Latin for Americans: First Book

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Summary: This is a great book to learn Latin from
Review: I've been taking Latin for two years now in school using Latin for Americans, and I have to say it is one of the best Latin textbooks around! It has easy-to-use, comprehensive tables, etc., fun facts about the Romans interspersed throughout the chapters, and the funniest pictures!

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Summary: The best Latin Book on the market
Review: Latin for Americans I belongs to those traditional Latin textbooks such as Jenney's First Year Latin and Hines' Our Latin Heritage I. The approach of Latin for Americans is basically a deductive, grammar-translation technique. There are 54 lessons which include all declensions, the entire indicative mood in active and passive voice as well as indirect statement and the ablative absolute. This fairly ambitious coverage of morphology and associated syntax within the first year of school study is offset by the concise lesson format. Each lesson has a reading incorporating new morphology and syntax, color-coded morphology charts to assist visual learning, illustrations of new syntax, form and grammar drills, and a short vocabulary. The emphasis throughout all lessons, in which stories are thematically grouped ( i.e., Roman gods, Roman history, social life, myths and legends, etc.) and linked to lavish color pictures, is reading comprehension in Latin. Each lesson does have a short writing exercise, usually of about five short sentences to be rendered from Latin into English.

Latin for Americans I is an ideal text for 8th or 9th-grade beginners of limited experience in language learning because it moves from very easy to somewhat more difficult on a slow curve. Basic grammatical terms are not fully assumed as background knowledge and Latin sentences are kept short and unambiguous. "Bite-size" lessons work well initially to instill confidence in inexperienced learners. As a Latin instructor, I would express only one reservation about the Latin for Americans series ( on which I learned in school): Latin composition is definitely underplayed. I find myself creating writing exercises which the book lacks, a reminder that any textbook is only a map and not the territory. On the other hand, one of the finest features of the book is its lush pictures and illustrations, a powerful invitation to ancient art and archaeology. After touring ancient sites in Latin for Americans, any student will want to visit Italy and Greece for a first-hand look.

Overall, Latin for Americans I is a realistic option for the traditional Latin teacher who wishes to save the direct presentation of grammar but within an attractive, learner-friendly context which presents the learning of Latin as more than mere verbal drill.

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Summary: The best Latin Book on the market
Review: Latin For Americans written by Ulman BL et. al is the best Latin book i have ever worked with i am a four year latin student at California high school and our teacher Mr. Panezich has a way of teaching with this book that made me want to buy it myself and recomend it to everyone trying to learn Latin. it is also the most used Latin book there is... Latin is not dead over 97% of all english words derive from latin. If you plan on succeding in life i highly recomend this book.

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Summary: Good memories....
Review: This was my Latin book in high school. I have very fond memories of the class (my first foreign language class), and learned quite a bit about grammar. I still remember some of the lessons.

The book is good. It is not always clear, and tries to explain things on the level of a high-school student. There are times that a linguistic explanation would be much simpler, but it's a school text book. It seems a bit slow at first, and I would order some things a bit differently. However, Latin is a *highly* inflected language, so there really isn't a simple place to start. The book does its job quite well, and I'm very happy I found it again to re-learn some of what I once knew.