Need Latin recommendation for 14yo

[jamnkats]

My 14yo wants to learn Latin. TBH, so do I. So the level should be geared towards a more mature audience. He has been unschooled his entire life so I'm not looking for anything with grading (we can self evaluate without grades or tests, one would think) and we'd like it to be if not fun, then humorous at a minimum. I started to address this in another post I wrote but thought I might glean more info from a thread dedicated to Latin by itself.

 

Oh, and we definitely want nothing with a religious bent. We are somewhat :) rabidly secular. (can you be somewhat rabid?)

[Mama Lynx]

Check out Galore Park's offerings. At that age, you can choose "So You Really Want To Learn Latin," but I prefer the "Latin Prep" series. Latin Prep is geared toward 11 and up (but is really just fine for older teens, too); SYRWTLL is geared toward 13 and up. SYR moves faster, with fewer practice exercises.

 

Both are secular, and include a good bit of humor and lightheartedness while still being a serious program.

[abbeyej]

I'll second Stephanie's recommendation of Latin Prep. It's very clear, concise, funny, and has lots of practice (both with grammar and with translation). I haven't seen anything I like nearly so well. :)

 

I don't know if this is a concern, but if you're considering giving high school credit for it, you'll need to get through about a book and a half for each of the first two years (Latin Prep 1-3 = ~ 2 years of American high school Latin), and So You Really Want to Learn Latin 3 (which can be used after LP1-3) would count as an American high school Latin 3 class. You will also want to add some basic Roman history/culture in order to match the expectations for a high school language course. Students would be expected to know the basics of Roman government (and the evolution of that government), family structure, household, army and religion... If your student has learned that outside of Latin, there's no particular need to repeat. Otherwise, there are any number of entertaining, informative books on the subjects that could fill in that gap.

[runningirl71]

I third Latin Prep! :)

[jamnkats]

You will also want to add some basic Roman history/culture in order to match the expectations for a high school language course. Students would be expected to know the basics of Roman government (and the evolution of that government), family structure, household, army and religion... If your student has learned that outside of Latin, there's no particular need to repeat. Otherwise, there are any number of entertaining, informative books on the subjects that could fill in that gap.

 

I'm planning on extensive hours playing Age of Empires to satisfy this req. :)

 

Honestly, I haven't a clue. I guess since they're getting to that age, I should figure out what an ex-pat is expected to provide in that arena and what they want to do about it. I've never kept a record or portfolio so I guess I need a primer on, well, I'm not even sure what I need a primer on. :) I suppose I should head to the highschool board but maybe I'll check with some unschooling board first and see what other ex-pat unschoolers do (do about what? gawds I'm clueless...)

 

Oh, and Latin Prep has been repeatedly recommended so thanks to both of you for continuing the rave reviews. I think we'll probably go with that. Thanks so much!

[latinteach]

My 14yo wants to learn Latin. TBH, so do I. So the level should be geared towards a more mature audience. He has been unschooled his entire life so I'm not looking for anything with grading (we can self evaluate without grades or tests, one would think) and we'd like it to be if not fun, then humorous at a minimum. I started to address this in another post I wrote but thought I might glean more info from a thread dedicated to Latin by itself.

 

Oh, and we definitely want nothing with a religious bent. We are somewhat :) rabidly secular. (can you be somewhat rabid?)

 

For grammar-based programs, Wheelock's Latin is a great choice. It's inexpensive ($21.95 trade paper; $29.95 hardcover). There's an accompanying audio CD available and an excellent website with audio files. The editor is a highly respected American classicist with a wonderful sense of humor. There are several online mailing lists dedicated to working through the book. Authentic Latin literature is introduced from the beginning. This is a college level textbook, but it is also used by middle and high school students, who cover the material over a longer period of time. (Dr. LaFleur has pacing suggestions for middle and high school students on his website.) Because it uses authentic Latin literature and readings, the themes will be historical, philosophical, and literary, which may well appeal to an intelligent young person.

