Teach Yourself Latin

Rating:
Summary: If you make it through, you'll know Latin!
Review: "Dense" is the word that comes to mind when I think of this book. The typeset is not the easiest to read, especially the bold print. And the grammar is introduced at a demanding pace. (Which is OK; nobody said that learning had to be easy. You're definitely allowed to take your time, and absorb the material.)

The presentation of grammar follows a fairly traditional path. Each lesson introduces a large number of grammatical points, but there are plenty of examples given. Early lessons have vocabulary lists; the vocabulary for readings in later lessions must be looked up in the glossary in the back. Most critically, the answers to the exercises and translations of the readings are given in the back of the book.

Unless you have a high level of linguistic sophistication, my recommendation would be to start your study of Latin with something a little gentler (like Wheelock). But this is a great resource, and should not be missed. My suggestion would be to work through Wheelock's "Latin" (or at least halfway through), and then tackle this book. It will be a good review of the grammar you know already, you'll learn a LOT more about Latin grammar and syntax, and you'll get a great deal of practice reading some pretty tough Latin (with the translations available to check your understanding).

In summary, you might not want to START with this book, but you will definitely benefit from working through it somewhere along your path.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Self-Teaching Latin Text
Review: A person interested in learning Latin could do worse than to buy this book. I've yet to see a better book in the Teach Yourself series. It is clear, concise and comprehensive, giving a very solid foundation of classical Latin. Aimed at the independent learner, it contains everything one might need to learn the language to a very sufficient level of proficiency.

The book is divided into thirty-one chapters, each of which introduces several new points of Latin grammar, all with ample illustrative examples and notes, followed by Latin readings, i.e., Latin-to-English translation exercises. A vocabulary is provided in each of the first few chapters, and thereafter, any new words encountered will be found in the glossary at the back of the book. There are also additional revision exercises provided after every third chapter.

As far as the content is concerned, the book gives a very comprehensive coverage of Latin grammar as well as introducing copious vocabulary. It does, however, progress quite rapidly, so each chapter has to be thoroughly mastered before moving on. A key is provided for all the translation and revision exercise, a feature that is very much in its favour, particularly since the exercises tend to be fairly difficult.

Physically, the book is not badly produced. The print, whilst not especially small, is not the sharpest, although by no means unclear. However, the boldface employed is a particularly dense one, which makes it slightly harder to read. Nonetheless, this is not an obstacle to using the book.

All in all, Gavin Bett's 'Teach Yourself Latin' is a great text for learning Latin on your own. It is surprisingly comprehensive and explains the language lucidly whilst provoking thought and interest. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone embarking on the journey that is learning Latin.

Rating:
Summary: Good for the beginning student with extra money
Review: Being a beginning student of Latin, I thought that this book and tape would help me get a head start on my first semester of Latin. While substantially helping with pronunciation of Latin, it seems as if the grammar for Latin is taught as poorly in this book as English grammar is taught in our schools today. Even though a fabricated story is used (which does help with pronunciation), they enhance the book with constant quotes from the early writers, such as Cicero, Horace and Vergil. If one is attempting to learn Latin well so that he can quickly master other Romance languages, this may not be the book to buy. However, if one is looking for extra help in actual pronunciation and word emphasis, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Only For the Very Serious Student
Review: I studied Latin for four years in high school and that's as far as I got. Granted, that is further than many people get, but I loved Latin and I wanted to be able to read and write and even think in this gorgeous language. I liked this book, when I spent a day looking at a friend's copy, because it begins at the beginning, assuming the learner has no prior familiarity with Latin. However, and this is a big "however," as another reviewer has all ready pointed out, if one doesn't know quite a bit about grammar in general, he or she is soon going to find himself "lost" in this book's heavy reliance on grammar.

I think TEACH YOURSELF LATIN is structured well, but I have to point out that the ultimate success of any student will depend on his persistence in learning the rules of grammar and syntax and in memorizing and enlarging his vocabulary (this book doesn't give a lot of vocabulary, however, there are many good Latin vocabulary books out there with which to supplement this book).

This isn't a "fun" book and it does presume that the student is quite serious about learning Latin and will study. And, also as another reviewer has all ready pointed out, it is far, far superior to Latin books "for Dummies" and "for Idiots" which let you learn some Latin phrases, but that's about it. If you want to read the classics in their original Latin, as I do, then you'd better be prepared to study hard and study daily.

