Ecce Romani Level 1-A Review

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(More customer reviews)I took Latin I and II using the Ecce Romani series. When I switched schools, I had to switch to using the Cambridge Latin Course Unit 3 book for Latin III. I began to realize how lucky I had been to have been using the Ecce Romani series. The Cambridge books are very poorly written. The new vocabulary for each chapter is not put together very well in a way that makes it easy to learn. Since there are many little stories in each chapter, as opposed to the one big one and occasional second enrichment reading in the Ecce Romani books, there is vocab under each story. They tried to make a vocabulary list at the end of each chapter, but it never contains all the vocabulary listed under each story. The Ecce Romani books do a much better job of condensing the vocabulary and putting it all in one place, making it easier to learn. The Cambridge books are very confusing to look at and read because only proper nouns are capitalized. The back sections of the Cambridge books also only contain a Latin-English dictionary, so you're out of luck if you want to look up what an English word translates to in Latin. The Ecce Romani books contain both an English-Latin and Latin-English dictionary. The Ecce Romani series also does a much better job of explaining the grammar you learn each chapter. All the Cambridge books do is give you an example, not actually telling you how to form it in a sentence. The Ecce Romani books also have more challenging practice problems, and more of them, than the Cambridge books. The Ecce Romani series also follows the same characters through the first two books, and gives a much more interesting storyline than the Cambridge series. On a more artistical note, the Ecce Romani books are much more interesting to look at, with color pictures that don't look like quick sketches, like the black and white Cambridge pictures do.
DO NOT buy the Cambridge series books. The books are very poorly written. The Ecce Romani series is a much better Latin textbook series, which I highly recommend for anyone studying or planning on studying Latin.

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Learn to Read Latin (Paper Set) (Yale Language Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)By the end of high school I had completed five years of Latin courses, including AP Latin, using both the Jenney's (probably now obsolete) and the Wheelock's texts. There was a gap of nearly four years between my last Latin class in high school and my first Latin course in college, and that gap was long enough that I forgot nearly everything I had previously learned. The intro college course that I took was using this textbook for the first time, and I myself, my classmates, and my instructor were all very pleased with it.
Despite the complaints of some other reviewers, the grammar-based approach employed by this text is here executed almost flawlessly. Fundamental vocabulary and grammatical pinciples are provided in seamless order and are explained thoroughly. The workbook, of course, is an essential companion to the text--the two are sold as a pair for a reason. As with any inflected, grammar-based natural language, repetition in reading explanations and completing drills and exercises is essential. And it cannot be repeated too often that Latin was at one time a spoken language, thus repetition is a necessity. Having used other texts, I can say without hesitation that this text best provides a strong foundation for reading Latin literature at the intermediate and advanced levels.

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A Latin grammar and reader all in one, Learn to ReadLatin presents basic Latin morphology and syntax with clearexplanations and examples, and it offers direct access to great worksof Latin literature even at the earliest stages of learning thelanguage. As beginning students learn basic forms and grammar, theyalso gain familiarity with patterns of Latin word order and otherfeatures of style, thus becoming well prepared for later, moredifficult texts.No other beginning Latin book contains unalteredversions of ancient texts. Learn to Read Latin includes the writingsof such authors as Caesar, Cicero, Sallust, Catullus, Vergil, andOvid, arranged chronologically and accompanied by introductions toeach author and each work. These readings serve as the chief trainingtexts around which the book's fifteen chapters are constructed. Aworkbook is also available, providing abundant drills for each chapterof the text. The workbook exercises can be used in the classroom, forhomework assignments, for extra individual drill work, or as a homestudy tool.

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