although the reviews on this site are all super positive (deserved), you may hear different things, especially about Greek. If they are negative about Leitao as a teacher or personally, you should generally dismiss then outright.

As for Ancient Greek, I must first admit I was a reluctant student in the first place. Given that, I've never been taught a foreign language - and I've studied three others formally - in the manner Ancient Greek is taught. In discussing it with other friends in classics, I've discovered this approach is not uncommon, so I cannot fault Leitao.

But, essentially, you are expected to learn ALL facets of the language in two semesters, after which, you move on to translations. That's insane, and the defense of the practice (not from Leitao) is that "this is the way it is done." Well, by that logic, we'd still have slavery.

There's a new component of language coming at you every other day for two solid semesters, and it becomes more and more difficult. I have no objection to difficulty, but this is a 100 level class. While the first two or three weeks are consistent with a 100 level class, by the middle of the semester, the class is more consistent with a 600 level class, and as you near the end, it's off the scale.

My recommendations if you need to take this class. First, take it somewhere else with a different text in use. There is a reciprocal agreement with UC Berkeley, it's for fewer credits, meets less frequently, and I believe they use a different text.

Second, take it over the summer either in Greece or at UCBerkeley's Summer Greek program. I'm sure it's intense, but it's all you'll do for 10 weeks, and TA's have been on-call for you 24/7 in the past.

Third, if you must must must take it at SFSU, get the text a semester in advance and start reading and memorizing vocabulary and other parts of the language. Also, whatever amount of time you alot for study for an individual class, be prepared to triple it. I'm fairly confident in my language skills, but this is just quite different.

Ultimately, I had to withdraw from the class for reasons outside the classroom, and at some point, I'll retake the class somewhere.

Again, Leitao is a good, decent person whom I'm glad I can go to on a variety of topics in classics and even anthropology for direction. I cannot say anything negative about him at all.

The notion that this is an effective, acceptable way to learn language, however, seems to be widespread in the discipline. It's horrid. Do yourself a favour, and find another way to learn this material

At first I thought this class was BORING, but then as the class went on, it got kind of interesting. Like all classes I attended, some classes were boring and some were interesting. Is it hard? Not really. If you do all the hw and study before the midterms, you will do fine. There is a lot of reading and small one page assignments, so take this class!

Prof. Leitao is a great instructor. He really makes ancient Greek culture come alive with his lectures. He is animated and funny in his class discussions and even though his class was once a week for 3 hours a pop, it was never boring or tedious. He finds ways to make the subject matter relevant to us and has inspired me to take a trip out to Europe just to see the ancient Greek and Roman ruins. If you're short three units, whatever major you may be, I highly recommend taking his class.

Imagine needing a class for humanities GE credit and the only one that meets your needs is an upper division class on Greek and Roman mythology, a subject that holds little interest and in which you have no knowledge. Now compound that by taking the class in a shortened 3-week winter session. Definitely a recipe for failure except for the presence of a professor who not only knew the subject matter but genuinely cared that his students were able to understand the material and draw the necessary connections. I believe this class was more of what I feel a university level education should be. Sure the tests were there and we were of course attempting to get grades, but the atmosphere was really one in which we were allowed to develop our own ideas.

Did I retain all that I was taught? I dunno, but the professor said if we could retain the meaning of parthenogenesis and be able to use procrustean in a sentence he had done his job. I can do both of those things.