Ecci or Cambridge for supplemental Latin reading?

[Cindyg]

We're using Latin Prep, and we're most of the way through the first book with no problems thus far. I'd like more supplemental reading.

 

Details:

 

* DS is in the 6th grade.

* We've already done Minimus and Secundus, which DS loved.

* DS loves silly stories and cartoons.

* I need an audio of the stories to listen to.

* I need an English translation of the stories.

* We like short lessons.

* We don't need a workbook; we have Latin Prep.

 

So, which one do we want?

 

Many thanks. (It's so nice to have a place to ask these questions!)

Edited September 8, 2009 by Cindyg

[latinteach]

We're using Latin Prep, and we're most of the way through the first book with no problems thus far. I'd like more supplemental reading.

 

Details:

 

* DS is in the 6th grade.

* We've already done Minimus and Secundus, which DS loved.

* DS loves silly stories and cartoons.

* I need an audio of the stories to listen to.

* I need an English translation of the stories.

* We like short lessons.

* We don't need a workbook; we have Latin Prep.

 

So, which one do we want?

 

Many thanks. (It's so nice to have a place to ask these questions!)

 

1. Both are suitable for middle and secondary school.

 

2. Minimus and Secundus are published by Cambridge University Press, as is the Cambridge Latin Course (naturally.) Ecce Romani was originally written by the Scottish Classics Group and is published by Pearson in the United States.

 

3. Cambridge has some very clever, humorous situations in the stories. There's also a serious edge as well, but many of the stories are based upon characters from Roman comedic writers (who influenced Shakespeare and other playwrights in the writing of their comedies, and in fact, there are influences to this day in our situation comedies.) The serious edge stems from the fact that the story is set in Pompeii in 79 AD, so there's a historical setting, and also from the realities of what the lives of these characters were probably like (ie. the slaves, the gladiators, the patrons, the clients, etc.) There is humor in the situations that take place as the characters interact.

 

Ecce is good, just not as clever. At one point, when the family is travelling to Rome from Ostia (their seaside second home), their cart gets overturned in a ditch and they spend several chapters trapped there.

 

Regarding cartoons, both have illustrations. Cambridge's illustrations aren't really cartoons, but pictorial representations of the sample sentences meant to help students understand what they are reading. But there is often a humorous edge to them.

 

Ecce doesn't have nearly as many illustrations, but each chapter does have a full color painting that represents what is happening in the story in the chapter.

 

4. Both have audio versions available for you.

 

5. Both have translations available (teacher's manuals, you'll need to contact the publisher and provide proof that you are homeschooling)

 

6. You shouldn't have trouble dividing up longer stories. Just stop and then pick up again. This goes for both books. Cambridge does a good job of presenting grammar incrementally and spiralling (ie. recycling vocabulary and grammar concepts from previous chapters, so students are reviewing old material as they approach new material) vocabulary and grammar concepts.

 

7. The workbook exercises in Cambridge and Ecce are a bit different in style from the ones in Latin Prep. But both have workbooks available. (Ecce has a very good workbook.)

Edited September 8, 2009 by latinteach

[Cindyg]

Thank you for your comments, LatinTeach. Is it fair to sum this up your recommendation by saying that we would like either one, but you slightly recommend Cambridge over Ecce?

 

I appreciate your review.

[latinteach]

Thank you for your comments, LatinTeach. Is it fair to sum this up your recommendation by saying that we would like either one, but you slightly recommend Cambridge over Ecce?

 

I appreciate your review.

 

I think you would like either one. I think Cambridge has a more interesting storyline. I think that Ecce has better grammar/syntax explanations. But they are both really very good! (Cambridge does have a supplemental Latin grammar reference book if you like to have all the grammar explanations in one place.)

[Cindyg]

Thanks again, LT. Now I just wish I could hold them both in my hands for a few days.

[Peela]

I am not familiar with Ecce but used Cambridge for several years, and now use Latin Prep too, and will pick up Cambridge again as a reading program- I think. We will see.

Cambridge just has great stories. I learned that they are also based on Latin classical stories as well- they are not just "made up". Also, when I didnt have time, the kids could go online and translate for themselves.

Be aware that the first Cambridge book only covers a small fraction of the grammar that LP covers in its first book, though. However, that does make it excellent for reading practice and to pick up a vast amount of vocabulary.