Book Suggestions for the Individual at Level 0- (Zero Minus) or Square One.

Fun Books for People who wish to casually study and learn Latin.

I know there is a group of people out there who will never savor the journey and quest that each goal we make requires of us.  Some people want to simply cut to the chase.  While I do not usually pursue my goals this way, I understand those who may choose to do so.  Consequently, I have come up with a list of books that will get the Beginning Latin Learner on the road.

Now, by Beginning Latin Learner, or BELL as I will refer to them in future, I mean the individual who has had no prior exposure to the Latin language.  If you studied it in school, you are not an absolute beginner, or as they say in Latin, tyro.  The following books are designed to help people at level zero. While each book has its own pros and cons, some books have more pros, and some books have more cons.  These books can usually be found at any major bookseller such as Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, BooksaMillion or other mass marketers.

1.  Getting Started with Latin:  Beginning Latin for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age.  William E. Linney.  Armfield Academic Press, 2007.  
This is an excellent choice for those starting at square 1.  This book is for those who have NO linguistic background at all.  The lessons are very, very simple and take about 30 minutes.  The lessons in the book are easy to schedule into a very busy schedule. However, the lessons must be done every day to see progress. The only negative aspect about this book is that the pace for some, NOT ALL however, is slow.  Remember since you set your own pace as you learn, this may or may no be an advantage or not.  On my scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest and 10 the highest, I give it an 8. It is truly the ideal book for someone who has never learned another language nor spoken another language.

2. Learn Latin.  Peter Jones. Duckworth, 2008. ISBN-13: 978-0715627570.
   This book is also a great choice for those who have little Latin background.  Mr. Jones who is an eminent classicist in Britain has written books on learning Latin for all levels.  In this book, he is able to take ideas which seem dry and stiff and make them into fun, alive concepts which are very simple to do.  He gives you small bites of Latin that are easily chewed and absorbed.  He also suggests further readings for those whose appetite for more Latin he has whetted.  Once again, one must work on this for 20 to 30 minutes every day; however, each section is set up that way.  This book uses the British model of Latin teaching; e.g., Verbs are presented first and the order of the cases is Nominative, Accusative, etc., not Nominative, Genitive, etc. like here in the U.S.A.  On my scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest and 10 the highest, I give this book a 7.  This is an excellent book for the casual Latin learner who wants to seem erudite without having invested much in its pursuit.

3.  Beginner's Latin.  G.D.A. Sharpley.  This book also is a good choice for those who think they don't have any linguistic experience.  The author gently leads and guides the student slowly, step by step.  The author keeps the grammatical and linguistic explanations to a bare minimum.  The book teaches Latin by using the story of monks in a monastery.  The story is quite charming, but the way Latin is taught using the story is well done.  One gets a sense of classical Latin grammar but with a more medieval Latin vocabulary and tone; one could say it is the best way to start if one is unsure about which road to take. However, the best part of the book are the two CDs which accompany the book.  Most of the book is presented orally on the CDs (there are some sections that are omittted).  In my opinion, one learns to tune one's ear and brain to the sounds of spoken Latin starting at the very beginning.  All of these unique features come together well in making  a pleasant linguistic experience.  I rank this book on a scale of 0 to 10 at 7.5.