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Complete Old English Beginner to Intermediate Course: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Old English, with Original Texts
Designed for complete beginners, and tested for years with real learners, Complete Old English offers a bridge from the textbook to the real world, enabling you to learn the grammar, understand the vocabulary and even how to translate such canonical texts as Beowulf and the earliest version of the Lord's Prayer from a critical point in our history.
Structured around authentic material, using online audio to aid pronunciation, and introducing both a grammar perspective and a full introduction to essential vocabulary, this course also
-22 learning units plus maps and verb guide
-New edition features key set texts in an Appendix, in a title suitable for classroom or self-study use
-Authentic materials - language taught through key texts
-Teaches the key skills - reading and understanding Old English grammar and vocabulary
-Culture insights - learn about the culture and religion of the Anglo-Saxons
-Self tests and learning activities - see and track your own progress
Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 75 years.
Structured around authentic material, using online audio to aid pronunciation, and introducing both a grammar perspective and a full introduction to essential vocabulary, this course also
-22 learning units plus maps and verb guide
-New edition features key set texts in an Appendix, in a title suitable for classroom or self-study use
-Authentic materials - language taught through key texts
-Teaches the key skills - reading and understanding Old English grammar and vocabulary
-Culture insights - learn about the culture and religion of the Anglo-Saxons
-Self tests and learning activities - see and track your own progress
Rely on Teach Yourself, trusted by language learners for over 75 years.
352 pages, Paperback
Published September 3, 2019
16 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 7, 2024
(read in part as library book on reading list)
brilliantly broken down and accessible and I love how it uses real texts to teach grammatical concepts, as well as cultural and literary context!! also the author is one of my tutors, just to flex 😌
brilliantly broken down and accessible and I love how it uses real texts to teach grammatical concepts, as well as cultural and literary context!! also the author is one of my tutors, just to flex 😌
August 5, 2019
From beginning to end, I thoroughly enjoyed Mark Atherton's updated Complete Old English.
Old English was on my to-do list for curiosity's sake but I didn't have any particular grounding in it. Because of the excellent way in which this book was written, I didn't need to.
The book cleverly uses sources from the day to teach both the grammatical points being targetted and cultural and historical details from the time. Each of the 24 units starts with bullet points informing the reader what she will learn over the next few pages. A vocabularly builder follows, introducing new vocabulary items related to the theme, and there is often a paragraph or two explaining something historically or culturally relevant, reinforced by occasional short pieces of text header Cultural Insight, themselves similar to Language Insight boxes dotted throughout the book.
Most chapters teach some element of grammar. The author doesn't pre-suppose any knowledge of grammatical terminology. He introduces the expressions with precise and concise explanations, and then proceeds to use them. He often marks the similarities with Modern English to provide a point of reference to the learner.
Learners have the opportunity to practise what they've just been taught via headed sections in the units plus the Test Yourself part which features at the end of each unit. They are also encouraged to work out for themselves how the language works via the Language Discovery tasks which related to the material just presented but not necessarily yet explained.
The audio quality is excellent throughout the book. The two speakers, one man and one woman, talk slowly and very clearly, enunciating perfectly. The author draws attention to certain pronunciation points where relevant because they are either tricky or easy to overlook. Using the audio is very easy; I simply installed the free Teach Yourself app and then downloaded the language files, which have been made available by the publisher at no cost.
The book is very generous with Reading and Listening activities. It doesn't provide anything in the way of Speaking or Writing but this isn't important. Firstly, the audio is clear enough that you can learn the pronunciation by repeating carefully what you've heard. Secondly, Old English isn't a language which you're going to use to ask for directions or order a coffee. It's a special case.
My thoughts as I worked my way through the opening units were that this book had been masterfully written, sections feeding into following sections, references made to similar content from earlier units. I felt an impressive sense of admiration of the author, considering the book to be the best-written such book I've ever read. Having finished it now, I still think it may well be. This is an entertaining, engrossing and educational book. Truly excellent, and I fully recommend it to anyone with a smidgen of interest about where the English language came from and how our forebears from a millennium ago lived their lives.
Old English was on my to-do list for curiosity's sake but I didn't have any particular grounding in it. Because of the excellent way in which this book was written, I didn't need to.
The book cleverly uses sources from the day to teach both the grammatical points being targetted and cultural and historical details from the time. Each of the 24 units starts with bullet points informing the reader what she will learn over the next few pages. A vocabularly builder follows, introducing new vocabulary items related to the theme, and there is often a paragraph or two explaining something historically or culturally relevant, reinforced by occasional short pieces of text header Cultural Insight, themselves similar to Language Insight boxes dotted throughout the book.
Most chapters teach some element of grammar. The author doesn't pre-suppose any knowledge of grammatical terminology. He introduces the expressions with precise and concise explanations, and then proceeds to use them. He often marks the similarities with Modern English to provide a point of reference to the learner.
Learners have the opportunity to practise what they've just been taught via headed sections in the units plus the Test Yourself part which features at the end of each unit. They are also encouraged to work out for themselves how the language works via the Language Discovery tasks which related to the material just presented but not necessarily yet explained.
The audio quality is excellent throughout the book. The two speakers, one man and one woman, talk slowly and very clearly, enunciating perfectly. The author draws attention to certain pronunciation points where relevant because they are either tricky or easy to overlook. Using the audio is very easy; I simply installed the free Teach Yourself app and then downloaded the language files, which have been made available by the publisher at no cost.
The book is very generous with Reading and Listening activities. It doesn't provide anything in the way of Speaking or Writing but this isn't important. Firstly, the audio is clear enough that you can learn the pronunciation by repeating carefully what you've heard. Secondly, Old English isn't a language which you're going to use to ask for directions or order a coffee. It's a special case.
My thoughts as I worked my way through the opening units were that this book had been masterfully written, sections feeding into following sections, references made to similar content from earlier units. I felt an impressive sense of admiration of the author, considering the book to be the best-written such book I've ever read. Having finished it now, I still think it may well be. This is an entertaining, engrossing and educational book. Truly excellent, and I fully recommend it to anyone with a smidgen of interest about where the English language came from and how our forebears from a millennium ago lived their lives.
November 1, 2025
Took a while. Went through this with a friend. Best book to learn what you're going to do with the language: read texts!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews