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| Reading Latin: Grammar, Vocabulary and Exercises | 
 enlarge | Authors: Peter V. Jones, Keith C. Sidwell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Category: Book
List Price: £20.99
Buy Used: £12.48
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Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 108763
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 640
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.6
ISBN: 0521286220
Dewey Decimal Number: 478.2421
EAN: 9780521286220
ASIN: 0521286220
Publication Date: August 29, 1986
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 A Labour of Love October 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
After developing a fascination for the Romans and the writings of Caesar, Cicero, Tacitus et al., and being unfortunately bereft of any knowledge of Latin, I finally decided to attempt to learn the language and chose this book together with its companion volumes.
I agree with what a number of other commentators have said in that the course can be dry, dull and (at times) quite tedious. However, it more than makes up for these minor faults by its comprehensive treatment of the subject and its refusal to insult the intelligence of the reader by spoon-feeding every single concept to them. From the outset you are required to translate long excerpts from original Latin, the successful completion of which cannot fail but to give the reader a sense of immense satisfaction!
It is true that some of the authors' explanations of difficult grammatical rules may seem somewhat sparse, but, even though I am learning independently, I have only once been forced to resort to online Latin fora for help; all you need to know to reach a level of fluency is in these books and can be understood provided you are willing to spend the time and effort to learn it.
There is one problem worth mentioning though. The Independent Study Guide to this text (which I consider to be absolutely necessary) omits answers for the optional exercises and reading tests. This means that you can never be entirely certain that your answers to these exercises are correct without consulting somebody else, which I feel somewhat defeats the point of having such a guide.
 The Latin language deserves better. October 20, 2008
A poor introduction to the beauty and precision of the Latin language. The book is difficult to navigate through, and its layout and typography are cramped and dated. The student becomes bogged down in obscure minutiae, before the basics have been covered. A more logical sequence is required.
I cannot recommend this as a text for an independant learner.
If this is a set text for tertiary study, use the exercises and translations, but purchase one of the better Latin grammars to clarify the explanations.
Great for teaching yourself Latin October 3, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having decided to teach myself Latin, I decided to have a bash with the Reading Latin course. The course is made up of three books: the Reading Latin text book; this Grammar, Vocabulary and Exercises book; and the Independent Study Guide, which has answers to the exercises and translations of the passages.
The format of the course is straightforward. First, you have a go at translating a passage from the text book. Then you learn some vocabulary and grammar. And then you finish off with exercises and some fun bits which relate Latin to English and which provide bits of real classical and medieval Latin to have a go at. Then you do it all again on the next passage.
The format certainly worked. Translating the texts was encouraging from the start and made it all seem a bit less academic. The exercises provided enough drill to help remember the new words and grammar. The reading exercises at the end of each section gave a good sense of progress.
Within this format, the course is split into five chapters with an extra chapter covering Latin poetry. The texts for the first three chapters are adapted from Roman comedies. If you've ever seen Up Pompeii you'll know the kind of material - greedy old men with feckless sons and wayward daughters and their wily slaves getting the better of all of them. Most amusing, and very motivating to be able to see the humour in the Latin.
The texts for chapters four and five are adapted from material written in Cicero's time, some of it written by Cicero himself. Lots of stuff about pirates, conspirators and the deeds of a corrupt governor. Again, very motivating to be able to sense Cicero's outrage from reading the Latin.
As always when learning a language, you'll need to put the time in. You'll need about five hours for each section, and there are about thirty sections in the main five chapters. So if you were really keen and didn't have a day job (a student cramming for a course?) you could probably go through the lot in twenty days. Giving it an hour or so a day got me through the first four chapters in three months.
Anyway, if you want to teach yourself Latin, I can recommend Reading Latin. Buy all three books including the Independent Study Guide, start from the beginning, do all the exercises and soon enough you'll be reading Latin yourself.
Very dull. August 28, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I began my study of Latin with this volume, and it is only thanks to an uncommonly good lecturer that I got through the course. Jones and Sidwell have presented a stodgy and dull textbook, not particularly well organised and extremely difficult to 'manouevre'. It has no value for reference whatsoever, and the newcomer to Latin is drowned in reams and reams of unbroken information with no attempt at useful layout. Better organisation and more colour may have made this volume slightly more appropriate for the beginner, along with a more structured chapter system. There are plenty of exercises and translation but these are largely ineffective (you will need the Independent Study Guide if you will be self-marking and correcting).
I cannot recommend this, particularly if you are a beginner as I was when I first encountered the textbook. I am about to return to Latin at university and we will be using a different textbook (I'm not aware which it will be yet), as the Jones and Sidwell was not a popular study aid at all. A terrifying welcome to Latin.
 Not the best out there April 10, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm currently doing the Open University course in Classical Studies (after teaching myself Latin for a year) and this is one of the set books. Out of the package, this is THE WORST. The vocab is good, as are the exercises, but as for grammar and helping you learn it, forget it!! You trundling away nicely and then you come across a verb you don't recognise or it starts talking about the vocative which you haven't actually learnt at that point. Having taught myself Latin, I'm not finding uni level particularly difficult but if you're going to do Latin, either for uni or personal development, I suggest that you seek a better grammar book. It'll make it so much easier.
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