Can anyone that’s used those books comment on them? I’ve only looked through D’Ooge’s book and it looks pretty promising. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it asks for Latin-to-English translation (English-to-Latin, or composition, would have made that book a whole lot better). I’ve read that M&F is really tough. I’ve also read that it’s the best book to learn Latin from. Can anyone verify this? Does anyone know of a free version online? Of M&F that is. And how does it compare to D’Ooge’s book?
I’ve used both books. Your perception is correct. D’Ooge is much the simpler book, the traditional grammar lesson followed by exercises. M&F is more like a review of Latin. It’s a steep climb. I’ve gotten to chapter 8 and am now taking a break from it, back to reading simple enjoyable Latin stories for the time being. One of the problems with textbooks such as M&F (and to some extent Wheelock) is that they feel they must impress the college crowd with abstractions and philosophical thoughts.
Better to teach Latin, I think, with the concrete and material. Reading a Latin sentence is difficult enough without having to encounter the vagaries of someone’s individual and non-predictable view of the world. On the positive side, M&F has good grammatical notes. To my knowledge it’s not available online.