Customer Reviews

Lingua Latina: A College Companion based on Hans Orberg's Latine Disco, with Vocabulary and Grammar

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

THANK YOU. I received this a month ago and I am thrilled. I am self teaching, and this resource is making it so much easier for me to understand and move through the material with confidence I am learning and understanding what I should, chapter by chapter.

Many adult self learners and homeschool families have struggled with or passed on Lingua Latina because they do not have access to Latin teachers and/or have no Latin experience, as such, the 100% direct approach has been less attractive than traditional guided approaches. This guide provides the Latin experience of a teacher guiding you through the course. All the grammar that you are to learn in each chapter is explained, and the new vocabulary is defined chapter by chapter so you don't have to look it up in a tiny print glossary that was my only resource before. The Companion is in English - while I applaud the idea that one can learn Latin by total immersion, as a self-learner, I am much more comfortable having the grammatical explanations in English!

The sample pages at Focus Publishing provide a good feel for the how the entire book flows, it is well designed and easy to use. I never felt sure I was getting everything out of each chapter that I should until I went back and read through the related Companion chapters. It's caused me to review old material, but I am much more comfortable now with what I am learning.

Having failed miserably trying to self-teach with Wheelock's, I found Lingua Latina to be much more intuitive, enjoyable and doable, but I struggled to understand the grammatical structure, and the Latin-only support materials made it an uphill climb to construct this myself. The Companion has made this information much more accessible and ensures that this direct method course is an effective way to learn Latin for me.

Julie Brennan
San Diego, CA

In the following review, I will discuss what this book contains, who it is good for, and its pluses and minuses. I hope it helps! "Lingua Latina" was a Godsend for me!

Neumann's "companion" book to the first volume of Orberg's "Lingua Latina" series (a total immersion Latin method) is a very helpful edition-for some people, namely the self-teaching (or for a teacher struggling to teach Orberg without much of a grounding in Latin). The fact is that it is really a substitute for a teacher. For this reason, the title is misleading, it ought to be "the autodidact's companion". However, if one does buy it (which I encourage the autodidact to do), it can replace the two books written by Orberg, "Latine Disco" and "Grammatica Latina." However, it would be best to study "Latine Disco as best as one can since the presentation preserves and strengthens the immersion method.

The whole point of "Lingua Latina" is that the student learns Latin from the inside as it were. Neumann's book functions as a sort of bridge for the autodidact, and as such it is in English. This fact alone impinges on the immersion method Orberg worked so hard to make. As such it is not an ideal book, and this and the fact that it's title is little misleading are the only reasons I gave it 4 stars instead of five. Ideally, one would have a teacher who asks questions in Latin, lectures in Latin, and demands answers in Latin, hence prodding the student to really live the language and internalise it.

However, we don't live in an ideal world, and even if one does find a teacher who uses the Orberg texts, he may not be a sufficiently trained teacher for the student to really know the material without a remedial text, such as is to be found in Neumann's book. It is extremely straightforward and crystal clear in its explanations.

So what exactly is in Neumann's book? It is a chapter-by-chapter grammar guide to the "Familia Roma" book, and it includes the vocabulary for each chapter presented in a more systematic fashion than is found in the main text and examples are given for each grammatical point as well as the occasional explication on some historic oddity. A morphology table is included at the end as is a vocabulary by chapter index and a Latin English dictionary.

I must emphasize, however, that the "Exercitia" are a vital part of the method and must be purchased and worked through to really get a grasp of Latin. The answer key is readily available and includes the answers for the main texts chapter homeworks, which is an added bonus for auto-didacts. For the self-learner or home-schooling parent, the following books should be used: "Familia Romana" (the main text", "Lingua Latina: A College Companion", and the "Exercitia." The CD is well worth buying as well because it features Orberg reading the text (and his reading is not dry or wooden) and it has an interactive version of the in-book homeworks. Be patient and don't study too much at once. Good luck!

