It is an integral part of graduate training and professional preparation in Classics to gain teaching experience. Two semesters of teaching are therefore required of all graduate students. Teaching opportunities within the department vary; often, assignments progress from TA (teaching assistant) duties of working with a professor, grading and facilitating discussion sections, to TF (teaching fellow; a higher stipend obtains) positions where the graduate student teaches a semester-long language course (usually introductory or second-year level) on his or her own.