This book [here's the site of the US distributor, thanks to John McChesney-Young in the comments] teaches Latin entirely through the medium of the language itself—a common idea for modern languages that should work just as well for ancient ones.
Part I, Familia Romana, covers the essentials of Latin grammar and a basic vocabulary of some 1500 words. The 35 chapters (capitula) form a sequence of events in the life of a Roman family in the 2nd century A.D. Each chapter is divided into 3 or 4 lessons (lectiones) and consists of several text pages followed by a grammar section and three exercises, pensa. At the end of the volume there is a survey of inflexions, a Roman calendar, and a word index, Index vocabulorum.
In Part II, Roma Aeterna, the subject is Roman history as told by the Romans themselves. It opens with a description of the city of Rome on a historical background. This is followed by a prose version of Vergil's Aeneid I-IV, with crucial passages in the original, and Livy’s Book I supplemented with extracts from Ovid. At first Livy’s prose is gently adapted, but the main part of the book contains unadapted texts by Livy, Gellius, Nepos, Sallust, Cicero, and Horace.The sample pages seem well done. (Via Avva.) Posted by languagehat at January 15, 2004 02:18 PM
Wow. It actually makes learning latin seem like fun. Now if only I had the time...
Posted by: Kerim Friedman at January 15, 2004 11:07 PMAlthough there's a reference to the US distributor at the Danish web site, there's no direct link provided. For the potential convenience of those in the US:
http://pullins.com/txt/LinguaLatina.htm
There's also an e-mail list devoted to the use of the textbooks:
http://vlists.net/mailman/listinfo/oerberg
Traffic is light but pertinent.
Posted by: John McChesney-Young at January 16, 2004 12:45 PMThanks! Here's the direct link to the mailing list; I've added the Pullins link to the entry.
Posted by: language hat at January 16, 2004 02:17 PMI was taught Latin using an all-Latin book - more of a booklet, actually, but it followed the format of this text quite closely. For all I know, it might be the same one.
If I could only remember the name of my Latin book.
Posted by: Jeremiah at January 16, 2004 04:23 PMIf you would like to place an order for the Lingua Latina Books, or inquire about doing so, please feel free to email me directly at kerri@pullins.com
www.pullins.com is the home of Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co., which is the US distributor of the Lingua Latina series and publisher of many other great books!
Posted by: Kerri Stewart at February 12, 2004 02:59 PM