This complete immersion course by Hans Ørberg is designed to get students comfortable reading and understanding Latin, and after completing the first part of the course, able to read some classic texts for themselves outside the program. Through the second part of the course, students will be reading classical texts by themselves, refine their syntax, and accrue a Latin vocabulary of over 4,000 more words. The publisher assures that after students have completed the second part of the course, they’ll be able to read fairly difficult classical texts.

The first portion of the course consists of a reader, Familia Romana, a student manual, Latin exercises, a Latin grammar booklet, and a list of Latin-English vocabulary used in the reader. The reader is written entirely in Latin, follows the daily life of a Roman family set in the 2nd century A.D., as told through 35 chapters and a 1500-word basic Latin vocabulary. The last portion of the book features readings from classical poets and Donatus’ Ars Grammatica, a popular Latin school text. Each chapter consists of two to three readings, followed by short sections on grammar highlighting grammatical points that have been used in the reading text, as well as grammar and vocabulary exercises to further solidify the student’s grasp of words and usage. The new words introduced in the reader are used in context, are explained through the illustrations, and are often noted in the margin. Altogether, it is designed so that the student should be able to read and advance through the book without extensive breaks to look up words, and reorient themselves. The chapters subtly advance in complexity so that the student gains new vocabulary through the context of words he or she has already become comfortable with, building onto their previous knowledge to acquire new knowledge fairly seamlessly. The Latine Disco, or student’s manual, functions as the student’s guide to pronunciation, and offers instructions and information on key points featured in each chapter of the reader. The Grammatica Latina manual contains paradigms and forms of Latin grammar, as used in the reader. Exercitia Latina offers the student multiple exercises to practice grammar, usage, and vocabulary using content and text from the lessons in the reader. Nearly a dozen or even more exercises are included in this book, offering extensive practice that would be highly beneficial to the student in learning the content more quickly and efficiently. While use of all components would certainly be best for a well-rounded and complete study, the publishers add that the use of Familia Romana and the student’s manual will get the student off to a good start as well.

Nearly the same components are included in the second part of the program, with a few exceptions. First, the Instructions for Part II serve the same function as the Latine Disco in Part I, but also includes background historical and grammatical information for each chapter in the corresponding reader. The reader for Part II focuses on Roman history through the eyes of Roman authors, and the 21 chapters include portions of the Aeneid I-IV, Livy’s Book 1, and the writings of Ovid. Indices are included with the reader and feature lists of Roman consuls, their accomplishments, and name and word indexes for the whole course.

Several types of instructional aids are available. Teacher’s Materials includes chapter-by-chapter exercises for Familia Romana and Roma Aeterna, answer keys to these exercises, and answer keys to Exercita Latina I and II. The Teacher’s Manual-like Latine Doceo does not contain answer keys, but does include plenty of information and advice for the teacher, tips on lesson planning, and helpful appendices.

Several CDs for Lingua Latina are also available, all designed for PCs only. The Familia Romana CD-ROM features the complete text of Familia Romana, an audio recording of 30 chapters of the book in classical Latin pronunciation, and an interactive version of the exercises. The Exercita Latina I CD-ROM contains supplementary grammatical exercises for all of the lessons in Familia Romana. An audio CD for Familia Romana is also available, which features an audio recording of chapters 1-10 in Familia Romana in classical Latin pronunciation. The Roma Aeterna CD-ROM includes the complete text of Roma Aeterna, an audio recording of 21 chapters in the book in classical Latin pronunciation, indices, an interactive version of the exercises, and an audio recording of the questions in Pensum C with answers.

Through immersing the student into Latin through the readings and exercises, it is expected that they will be “up and running” with a basic understanding of the Latin language, grammar, and acquire a basic Latin vocabulary in a focused and fairly easy way. The stories in the readers are written with humor and charm, and readers should find the content fairly interesting. I have to admit, when I first begin looking through the program, I was not too excited to be writing about it, but when I really starting examining it, it began to look organized, well-written, and hey, not even as intimidating as other Latin programs I’ve been familiar with. Fairly inexpensive and user-friendly, I’d give this one a try for your upper level students. - Jess

Customer Review

 
Regina H. from Virginia wrote the following on 02/21/2008:
This is--bar NONE--the best Latin program on the homeschool market. I have taught formal classical Latin and the more lightweight ecclesiastical Latin courses, so I have experience with the endless memorization work involved, with very little gain on the ordinary student understanding of Latin. The Lingua Latina program is an immersion approach toward a LITERARY use of Latin, which is what most of us who use Latin actually desire for our children. Users of the program begin reading actual Latin on the very first day, and with understanding, too! Hurray! In addition, the teacher guides and student guides do have those declinsions and conjugations, if there is an honest bent toward that approach. The supporting readers capture the approach extremely well. The icing on the cake is the CD-Rom, in which readers can hear the cadence and pronunciations of the Latin language as it was spoken during Roman times. Why pay more for the other programs? By the end of the first book, students are well into a traditional second year Latin. They are reading classical works, and they can feel good about their ability to learn and use Latin.