****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
There are a few lapses in this book, and in the series as a whole - for example, the use of "appropinquo" with an accusative rather than a dative. However, the first three books are an excellent introduction to Latin. I have used them with several complete beginners, and have had them all moved on to John Taylor's "Latin Stories" within a month.The strength of the series is is emphasis on simple stories, told through vocabulary that has enough derivatives in English to make sense without a dictionaryIt introduces the grammar a step at a time, and the student is never overburdened by it. My own custom is to use constructions in the text that do not really need to be explained, and to use them to explain the grammar. But that is my choice. If you work just through this series by yourself, you will be fully ready to move to the John Taylor book, after which you will can stand on tiptoe for the low-hanging fruit of the classics.In this volume, the stories begin to grow interesting - a nice one, close to the end, about a pirate raid. Except there are no ablative absolute as yet, or periodic structures, the Latin is coming close to the level of difficulty you might find in the Vulgate.Oh, very well - let me end this rather sniffy review with the confession that my students love the series, and I really should be giving it much higher praise than I have. Latin is not an easy language for English-speakers. These books come about as close as possible to making it easy. A shame they are out of print, and I must buy copies second-hand.
