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Learn Latin presents in handy book form the brilliant QED series of teach-yourself Latin articles which have captivated thousands of readers of the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph. In twenty weeks, these readers were able to learn enough Latin to read from the Bayeux tapestry, the love-poet Catullus, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, St. Jerome's Vulgate (the Bible in Latin) and much else. If you have ever hankered after a basic introduction to this great language, which covers just enough to read the real thing (and no more), this is the book you have been waiting for. If you have ever wanted to know what lies at the heart of languages like French, Spanish and Italian, today spoken by 600 million people all over the world, or if you have ever been fascinated by the workings of language and the richness and precision of English (half of which is Latin), Learn Latin will prove a rich source of enlightenment and pleasure.… (more)
User reviews
Other high points of this book are the to-the-point lessons, numerous exercises, and amusing yet useful examples. Of course, it's not a perfect book. There's a fair bit of grammar terminology used in the lessons, and if you haven't studied grammar or other languages before you may be a little overwhelmed at first. Also, I would have preferred it if Jones had introduced new verb vocabulary by emphasizing the infinitives rather than the "I" form conjugation.
First off, Jones understands the mild insanity that learning Latin entails, and to that end, he takes a more humorous approach than most textbooks. He presents twenty lessons that the reader is supposed to work through over the course of twenty weeks. Each week covers a different aspect of the language. From basic conjugation to parts of speech to different tense and cases, this book covers the fundamentals of learning Latin. With that in mind, don’t read it straight through in two days like I did. For something that requires as much attention to details like Latin, a crash course will do nothing for long-term retention.
Jones’s lessons are interesting, illustrated well, and intended for those who know a little bit about the fundamentals of other languages. He makes interesting connections between Latin and modern English, French, and Spanish. This guide helps the reader make their way through some basic texts and understand the reach of Latin into the modern day. If you’re at all interested in learning Latin, then this book will do fine for you. Just take your time with it, and it will come. A very fun book.