Traditional grammar textbook

[Jacobus]

Salvete omnes,

I have been learning Latin almost exclusively from Lingua Latina. Up until now I have been happy just chugging along at a fair pace absorbing Ørberg's masterpiece. However, I think that one of the best ways to make words stick is through composition. Although I am learning many new words from Lingua Latina, I feel I must learn the grammar far faster. Is Wheelock's Latin the best option for this? I have never seen it, and have only read about it what is on this forum and the main page of the official website. Although exercises are useful, I am primarily after explanations and a fair amount of examples - tense formation, tense use, subjunctive etc...

If Wheelock is not the best way to go, then what does everyone else think? I will still carry on with Lingua Latina, but I want a stronger foundation of Latin grammar than is presented (in terms of explanation) in Lingua Latina.

Valete, multas gratias

Jack

[Superavi]

I haven't used Wheelock's, but from everything I've heard about it all the grammar is just kinda hurled out there at you. So yeah, I think that would be a good choice.

[Lex]

What about Moreland & Fleischer? I don't know if it has enough examples for your taste, though.

[Jacobus]

Thanks for your views. Lex, it's nice to be given another choice from what seems to be the status quo around here. I am about to look into your link.

Jack

[Lex]

Thanks for your views.

It's not really a view. I don't know enough about Latin to have one. I just mentioned another book that, coincidentally, has a board for it here at Textkit. That way, you have a choice.

[Jacobus]

Okay, perhaps I chose the wrong word. What I was after really was a reference grammar. That way, I don't get into the habit of decoding sentences like I've heard from some users of Wheelock. I read in a few places about there being inaccuracies in the Latin in Moreland and Fleischer, so I am a bit hesitant about that. In any case, a reference grammar would be best, as I am very prone to picking up bad habits. Does anyone have any suggestions on that? Also, I'd be interested to hear about the alleged inaccuracies in Moreland and Fleischer.

Gratias maximas

Jack

[Lex]

You could always go to fellow Textkitten edonnelly's site, and download PDF copies of some of the classics.

[edonnelly]

You could always go to fellow Textkitten edonnelly's site, and download PDF copies of some of the classics.

Well that, of course, is a brilliant idea!

Actually, from what I read in the original post, the best option may be one of Latin Books with Keys. There are several composition books there for latin learners of different levels. Personally, I think composition books without answer keys are useless, which is why I list all the books I could find keys for in their own section.

Another option is North and Hillard's Latin Prose Composition which also has a key, both of which are hosted right here on textkit. It's rather challenging, though, so depending upon exactly what one wants to learn, it may be better put off until later.

Wheelock's (a book you can buy) and D'Ooge's (a freebie) are standard latin text books. That is, they will introduce a concept, have some latin->english exercises, some english->latin ones and then a story or so to translate. These are both good books, but my guess is that depending upon how much you've learned from LL, they may be a little tedious, covering lots of material that you already know. A pure composition book, though, can really zero in on a lot of the subtleties that are hard to extract from either LL or the more traditional texts. Anyway, the great thing is that there are tons of options, the majority of which are completely free, so you can look around at a lot of stuff to find which best matches your needs.

[paulusnb]

Wheelock's is a textbook, not a reference. It is probably a good complement to Lingua Latina. Our Latin Heritage is a good (I say better) non-inductive textbook option http://product.half.ebay.com/Our-Latin- ... 5QQtgZinfo Each chapter (60) contains 10 Latin to English and 10 English to Latin sentences plus a paragraph.

As for reference, what is wrong with Allen and Greenough? It is what I use. http://www.amazon.com/Allen-Greenoughs- ... 639&sr=8-1

textkit also has a pdf of this.

Super Latin Review, which is set up like a textbook but still resembles a reference, is pretty good, and cheap! http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Super-Revie ... 700&sr=1-1



On a not so related note...edonnely, if I had had access to a key of Bradley's Arnold during college, I might not be the broken man I am today.