Reading Latin: Text and Vocabulary 2nd Edition by Peter Jones (PDF)

Description

Reading Latin, first published in 1986, is a bestselling Latin course designed to help mature beginners read classical Latin fluently and intelligently. It does this in three ways: it encourages the reading of continuous texts from the start; it offers generous help with translation at every stage; and it integrates the learning of classical Latin with an appreciation of the influence of the Latin language upon English and European culture from antiquity to the present. The Text and Vocabulary, richly illustrated, consists at the start of carefully graded adaptations from original classical Latin texts. The adaptations are gradually phased out until unadulterated prose and verse can be read. The accompanying Grammar and Exercises volume completes the course, although the present volume could be used as a self-standing beginner’s reader if desired. This second edition has been fully revised and updated, with a new chapter containing stories from early Roman history.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The ultimate question with Latin textbooks is whether to teach grammar and vocab first with a late introduction of real reading material (Wheelock), or whether to start the reading and comprehension from the beginning using only minimal changes to grammar complexity and vocab slowly overtime (such as Cambridge Latin Course or, even moreso, Lingua Latina).The trouble with the former approach (such as with Wheelock), is that the transition from the textbook to attempting real Latin (which would occur at the start of an intermediate college Latin course) is almost unbearable and produces sloppy classicists who then find themselves in need of “post-bacc” courses before they are ready for true graduated level study.The trouble with the latter variety (such as with Lingua Latina) is that they notoriously lack the more complicated grammar and syntax that is needed for intermediate college level students or beyond. This must be supplemented or the students end up being fluent with, albeit stuck at, kindergarten-level Latin.Jones and Sidwell have tried to get around this by subdividing their books into a grammar textbook (this one) and a separate, “Text” for reading comprehension and practice. There is also a must-have “Study Guide” which translates everything in the “Text” book which helps students know for sure that they are learning accurately.If the grammar is learned slowly and the reading text is rigorously supplemented, then you basically have a great one-two combo that should, theoretically, escape all the pitfalls of Wheelock and Lingua Latina. Some students who are learning via Jones and Sidwell on their second time through may find that it does just this (perhaps those who learned first with Wheelock and now feel stuck, for example).The trouble is, as many have pointed out in the reviews here, that Jones and Sidwell do many annoying things with their book(s), which impede first time students from learning as efficiently as possible.* Verbs are often introduced without all principal parts, including those which have a somewhat irregular pattern.* Nouns paradigms use an irregular order Nom, Acc, Gen, Dat, Abl …, versus the more common Nom, Gen, Dat, Acc, Abl (seen in most dictionaries and most other textbooks).* The Latin v/u is always written Capital `V’ or lowercase `u’, which is true to original classical texts, but is never seen in dictionaries or web resources, so it’s a nuisance for students trying to learn pronunciation and morphology of vocab for first time.* The grammar explanations are minimalist and less helpful than those in Wheelock or some other textbooks I’ve worked with in the past.* The reading `Text’ book has a list of vocab words to help translation, but these are contained in the `Grammar’ book. This is not only VERY inconvenient, but results in destroyed bindings for both books, due to all the flipping back and forth.* The practice sentences and `Text’ are boring as can be.Ultimately, these issues do not make Jones and Sidwell completely un-useful, but they do make the set fall short of what it could have been. All-in-all, I think Jones and Sidwell is great for students running through a second time, perhaps after a first year working with Wheelock. I also think some of the exercises and supplementary material could be used nicely as HW or in the classroom by teachers who are primarily using other textbooks with the students.Unfortunately, I think the English-speaking world is still left with the unsatisfactory resources to teach Latin in a way that promotes both complete grammar mastery AND complete reading/writing/thinking fluency. The best bet may still be to combine books using these separate methods (such as Wheelock with Lingua Latina), and this Jones and Sidwell set does not help fully relieve us of this predicament.

⭐It would be hard to overstate how excellent this Reading Latin Text – and its companion grammar, vocabulary and exercises book – is for anyone serious about their study of this eternal language. With most introductory language texts you start with drab sentences like “this is my pencil” while ingesting the tedious corpus of grammatical rules and exceptions. With Jones and Sidwell you plunge right into literature – in this case some very wry and funny works of the comic playwright Plautus – and find that, not only are you picking up the grammar along the way, but your vocabulary is expanding in leaps and bounds. Suddenly you feel that all those great works of classical and medieval Latin – from Seneca, Ovid and Virgil to Augustine and Jerome – are within reach. If that’s what you aspire to, then this is the course for you.

⭐It came quickly (thankfully because I needed It for class). It was clearly brand new and in good condition.

⭐My hope is to review “Reading Latin, Text” that I took many years ago. The “Text” appears to be friendly and the content interesting;….. enough so that I may be able to communicate in Latin with 2 of my grandkids who are taking it in school.it is amazing how this “dead” language comes back from the dead when you use this Text with its companion:”Reading Latin, Grammar, Vocabulary and Exercise”

⭐Excellent quality 🙂 This book provides a thorough approach to reading Latin. Simple and effective 😀 Really recommended it to fellow students.

⭐Definitely worth it with the other two in this series by Peter Jones.

⭐Very moving, deep and entertaining….come on, its a text book, it does what its supposed to do.

⭐Terrible way to learn the language. I would not recommend any of these books to anybody who is serious about learning Latin.

⭐This book doesn’t stand alone, you need to buy at least one further book, or maybe two books, to get much out of it as a new learner. This is blatant exploitation. That by itself wouldn’t matter if the books were any good… but they’re not. They’re badly structured and the methodology is very old fashioned. I have serious doubts that a new learner could gain anything useful, unless supported by a teacher,But it’s not all bad for this particular volume.Although not suitable for beginners, there is a lot of Latin text here which would be very helpful for someone who’s maybe at the GCSE stage and is looking for approachable reading material. The Plautus play has some amusing scenes with examples of Latin banter, showing that it was once a living language used by real people in their daily lives.Be careful when buying – the book covers are visually similar and it’s really easy to get confused and buy the wrong volume.

⭐Though a new edition has come out for all three volumes (Text and Vocab, Grammar and Exercises and Independent Study Guide respectively), this older edition is still perfectly functional, if you’re willing to do a fair bit of thumbing and back and fro. But don’t we have to do this anyway to thoroughly learn a language from our books, even those of us who are linguistically gifted? And the price – for nothing really, though I think I had to pay the equivalent of about £3-4 for each volume in postage and shop among suppliers who’d deliver to Ireland.

⭐Hundred percent recommended for potential beginners, in or out of the education system. Adding the translation of some text immensely helps, but some parts of the texts do not have their translations. An example is on p. 114, where three phrases of the text 3D(iii) have no translation.

⭐New copies of this slim paperback book, little larger than an Edtions de Fallois paperback play edition retail at about £18 – comparable to both the grammar commentary book and the study guide that go with it to make up the “Reading Latin” study set.Yes, there are a lot of faint pencilled notes throughout the pages, but that is “as advised” – and even including carriage costs the book was still only a bit over a fiver. Actually comparable in cost to a secondhand Edtions de Fallois paperback play edition !

⭐Good book-useful for uni Latin course. Good exercises to help grasp language better.

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