What to read next for new Latin student

Latin Learning Latin
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I have just started taking my daughter, a 7th grader, through a Latin text I had in a college freshman Latin course (many moons ago!), Latin for Reading: a Beginner’s Textbook with Exercises. FWIW, she asked me to tutor her in Latin—this isn’t something I’m inflicting on her. :blush: We have just started, but as she is taking two honors courses in school, we’re doing fine so far. It will take us a while to go through it, but I’m thinking about the next stage, going through a longer Latin text.

Obviously now she’s not ready, but I’d like to have a plan in place. At some point, say, halfway or so through the book, I’d like to do more than just some grammatical exercises that are in this book. I’d like to start on an actual Latin text. I do not mean to say that we’ll just stop with the exercises in the text we are using; just that we’ll take an occasional dip into actual Latin prose, just to whet the whistle.

I have two options here. If someone here wants to suggest another, feel free. One is the next course I took after my freshman intro. It used From Aeneas to Augustus. I remember liking it, but of course, it wasn’t one longer text, but a combination of shorter texts, from a variety of writers. The advantage here is that you don’t get bogged down in one long book, if she decides the story is kind of boring. And it does offer a nice, quick glimpse through early Roman history.

Another option is to get a beginner’s edition of a text such as Caesar’s de Bello Gallico, and see if we can’t go through that. I have two in mind: Clyde Pharr’s Vergil’s Aeneid, and Hans-Friedrich Mueller’s selections from Caesar’s de Bello Gallico.

Now my question to you all, is one of these options better suited for my purposes than the other? Is there a reason why a bright & motivated 7th-8th grade student couldn’t go through any of these? If each of these three texts are too advanced, I suppose I could wait till we complete the entire Latin for Reading. At that point, I’d have to think that any of these three books would be good. But would any of them be accessible, say, halfway through the Latin for Reading course?

When I went through the Latin for Reading, it was an accelerated 6 week summer course, several hours a day of class & then homework. I then jumped into From Aeneas to Augustus that fall, IIRC. Since this isn’t even part of her actual classwork, we will be going through it at a much slower pace, so I just don’t want to get so bogged down in the grammar that she loses sight of the actual goal, which is to read & translate actual Latin writing. I realize that the Latin for Reading does get the student reading & translating actual Latin sentences. But I’m looking for larger portions of historical texts, that’s all.

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Lingua Latina perse iluturata is the best.

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Why translate? I say, do Lingua Latina. Then get Oerberg’s reader of De Bello Gallico, if you want Caesar.

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Aeneas to Augustus, Caesar, or Pharr’s Virgil are very likely to be too big of a jump.

I agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion of Lingua Latina. Another very good transitional reader, designed to prepare for Caesar but simpler, with short, entertaining stories, is Richie’s Fabulae Faciles.

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Those three would be too big of a jump after working with Latin for Reading for just a few months? Or are you saying that would be the case, even after completing it?

I just googled Richie’s FF. Looks very promising. Price is right, as well. I think I’ll go in that direction, until one of these three (A to A, Caesar, or Virgil) are more accessible.


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I agree with the suggestions in the thread. Even if used as a supplement to another course, the LLPSI books would be great reading material for beginners. Your daughter would be able to start at the beginning and read through assimilating the vocabulary primarily from the context, rather than having to keep referring to a dictionary. Besides Fabulae Faciles, another beginner reader that I thought was interesting, and is probably a little more difficult than the final parts of Fabulae Faciles, was A First Latin Reader by H.C. Nutting, which contains short passages about American and Roman history, written in a Caesar-like style. If I remember the introduction correctly, Nutting intended the book to be used after completion of his Latin primer, and prior to reading actual Caesar. There is enough Latin reading material, I think, easier than Caesar that it’s worth spending some time looking through it if you can find anything of sufficient interest. Here’s one list of this sort of material.
https://vivariumnovum.it/risorse-didattiche/pratica-didattica/libri-scolastici

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Another option for Ritchie’s Fabulae is the PDF version by Geoffrey Steadman, with notes on vocabulary right with the text. It is a free download and is printable. You can get it here: https://geoffreysteadman.com/ritchies-fabulae-faciles/.

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That is a very nice list of material, thanks for posting that link.
Yes the suggested text here (LLPSI) looks like it would be a suitable bridge. At this point, I’ll see how long she’s willing to go with just grammatical exercises, and then LLPSI looks like a good beginner’s text. If that material isn’t “pure Latin” enough for her, we’ll trudge along and get another more advanced one, later in the process.

Some very good suggestions here. Thanks to all.

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OK I’m seeing a few different versions of LLPSI. Is this the one that I should start with?

https://www.amazon.com/Lingua-Latina-Illustrata-Pars-Familia/dp/1585104205/ref=pd_bxgy_img_3/131-4143876-6206637?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1585104205&pd_rd_r=30a165fe-2dbf-4454-b9a7-de2dc0136a28&pd_rd_w=rXvIj&pd_rd_wg=27Oy5&pf_rd_p=fd08095f-55ff-4a15-9b49-4a1a719225a9&pf_rd_r=WYP21Z8Z7QPYSAFMZJXB&psc=1&refRID=WYP21Z8Z7QPYSAFMZJXB

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That’s the one. If you want to continue with the grammar exercises (and get a lot of extra encounters with the vocabulary of each chapter), get Exercitia Latina as well - https://www.amazon.com/Exercitia-Latina-Exercises-Familia-Romana/dp/1585102121/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lingua+latina+exercitia+latina&qid=1583525666&sr=8-1

There is also a book called Teacher’s Materials which provides answers for all of the Pensa in the LLPSI book itself, as well as the answers for all of the exercises in Exercitia Latina.

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I’ve come across a lot of resources here, much obliged.

I’ll probably post back here when I’m stumped some time!

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You might try some Latin Novellas. They are fun to read, and they make you feel like you are succeeding “Look Dad --no hands! (I’m reading Latin and enjoying it)” They are so easy that you read in Latin without translating into English. The stories are interesting, and usually have a surprise ending. The number of words tells you it’s level. Many have female heroes.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bF8hZuxTDtgNMSSdonEX112JJaVYqoPH7w27Oju9ETs/edit
(Jacobulus) Jim