Each lesson in TEACH YOURSELF LATIN builds on the previous lesson in a wonderfully cumulative way, but be warned: if you "skip" a lesson or don't absorb all that's in it, you aren't going to be prepared to move on to the next. I also think the student is going to have to supplement his studies with this book with some actually Latin texts, for reading practice.

I think TEACH YOURSELF LATIN is a very good book and I like the entire "Teach Yourself" series. I've all ready learned basic Italian with TEACH YOURSELF ITALIAN and I thought the book did a wonderful job.

TEACH YOURSELF LATIN is a very, very good book, but it is a book for serious students, not dabblers. With that caveat in mind...dive in.

Rating:
Summary: Was Ok.
Review: I was rather disapoointed with the way this book tried to to teach the language. If you are thinking about this book, I would recommend using Wheelock's Latin 6th edition.

Rating:
Summary: Was Ok.
Review: I've embarked on a quest to conquer this book a number of times. Each time I make progress, but it seems each chapter after the 18th gets more difficult at an almost exponential rate, I like the way Betts has gone to the lengths he has to make the book comprehensive. I will try the book again, but unfortunately the binding has given way, I may need to buy another one. Perhaps in future editions they may like to look at making sure that the binding doesn't give way too soon. That is about the only negative thing I can say about this book. I wish you luck in your quest to learn this beautiful language.

Rating:
Summary: Teach Yourself Latin
Review: This book definitely works, but it is not a qucik learn. The Latin language is a hard one, and this book does not make it any easier. If you have patience and the drive to learn the language, this will help you a lot.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: This book is concise, clear and comprehensive. Any one who has a basic amount of lingusitic knowledge will find this book a treasure.

After teaching a section of Latin grammar there are sections dealing exculsively with Latin prose and poems and their corresponding styles. These varying destractions brings the Latin culture alive and in doing so shows you that Latin has a rich history that is well worth looking at through the linguistic looking glass.

Pax vobiscum!

Rating:
Summary: Good method, but written in uncompromising style
Review: This book teaches the essentials of the Latin language and presupposes no prior knowledge. Yet, due to its heavy reliance on technical grammatical terms, and the fast-paced nature of the course, I would not recommend this book to anyone who had not learnt some other foreign language first (I had learnt German). Whilst a glossary is there to explain technical terms, the high degree of proficiency and 'feeling at home' with these terms that is demanded right from the start is, I would imagine, enough to bewilder those who come to this book without a clue what a "genitive" is (for example). The book has 31 teaching units, with handy revision exercises interspersed. Its real strength is the structure of the course, and expecially each unit. Betts achieves within each unit a balance between the nuts and bolts of Latin grammer, syntax, examples, exercises, and interesting facts about the Romans (Unit 1 has where Latin came from, for example). I particularly li! ked how the book keeps together the grammatical rules with how to use them. Right from the start the reader can put into practice what they have learnt. Though moving quickly, with information never repeated, the reader does not have to memorize a huge amount of vocabulary (c.50 words) before progressing to each new lesson. However, the style of writing I consider unnecessarily difficult. (A taste: "An adjective, when not itself used as a noun (see next subsection), will always be qualifying a noun or pronoun, and must agree with this noun or pronoun in number, gender, and case." p.24). As you can gather, Betts is clear but rather dry. On the whole, I did not mind, but for those people who desire less-technical language and a warmer general manner, I should say there are other courses on the market which cater for this. The presentation is superb, with all latin words in bold type, well set-out appendixes (which one constantly refers to), and an attractive cove! r - all important considerations when buying a book that wi! ll be studied and refered to as much as a 'Teach Yourself' book.

Rating:
Summary: A well structured and effective text for learning Latin
Review: This text is well structured and presented for anyone wishing to learn Latin. Though it is heavy on grammatical terms, the grammar glossary and frequent reading/translating practice will most definitely correct any deficiencies. The text is organised into 31 units where within each unit, aspects of vocabulary and grammar are presented. Exercises are then given at the end of each unit consisting of short authentic Latin passages. However, beginning in Unit 15, an extra reading exercise follows the regular execises. These extra reading exercises are much longer passages from various Latin authors. In addition, at the end of every three units, there is a summary exercise (these numerous exercises are what I admire most about the structure of the course!). Since Latin is no longer a primary means of world communication (a pity really!), the book is strongly geared to reading and translations (there is a short pronounciation guide at the beginning). However, this text would form a very suitable complement if one would also wish to learn how to speak Latin by purchasing a commercially available Latin language software (I have one from the Transparent language series - LatinNow!). All in all, a great text!