 

Galore Park's "So You Want to Learn Latin" is also quite good. The only criticism I have is that I disagree with their "golden rules" for Latin translation. (The rules -- find the verb, match it with a subject, look for a direct object -- will work in the beginning, but as you progress to more complex sentences, these rules may actually not work quite so well and impede reading fluency.) Other than that, I think it presents the grammar quite clearly and efficiently, and with humor.

 

(See Anne Mahoney's advice for reading Latin at http://www.stoa.org/~mahoney/teaching/hale_art.html and Ginny Lindzey's advice on metaphrasing from http://txclassics.org/ginny_articles15.htm -- advice which can be used with any Latin textbook.)

 

Lingua Latina by Hans Oerberg is a humorous direct method course, which means that it teaches Latin in Latin. A lot of people will start working through Oerberg after working through the first chapters of a grammar-based textbook. There is a very, very good grammatical commentary available for this book called "Lingua Latina A College Companion" by Jeanne Neumann (available from the American publisher of LL, which is Focus Publishing), which includes an excellent scope and sequence as well as English language supplements to the grammar. There is also an online Yahoo email list for this book. I believe that there may be one reference in a story to a Christian character, but it is within the context of Roman history, and the curriculum itself is secular without a religious theme.

 

The Cambridge Latin Course is a reading method course, meaning that it focuses on teaching grammar and syntax in the context of graded readings and promotes learning how to read Latin fluently in a left to right word order. (This is similar to Oerberg, which also promotes reading fluently, however Cambridge presents its grammar lessons in English.) This is a secular curriculum developed at Cambridge University and the story in the book has plenty of humor (the characters are developed from 1- real characters who existed in Pompeii in combination with 2- characters from Roman comedy plays that survive to this day) although the story does have a somewhat sad ending (it takes place in Pompeii in 79 AD.) There's lots of support for this textbook too through the Cambridge School Classics Project and the North American Cambridge Classics Project and the Cambridge Resource Center. Books with a similar set up are the Oxford Latin Course (developed at Oxford University, centered around the life of the ancient poet Horace) and Ecce Romani (based on a Roman family).

 

A new curriculum is Latin for the New Millenium, which is what the publisher calls a "fusion" textbook -- a traditional grammar base combined with reading method techniques. It doesn't have connected readings, but instead divides its chapters up into classical themes. It has ample online support -- a dedicated interactive website -- and also includes sections on spoken Latin. It's definitely a secular textbook and likely geared toward preparing students for Advanced Placement courses.

 

Hope that gets you started with some ideas for secular curricula.

[jamnkats]

Wow! Thank you so much! I'm looking at Cambridge links and The New Millennium right now.

[threetreasurs]

I'm planning on extensive hours playing Age of Empires to satisfy this req. :)

 

Sounds like my sons idea of great history!

[laughing lioness]

You have awesome recommendations. Have you looked at Latin's Not so Tough? VERY simple to get started and you begin translating right away. My selfish motive for posting this is that I have it for sale very inexpensivley = )

[gardenschooler]

 

A new curriculum is Latin for the New Millenium, which is what the publisher calls a "fusion" textbook -- a traditional grammar base combined with reading method techniques. It doesn't have connected readings, but instead divides its chapters up into classical themes. It has ample online support -- a dedicated interactive website -- and also includes sections on spoken Latin. It's definitely a secular textbook and likely geared toward preparing students for Advanced Placement courses.

 

 

 

Thanks for the reminder about Latin for the New Millenium. I drooled over this all of last year, but it wasn't available yet when I needed it. I love everything from this publisher, so I thought it might be a good fit.

 

We did Henle I and Cambridge I last year, and I was planning on continuing with that. However, I really like what I see of Latin for the New Millenium in the sample pages, just as I knew I would!

 

Maybe I can get it for myself, and stop with the Wheelock's. I think I can justify the purchase that way. :D