|
|
|
|
Books I Have Authored
 |
Latin Alive and Well Introductory Text7th Edition 2000 ISBN 0-9628450-0-0 Price: $32.95
|
Latin Alive and Well has been successfully used in standard two-semesters courses, as well as one-semester intensive courses. It is the result of many years of teaching. My goal has been to develop a text that presents Latin grammar in a way that is understandable to modern students and at the same time preserves what is best in the long tradition of Latin textbook scholarship. I have endeavored to select exercise material that is worthy of translation effort and that includes the most famous quotations and excerpts of the best Roman writers and thinkers.
Latin Alive and Well presents the essential elements of Latin grammar in an order that enables the student to read classical authors immediately. As a two-semester text, it is designed for the first twenty chapters to be covered in one semester and the remaining sixteen in the subsequent semester. While grammar presentation is the primary task of any introductory language text, my corresponding goal has been to acquaint the student with Roman thought, history and philosophy by letting the Romans speak for themselves. To this end, I demonstrate Latin grammar in context through the writers of the period, but my presentation is basic, direct, and comprehensible to contemporary students.
My method of presentation is an informal conversational format offering
encouragement and learning tips as well as empathy for particularly tedious
grammatical points. Chapters are
written simply enough for the student with no previous exposure to a foreign
language. Regarding the use of
technical terminology, I have adhered to the Latin proverb Nihil praeter
necessitatem! (Nothing beyond necessity!)
Essential technical terminology is explained and then recapped at the end
of the same chapter in which it is introduced.
The continuous passage readings are progressively graded and are
mostly prose, though some poetry has been included in order to present a valid
spectrum of Roman writers.
The strengths of Latin Alive and Well
are:
1.
directness and clarity;
2.
short and concise chapters;
3.
emphasis on the formation of a
basic vocabulary;
4.
comprehensive exercises for
each chapter;
5.
emphasis on continuous passage
readings;
6.
classical authors who are
interesting, relevant and typically Roman;
7. approach to the student as a friend.
Latin Alive and Well is
different from other introductory texts in that:
1.
By Chapter V, the student has
been introduced to:
1)
Present Indicative of all conjugations;
2)
Present, Imperfect and Future Indicative of sum,esse;
3)
1st-2nd Declension Nouns and Adjectives.
2.
Verb Tenses are explained and
identified by Systems.
3.
The Future Indicative for all
conjugations is presented in one chapter.
4.
The Imperfect Indicative for all
conjugations is presented in one chapter.
5.
The Perfect Active System for all
conjugations is presented in one chapter.
6.
The Present Passive System for
all conjugations is presented in one chapter.
7.
The Perfect Passive System for
all conjugations is presented in one chapter.
8.
Demonstrative Pronouns and
Irregular 1st-2nd Declension Adjectives are presented in
Chapter VI and before the introduction of 3rd Declension Nouns.
Unique features of Latin
Alive and Well include:
1.
chapter objectives heading
each chapter;
2.
compiled vocabulary lists
every four chapters;
3.
compiled first semester
(Chapters I-XX) vocabulary list;
4.
optional review worksheets
with answers for self check;
5.
compiled chart of major
subjunctive usages with examples;
6.
compiled chart of major
ablative usages with examples;
7.
vocabulary flash cards
collated by chapter as an available option;
8.
teacher key for all exercises
and translations as an available option.
Latin Alive and Well
is in Word format; it is 331pages in length.