Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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100 of 104 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An indispensable introduction, April 2, 2002
I've used Wheelock's Latin from both sides: as a disaffected student, eager to learn a language that I didn't have to -speak-, and as an instructor, in several of Indiana University's entry-level courses.As a student, I fell maddeningly in love with this book. It's not an easy read, nor is it like most college textbooks. It can be pedagogical at times, old-fashioned at others (another reviewer pointed out the recent excisions of some non-PC examples), but above all, it's -thorough-. It was written in the 1950s, when most college students were expected to have a better grasp on English grammar and general history and mythology than perhaps students do today. If you don't know your reflexive pronouns from your prepositional phrases, you'll run into trouble even in the early chapters. But with a little effort, you'll find that Wheelock's really teaching you -two- languages: Latin and better English. As a teacher, I evaluated a few different texts (such as Hillard and Botting), before settling on Wheelock. I'll admit that a large part of my decision was based on my own experience learning from it (and why not? If -I- didn't like learning from it myself, why would I want to subject my students to it?), but there were other factors, such as its -less- pedantic tone and better-organized way of introducing grammatical concepts. Based on feedback from the three courses in which I used it, most students had positive things to say about the book, appreciating the demands that it made on them. Of course, some students didn't like it at all, probably because of those same demands. There are a couple of drawbacks that prevent me from awarding Wheelock that fifth star. First, the current (6th) edition isn't as solid (for lack of a better word) than the 3rd, which you should immediately buy if you ever find it for sale. Second, the reading passages in the back of the book aren't nearly as useful (or interesting to most students) as the ones in Groton and May's _38 Latin Stories_. Third, as other reviewers have pointed out, Wheelock doesn't contain any sort of anecdotal historical or cultural information to liven up the delivery of what can be pretty dry grammatical material. This is an especial weakness, in light of my comment in the previous paragraph about how little historical background knowledge students usually have. But there are no other Latin introductory texts that strike Wheelock's perfect balance between the classical pedagogy of the 19th century and the more recent attempts to mass-market Latin to "complete idiots" and "dummies".
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62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book, But Needs A Companion, July 4, 2001
WHEELOCK'S LATIN is clear, well-organized, and brief. There's only a few pictures and not much talk about Roman history, but for those of us who are serious about wanting to learn Ancient Latin, their absence is not sorely missed. Since the chapters are short (about 5-7 pages in most cases) the book is ideal for self-study. I would add, however, that whether studying in school or on your own, but especially this latter, the addition of a companion guide will prove to be invaluable. For this, I recommend Grote's COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO WHEELOCK'S LATIN -- a book that offers a little more repetition, fuller grammatical explanations, and is written in a calm, reassuring style. (Another plus is that it, unlike others, has its answer key printed in the back of the book -- so you don't have to wait a few months for your answer sheet if you get one at all.)
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The best--and cheapest--option, August 23, 2000
I've read the critical reviews of Wheelock, and I must say I'm bemused. This book has survived for so many years, and in so many editions, because it is a straightforward, clear, precise introduction to ancient Latin--period. Let the historians teach the history and culture of Rome: students in Latin I and II will not have the time or patience for watered-down lessons with colour pictures anyway.I have taught with this book, been taught by this book, and recommended it to others who then taught themselves with this book. It works. And there are numerous online resources, created by faculty around the world, which can be used to supplement the text. No other text has such a wide user base to draw upon. I'd have given it five stars if the most recent edition hadn't added the "Latin est gaudium--et utilis!" section, which I find silly and distracting.
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