Oxford V. Peter Jones
Well, I read through "Oxford Latin Course I" and... I don't need a teacher guide to correct my translations. As it turns out, I'm ahead of it, grammar-wise. Still, it has plenty of different vocab and I love the long passages. I can sit there and just read and translate in my head, though - it's that easy (for me).
What's interesting is the way they present the language. They start with cartoons. Underneath each pannel are sentences in Latin. Normally, the student wouldn't already have an understanding: they're just expected to read it and try to make sense of it without knowing the rules. (No translations are provided.) That's actually pretty cool.
I still prefer the way I've been learning, however. I started out conjugating verbs (all 5 conjugations), then went on to the declensions of nouns, the conjugation of esse, and on to prepositions, etc, etc, etc. Oxford pretty much mixes it all up. And, they don't have a 5th conjugation class? Some of the differences could come from the fact that the book I learned from is written by a Brittish author, while my "Oxford Latin Course I" is the North American addition. Hm. Weird. I'm not sorry I picked this new book up, though. Building a strong foundation is important and it will help me with that.
I went to the doctor's today for an earache. My left ear hurt so bad that it made my teeth hurt. I'd brought the Oxford along to entertain myself while I waited. The substitute dr I got was all curious, somewhat to my embarassment, but it was obvious he thought I was nuts once I told him I wasn't required to take Latin - it's just a hobby. LOL. He then went on to recite, in Latin: Gaul is a peninsula; Britain is an island. Weird. I don't think he particularly liked Latin in school. *shrugs*
What's interesting is the way they present the language. They start with cartoons. Underneath each pannel are sentences in Latin. Normally, the student wouldn't already have an understanding: they're just expected to read it and try to make sense of it without knowing the rules. (No translations are provided.) That's actually pretty cool.
I still prefer the way I've been learning, however. I started out conjugating verbs (all 5 conjugations), then went on to the declensions of nouns, the conjugation of esse, and on to prepositions, etc, etc, etc. Oxford pretty much mixes it all up. And, they don't have a 5th conjugation class? Some of the differences could come from the fact that the book I learned from is written by a Brittish author, while my "Oxford Latin Course I" is the North American addition. Hm. Weird. I'm not sorry I picked this new book up, though. Building a strong foundation is important and it will help me with that.
I went to the doctor's today for an earache. My left ear hurt so bad that it made my teeth hurt. I'd brought the Oxford along to entertain myself while I waited. The substitute dr I got was all curious, somewhat to my embarassment, but it was obvious he thought I was nuts once I told him I wasn't required to take Latin - it's just a hobby. LOL. He then went on to recite, in Latin: Gaul is a peninsula; Britain is an island. Weird. I don't think he particularly liked Latin in school. *shrugs*