I have found Jeannne Neumann's book fantastic and indispensable in my own study of Latin and, of course, with use of Hans Oerberg's Lingua Latina. As a self-learner, homeschool mom and teacher to homeschool students, this book has given me excellent insight into the Latin language; perspectives I wouldn't have discovered on my own, and background/historical information that answers questions that have been lingering in my mind for eons! I believe a person could benefit from this and LL even if using another curriculum (perhaps hitting a trouble spot) ~ the explanations and readings are so thorough and helpful.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

Don't let the title fool you: Jeanne Neumann's guide to Hans Oerberg's Lingua Latina: Familia Romana isn't just for college students. I'm a homeschool parent and tutor, and the College Companion has cut my lesson prep time in half. The book brings together materials that were previously scattered among several small booklets, but the resulting whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Neumann's detailed and clear grammatical explanations make her book an indispensable guide to the Oerberg course for homeschoolers, independent learners, and teachers alike.

After reading all the positive reviews posted concerning Jeanne Marie Neumann's companion text to Hans Orberg's Lingua Latina introduction to the Latin language, more needs to be said about what I will call Neumann's "work in progress." Neumann is Latin teacher at Davidson College; her book appears to be a compilation of the lessons she uses in class with her students. My guess is that her materials work quite well as long as she is available to answer questions about material not made clear in her text. For those self-teaching individuals reading this review, Neumann's book is not as helpful as it could be if she had taken more time to edit her work and submit it to scholars in her field and a good editor, all of whom would have pointed out errors and inconsistencies in her text and points of confusion for the reader.

Neumann does not fully support Orberg's intention to teach Latin through Latin with no English provided to the learner. Orberg maintains that this is the best way to learn the language. Neumann agrees only in part and that is her problem. Her book is a kind of middle ground. She uses English to explain some material presented in Orberg's Lingua Latina book, but then leaves the learner to puzzle through many Latin examples. She needs to commit to the use of English throughout her text. Learning Latin is difficult and time consuming enough without unnecessary obstacles to slow down the learner.

Additionally, she does not systematically present the conjugation of verbs and declension of nouns until chapter 10. Instead, she gives bits and pieces of verbs and nouns to the reader. She should use standard dictionary citations right from the start of her text. Chapter 10 is a good example of all that is wrong with Neumann's book. It is often confusing and has mistaken translations such as the following: "Pueri puellam canere audiunt" which Neumann translates "The boys see the girl sing", when she means hear -- audiunt. A good editor is needed for Neumann's text!

For anyone reading this review, the work involved in learning to read Latin competently is a challenge of a high order. Neumann does not tell the reader of her text that memorizing the conjugation of verbs and the declension of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives is absolutely essential if one is to have any hope of making steady progress in learning the language. Additionally, Latin is not a subject one dabbles at with any expectation of acquiring competence. Daily practice over several years is necessary if one is to have any hope of doing what Orberg suggests is possible; that is, reading Latin competently without translation.

As this review suggests, Neumann's book is moderately helpful in its current form, but a second edition is definitely needed.

Just a note of caution about this book, primarily for self-learners:

A detailed companion in English really defeats the purpose of a 'total immersion' course like Ørberg's Lingua Latina. The chief merit of Lingua Latina is to push the student into thinking in Latin; that's what sets it apart from other, more celebrated methods that teach nothing but deciphering skills, or puzzle-solving tricks.

Self-learners need to be all the more careful not to get distracted into a detached, deciphering frame of mind. Besides, Lingua Latina *does* have explicit discussions of grammatical concepts (entirely in Latin); and the marginal notes (entirely in Latin likewise) throughout the book provide all the help a student needs in order to pick up the new vocabulary. *Furthermore*, the 'Pensa' at the end of each chapter, and the exercise book provide all the help in letting the new material 'sink'.

