Most Greek-speaking Latin students began by learning the alphabet. The teacher wrote out the letters in alphabetical order, and students then copied them repeatedly to learn their shapes, while saying out loud either the equivalent Greek letter or the Latin letter-name in order to learn the sound that accompanied the shape; students also copied lines of verse to practice using the letters in a natural context.

A learner's alphabet with line of verse

This exercise (P.Oxy.x.1315, from the fifth or sixth century ad) provided the alphabet in both capital and lower-case letters; although the two forms were not normally used in the same text the way they are today, students still needed to learn both since some texts used one and some the other. Someone (whether the student or the teacher is uncertain) has written the Greek equivalents over some of the Latin letters; note the mistakes. The alphabets were followed by a line of Virgil (Aeneid 4.129); both alphabets and verse are partly lost on the papyrus but have been restored here.

α β κ δ ε φ γ η ι κ λ μ ν ο π

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z

α β κ δ ε φ κ η ι κ

a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p q r s t u x y z

OCEANVMINTEREASVRGENSAVRORARELIQVIT

A learner's alphabet with letter names

This version (on an ostrakon, i.e. a piece of broken pottery, from the first or second century) provided only the capital letters, which were accompanied by the letter-names of the Latin alphabet, written in Greek script. Again the papyrus is broken and has been supplemented.

α βη κη δη η εφ γη ῾ ι κα ιλ μ εν ω πη κου ρ ες τη ου ξη

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U X Y Z