Customer Reviews

Prima Latina, Student Book

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great Latin starter for the younger grades. The pronuciation is ecclesiastical. We are not Catholic, but found the program very useful for learning the inital grammar rules. It is designed for an independent reader, although you can adapt to a non-reader. The lessons are laid out nicely, introducing about 6 words per lesson, in addition to lines from a prayer. The grammar rules are explained simply and a young child can catch on quickly. The words are laid out on the page aesthetically and there are no cartoons or other frills to distract the teacher or the child, like some programs.

I have seen a few other Latin Primers and find this to be one of the better ones for the younger grades.

I learned the classical pronunciation in college and I have had NO problem whatsoever switching over to the ecclesiastical. The previous reviewer mentioned we should teach children the "Standard" pronunciation in the first place. Well, there is no "standard" pronunciation. Some disciplines require ecclesiastical pronunciation, and some classical. They are both valuable and once you know one, it's really no trouble to switch over to the other. If you plan on singing in Latin, it has always been with the ecclesiastical pronunciation in my experience, which always screwed me up in college since I was learning classical Latin and taking voice lessons at the same time. ;) Before I bought Prima Latina for my son I consulted with a college graduate school professor about which pronunciation would be better to teach children. He was of the opinion that both pronunciations are equally valid and it doesn't really matter. So if you're worried about teaching your child the "standard" pronunciation, well, good luck on finding agreement in the academic world about which pronunciation is "standard."

As for the program itself, it is exactly how I would teach Latin to children if I were doing it off the top of my head. The grammar is not too difficult. My son started at age 6 and really had no trouble. Each week he memorizes 5-6 vocabulary words, one line from a Latin prayer, a bit of grammar (like a noun is a person, place, or thing), and one practical Latin phrase (like "Quo vadis?" Where are you going?) We also have purchased the music CD, Lingua Angelica, and we learned how to sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" (Adeste Fidelis) in Latin this past Christmas. It was really fun!
Even though I had college Latin, I can see how a parent with no Latin training at all can teach using this program. The pronunciation CD is very clear and the lessons are easily laid out and clear. [...]

It's a well-balanced course that gives young learners enough new material to make good progress without being too much of a challenge. If you follow the instructions and revise past units regularly you will achieve excellent progress. The pronunciation follows that of church Latin but this is no more of a difference than say a New Yorker talking with a Californian. Should you prefer the more classical pronunciation it's easy to change or learn in addition.

For further reading I recommend Puer Zingiberi Panis: et Fabulae Alterae (Latin Edition) and Musici Bremae: et Fabulae Alterae (Latin Edition) for very young learners. For those at an intermediate level or above the Christian rendering of Robinson Crusoe is great Robinson Secundus: Robinson in Christian Latin (Latin Edition)!

I'm fine with the ecclesiastical pronunciation in Latin -- it's perfectly valid -- but when the speaker sounds completely American and doesn't attempt to make the vowels more latinate and clean, well, that's bad. They could have found a couple thousand folks with better ecclesiastical Latin than this. Yikes.

The workbook itself is fine, but not necessarily needed since the program is meant for younger children. The teacher's manual is the workbook with answers, so you can save the money and write the answers on a blank piece of paper. I also had them write parts of the lesson down so they could be more engaged in the lesson itself.

I love so many things about this course:

- it treats young children as perfectly capable of learning the rudiments of a language like Latin

- it comes with a DVD to make home schooling that little bit easier, especially if the parent supervising the home study doesn't know much Latin

- it uses ecclesiastical pronuncation (not classical pronunciation), so it is exactly the Latin the children hear and know from Mass, Gregorian chant and prayers - This is where they will encounter Latin on a constant basis throughout their lives, rather than any Classical Latin they may later study - so the Church pronunciation is essential (and part of their heritage)

- it teaches the children basic chants from the Mass and some basic Latin prayers.

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I am a homeschooling mom and i was dreading teaching Latin because I never took it. This makes it very easy and doable.

My kids love this program and want to learn Latin everyday! We are using it from K, 2nd, 6th, and 9th grades. We use this along with the DVDs as a family and it is very enjoyable. Definitely does NOT want to make the homeschool mom pull her hair out! Money well spent and we will be continuing with the next level when we finish this one.

After having studied several years of Latin myself, I was determined to start my daughter young [...]. I bought this book on the recommendation of another Homeschool Mom. I like the simplicity in which the lessons are presented, however, the Ecclesiastical pronunciation is horrible! I found myself trying to teach her the Classical pronunciation, but that made filling in the worktext very difficult because a lot of the questions focus on pronunciation. This may seem like a small issue, but if your child will be continuing his/her Latin education into college, he/she will likely have to completely change pronunciation after years of learning. Why not make it easier and learn the standard way first?