Learning to 'think in Latin' via a 'total immersion' method certainly is not an easy task; but neither is it gratuitously difficult--it's rather a challenge which eventually rewards amply the student's labors. While learning a language certainly does involve a lot of 'memorization', one ought always to mind the difference between 'learning by heart', and 'rote learning': "Gratuitously difficult" would be to try to memorize chart after chart, of declensions and conjugations, without having the slightest clue as to how a sentence is put together, how anything is said idiomatically in a language. The student working through Lingua Latina 'commits to memory' thousands of words, and rules of grammar, and so on--but, to repeat myself once again, what makes Ørberg's method different, is that it accomplishes all of this *without* ONCE telling the student that he or she has to be able to 'recite' a certain sequence of 'endings'.

--Just to make myself clear: There is, of course, a venerable tradition, of teaching the ancient languages through translation; but the best representatives of that tradition, are again, authors who train the student into thinking in a language as it were 'from the inside'. I don't think Frank Beetham's Greek series are all that different from the Ørbergian approach, although they are entirely translation-oriented, and supply all their instruction in English. The 'detached deciphering' approach, on the other hand, is epitomized by Wheelock and the like.--

The 'College Companion', I think, would seriously distract the student from such a learning objective--that is, learning to 'think in Latin'. The same can be said about Ørberg's own "Latine Disco", on which the 'College Companion' is based. Indeed, in his brief 'Advice to the Teacher' that opens the volume 'Teacher's Materials' (see link below), Ørberg stresses that preliminary discussions, in English, of each chapter's content in the classroom context, "should not take more than a few minutes".

Vocabulary lists through both volumes of L.L. (and several supplementary texts), by the way, are provided free of charge by focus publishing on their website.

A decent dictionary, Ørberg's grammar booklet, and the 'Teacher's Materials' volume for solutions to the 'Pensa' and the Exercise Books (links provided below), in my opinion, would provide the *appropriate* sort of help for self-learners through Lingua Latina. **The dictionary is not essential, at least through Vol.I, for speakers of languages indebted (to say the least) to Latin. (This is also a good place to remind the reader, that the Lewis & Short, in its entirety, is freely available through the Perseus Project, with really helpful search options as well)** The grammar booklet is for quick reference, and for refreshing one's memory. The answer key, it goes without saying, is an absolute must for self-learners.

Lingua Latina per se illustrata. Pars I: Familia Romana, Grammatica Latina (Latin Edition Pt.1)
Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary
Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata: Teachers' Materials & Answer Keys for Pars I & II (Latin Edition)

It is a COMPANION to Orberg, children. Get it? It is not a stand-alone text.

At age 51, having studied Latin for years, fluent in Spanish, English major (Florida State, class of '82), etc., etc. IT AMAZES ME how juvenile and off the mark the reviewers are here; i.e., the ones who give the book one/two/three stars. They have no idea what a monumental achievement this book is, BUT THEY FOUND A TYPO! And they are so proud of themselves.

You gotta feel for Jeanne Neumann, who should not have to put up with this mindless drivel - most of it from below-average freshman/sophmores, I'd bet - but she knows how Amazon works.

The last I heard, Neumann will be doing a companion to Roma Aeterna next, and let's hope these kids who've written here DO NOT comment on that text.

I received the College Companion today. On first review (four chapters from the middle), it seems to be riddled with errors (minor and major) and contains no more explanatory content than the Latine Disco. The lack of an index (or at least a listing of which chapter that each grammatical term is explored in) also counts as a minus.

I was just hoping for more detailed explanations of concepts that I was fuzzy on. Instead, I get the same explanations plus a vocabulary list. Yay.

I'm going to have to recommend that people looking to buy this product, shouldn't. I am very disappointed in it.

This book is very helpful when you have trouble with _Familia Romana_. The vocab in the back is very helpful.
Lydia R.

I am on a pre-med path will obtain a B.S. in both Neuroscience and Biology with a minor in psychology. As you can tell, I am trying to prepare the best I can for the MCATs and medical school. My thinking was that taking Latin would drastically help my understanding of terminology that I would come across on a daily basis. This is definitely not true, I advise not taking latin at all if you are planning on utilizing this book and even in general. Take Spanish, Arabic, or Chinese and you will be in high demand from many employers.