I wanted to know your guys’s opinion on this course: http://www.hieronymus.us.com/Venalia/IndLatin.htm. Is this still available? I have heard Bedwere talk very highly of this course. I am thinking about using it because I am thinking about switching to ecclesiastical pronunciation, as it comports more with my reading interests (medieval and post-reformation Latin).
Also, how does this guy’s material compare with Evan der Millner’s? How does this course compare with Adler? Better?
It’s too bad it’s so expensive. It seems to me that the Familia Sancti Hieronymi, in trying to finance itself through this course, is not doing itself any favours, since their membership is dependent on people wanting to learn Latin.
Are any of you guys also familiar with Adler? Do you like this course better? Adler is pretty good, but one thing that really bothers me is the overuse of the verb habere… it gets old fast.
I am somewhat familiar with Adler, and I would not recommend it as a first choice, though it might have value for the oral aspect of the exercises. There seems to be some kind of infatuation with Adler on the internet, possibly because of Evan der Millner’s podcasts. But in my view, there are far better textbooks available in the public domain with the key to the exercises. Unfortunately I cannot comment on Cursus Linguae Latinae Vivae.
And I am not familiar with Adler’s book. From what I can see from the scan, the CLLV has a very different approach. Fr. Suitbert thought that languages are better studied and learned through hearing. That’s why he recorded hours and hours of conversation all in Latin. The book is just an appendix. In Adler’s times, it was impossible to do that. Fr. Suitbert is far lighter on grammar than Adler. Also, Fr. Suitbert’s book starts in English but rapidly switches to Latin. It is all in Latin at the end, except for some footnotes, while Adler is bilingual all the way.
Ursinus, since you want to become fluent in Latin, why don’t you join us in the Agora? We have an ongoing thread on the weather and one where Viviparidus posts delightful comic images, for which we find words.