Old English

Old English 101 (ALI)

Chapter Materials

Old English Resources

   Old English Text Translator 

    Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary

    Old English Wordhord

    The Magic Sheet of inflections

Old English Workout Room

University of Virginia Old English Aerobics

University College Cork: Old English Online

Cambridge Old English Exercises

University of Texas Old English Online

Glasgow Essentials of Old English

MIT Old English and Beowulf

My recommendation: City Lit with Stephen Pollington

City Lit in London offers a live Old English Level 1 course taught by Stephen Pollington, a respected author and specialist in Anglo-Saxon language and culture. It covers grammar, cases, inflections, vocabulary, prose, poetry and eventually passages from Beowulf. It is explicitly designed for beginners.

The next online sections begin October 6 or October 15, 2026, run for eight weeks, and cost £239—roughly $320 at present exchange rates. The evening London class would meet around lunchtime in Virginia.

This would be my first choice for you: live instruction, a manageable eight-week commitment, an excellent teacher and considerably less expensive than Ancient Language Institute.

Ancient Language Institute

ALI’s Beginner Old English I uses a specially written graded reader, Ōsweald Bera, and emphasizes learning vocabulary and grammar through reading and some spoken Old English. The fall term runs August 30–December 12, 2026, with one 90-minute live class each week. Tuition is $895.

It is probably the most immersive option, and you already know ALI’s general approach from investigating its Greek courses. But it is rather dear.

Best free route

Old English Online is the most approachable free beginner site. It presents pronunciation, grammar and reading in digestible sections, with exercises rather than simply dropping you into Beowulf and wishing you godspeed.

Pair it with Peter Baker’s Introduction to Old English and the free Old English Aerobics exercises. The latter includes an anthology, glossary, practice exercises and a wonderfully useful one-page “Magic Sheet” of inflections.

For later study

MIT’s free Old English and Beowulf course contains lecture videos, readings, exercises and examinations. It begins with prose and grammar, moves to shorter poems and finishes with portions of Beowulf. It is excellent—but fairly intensive, so I would use it after completing an introductory course.

The University of Texas course is also free and academically substantial, with ten annotated texts ranging from Cædmon and Alfred to The Wanderer, The Seafarer and Beowulf. Its grammar reference is extensive, though rather old-fashioned and less friendly as a first introduction.

My prescription: take the October City Lit course and use Old English Online beforehand to learn the alphabet, pronunciation and basic noun cases. That would give you structure without turning Old English into another expensive academic mortgage.