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For the past three years, the nature and evolution of human viruses have been taught at the Université Grenoble-Alpes without relying on the systematic list of all virus families. A “historical” approach has enabled three main categories of viruses to be defined, based on whether they have co-evolved with humans for a very long time (ancient human viruses); whether they began to infect humans in the Neolithic period or later (recent human viruses); or whether they are still animal viruses that are transmitted to humans sporadically (zoonotic viruses). Below, we present the principles and some examples of this pedagogical separation, which does not aim to replace the classical taxonomic classifications based on morphological and sequence similarity (ICTV classification) or on the form and replication mode of the viral genome (Baltimore classification). It instead is a way of grouping viruses with similar effects, even if their evolution is different. We show where human viruses come from and how they can cause human diseases. This approach was tested with biology students, and then extended to medicine and pharmacy students to ensure that teaching was based on the same concepts in the three faculties. In the end, all the students were very receptive and interested in this approach. Of course, different teaching methods can work, but this way of presenting things is also more fun for teachers and promotes cooperation between participants.