Product Description

This is a comprehensive introduction, equally well suited to beginners and those with some previous knowledge of the language.

The clearly structured course introduces original Latin at an early level. In each of the 31 units an explanation of new grammar is followed by Latin sentences and passages. Where appropriate, a third section either introduces you to a topic of interest for Latin studies or gives you additional reading from some of the greatest Roman authors.

There is a comprehensive section on the pronunciation of Latin and a glossary of grammatical terms which gives full and clear explanations of all the terms used in the book.

At the end of the book you will find 17 pages of verb tables, a key to the reading exercises, a 42-page Latin-English vocabulary listing and finally, a grammar index to all the structures covered - all you need to give you a comprehensive knowledge of the language.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107177 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
"An enjoyable, user-friendly guide" (The Good Book Guide )

"The idea is sound and as a tuition medium it works well." (France Magazine )

About the Author
Gavin Betts was formerly Professor of Latin at Monash University, Victoria, Australia. He is now retired and devotes his time to writing.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book but...
This is an excellent book, which I enjoyed working through. Unfortunately there are no english to latin exercises (except on the web site). However, I have a BIG complaint: the binding on the book is poor quality; after a while my book fell apart into half a dozen pieces, making it useless!

Not really a beginner's book
For an author to to shoehorn a comprehensive Latin course for the independent learner into 400 pages is a challenge, as there is insufficient space to include enough practice material. The choice is therefore between writing a book for the complete beginner that proceeds at a fairly leisurely pace but omits detail or a more condensed but comprehensive book. Betts has chosen the latter option, so the book is fairly dense and a lot of new information is presented in each chapter. After the first few chapters, all the exercises are original Latin and are quite difficult. Exposing the student to original Latin as early as possible may be appropriate in a classroom situation where the teacher is present to encourage and explain, but the difficulty of the exercises means that the independent learner starting from scratch is likely to give up after a few chapters. The total beginner would be advised to look elsewhere. For a shorter introduction Sharpley's Teach Yourself Beginner's Latin is recommended, or for a more comprehensive introduction Wheelock's Latin with its accompanying Workbook (together with the answer keys for both, available from the publisher) and Grote's Comprehensive Guide to Wheelock, occupying a total of around 1500 pages and therefore providing sufficient practice material.

On the other hand, for someone who has already learned the basics of Latin, Bett's book provides a good revision course. As well as all the basic material, Betts explains some grammatical concepts in a slightly different way, introduces a few grammatical concepts not covered by Wheelock, and brings together some material that is rather dispersed in Wheelock.

Answers to all the exercises are given in the back of the book, but even for someone who has already worked their way through Wheelock, they are not easy.

The book is densely written, but the explanations and examples are clear. This book is therefore recommended for the more advanced independent learner who is determined to master Latin. Complete beginners are advised to look elsewhere.

Excellent, comprehensive introduction to Latin.
I found this book very useful. Betts covers his subject in a logical, comprehensive manner, and his explanations have a lucid economy of style that reflects his thorough grounding in the classics. There is no repetition, and I suspect that the absolute beginner will need to revise thoroughly after every ten units or so. The reading exercises are varied and challenging, and are well chosen to illustrate the points covered in the relevant unit. Much of the material is original Latin, sometimes modified for clarity in the earlier units. The vocabulary at the end of the book contains several thousand words and covers all of the reading exercises and example sentences. About midway through the book the author introduces longer reading exercises. Excerpts from Vergil's Georgics, from Caesar and Lucretius (inter alia) are included, with notes to help in parsing difficult passages. Many units include an 'excursus' to illustrate points of Roman history and daily life. For the well-motivated reader prepared to approach the learning of Latin in a methodical, disciplined manner, and at a realistic pace, this is a superb learning resource. The book has one fault: in common with many other titles in the Teach Yourself series it is very poorly bound. My copy has disintegrated into a loose-leafed collection of tattered pages. What a pity it is not available in a well-bound hardback edition.