Readers or Primers

[doridea]

I'm just starting with D'Ooge's Latin for Beginners, and I was wondering if there was a Reader or Primer that might be a good read to go along with it. Also what would all of you recommend as the first 'works' to be attempted after finishing the course?

Thanks,
Wuscfrea (my SCA name)

[rustymason]

Salve,

When one learns from a grammar book, one also needs a reader and a composition book. Beginner's books, like D'Ooge's, combine the three. I would recommend doing D'Ooge along with one or two other grammar books, just for comparison. Concentrate on D'ooge until you have it mastered. There are reading and writing exercises as you go along, and at about Lesson 50 ( of 78 ) D'Ooge gives you longer passages to read.

[klewlis]

I've used the Cambridge Latin Course for a reader, and it has been excellent. The stories are entertaining and gradually increase in difficulty. Others use the Lingua Latina series with the same success. :)

[rustymason]

I've used the Cambridge Latin Course for a reader, and it has been excellent. The stories are entertaining and gradually increase in difficulty. Others use the Lingua Latina series with the same success.

I, too, like the Orberg Lingua Latina books as a companion because I get to see everyday Latin in use by regular Romans.

[Kasper]

Salve,

When one learns from a grammar book, one also needs a reader and a composition book. Beginner's books, like D'Ooge's, combine the three. I would recommend doing D'Ooge along with one or two other grammar books, just for comparison. Concentrate on D'ooge until you have it mastered. There are reading and writing exercises as you go along, and at about Lesson 50 ( of 78 ) D'Ooge gives you longer passages to read.

I strongly disagree with these recommendations. You will spend months covering the same principles and after 2 years you will know no more than you could have learned in 3 months. In my opinion the best course is to use 1 grammar and work all the way through it. Make sure you learn all the paradigms properly, and as much of the syntax as possible.

If you must use a reader, then at least wait until you have covered about 3/4 of your grammar. Better still, mea sententia, would be to start reading a 'real' latin text, e.g. de bello gallico, preferably with annotations to help you with the difficult bits of grammar.

Start composition when you have finished your grammar. Afterall, every grammar book i've ever seen already incorporates composition (i.e. english to latin exercises).