The choices, preferences, experiences, and particular strengths and weaknesses of a given book’s creators will unavoidably shape its presentation of the Latin language. Any and every introductory text will have a bias of some sort or other.
The good news is that there’s something for everyone. There are books for folks who want or need lots of help, there are versions for those who just want to engage the plain Latin text. If you’re somewhere in between, well, you’re covered too.
Words are our windows to the mind of our predecessors, and what we find there might surprise us. And, quite possibly, enlighten us.
Every time we sing it or listen to “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” we stand with the previous sixty-odd generations of forebears who sang the same song. Eternity is now.
The Latin language is a little bit (just a little) like the alien language from the film. At least it is from the perspective of us speakers of Modern English.
Now, I can’t deny that “seize the day” sounds a lot more inspiring than “pluck the day.”  How does one pluck a day, anyway? Here’s where it pays to go to the source. What exactly is Horace getting at in the eleventh poem in his first book of odes?
Podcasts allow you to listen to the written word even when your eyes aren’t free to look at the parchment, and even when the narrator isn’t present.  Just imagine what Cicero or Vergil could have done with podcasts.
We can’t understand what we don’t even know.  We can’t draw valid conclusions if we don’t have the facts. Memorization gives us the matter to feed our cogitations.
The Connection Gettysburg, Bishops, and Androids. What, you may wonder, is the connection? And what do they have to do with Latin? Well, as we’ll see, Latin is the connection. Allow me to explain. Gettysburg, Bishops, Androids, and Latin? What’s the connection? Well, let me tell you . . . Let’s start with Gettysburg. I’m not … Read more
What’s the best way to teach (or learn) Latin? Regardless of our particular pedagogical philosophy, most of us feel the need to employ a textbook in some capacity. I’ve used a wide variety of textbooks as a student, a teacher, a parent, and a tutor.  I’m hoping to share the fruit of that experience here.