Cambridge Latin Course, Unit 2, 4th Edition (North American Cambridge Latin Course)

Cambridge Latin Course #2, 3

by Cambridge School Classics Project (Editor), Stephanie M. Pope

The Fourth Edition Cambridge Latin Course is an introductory program organized into four well-integrated units. Cambridge's proven approach includes a stimulating continuous story line, interwoven grammatical development and cultural information, supportive illustrations and photographs, and a complete Language Information section. Reading is the heart of the Cambridge Latin Course, and all the elements of the program - illustrations, vocabulary, grammar and syntax, cultural contexts and references, activities - are carefully introduced and arranged to provide students with the skills they need to read with comprehension and enjoyment from the very first page. Student Book The most effective tool for students and teachers of Latin! A continuous and motivating story line captures and holds students' imagination. . . The logical pattern of each Stage and careful integration among Stages and Units train students to read Latin with ease and to understand the culture of the Romans. . . Clear language explanations and examples and ample practice insure student mastery of Latin. . . And rich illustrations bring the works and experiences of the Romans to life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Textbooks, Language, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Baelor · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Latin department is thinking of switching to the Cambridge course to streamline the 5-12 curriculum. We currently use Wheelock's, which has served us very well in our priorities: morphology and syntax. Wheelock's limitations are the complete absence of culture (even in readings) and the lack of extended reading passages, so that students have difficulty reading longer texts because they treat Latin like a code.

Essentially, we are thinking of switching from the grammar method to the reading method. My first choice was Lingua Latina because of its length and thoroughness, but Cambridge seems passable. Its strenths are its extensive treatment of culture (both in the texts and supplements), generally engaging story, and "discovery" method. Its undeniable weakness is the lack of systematic grammar instruction. Grammatical concepts are presented in a cursory way because the focus is on reading comprehension. The problem is that universities and standardized tests all require morphological and syntactic mastery. Thus, the teacher needs to supplement the Cambridge course heavily with grammatical information. This is difficult because related concepts -- such as all six persons of the present tense -- are often split across the Stages. You cannot even test the present conjugation for several months. In Wheelock's, you could do it in weeks.

As an aside, internalization and the "natural" method work better if production is involved. Cambridge has little to no Latin production.

Overall, this curriculum seems promising but only if the teacher is on top of his Latin game and willing to teach a substantial amount of additional grammar.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

My edition has 182 pages of actual text. The rest of it is a potted Latin dictionary, a timeline, and grammatical notes.

[Anna C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working through these old high school textbooks again to maintain my Latin. With the nostalgia value added, I'm weirdly invested in Quintus, Clemens, and of course (gone but not forgotten) Caecilius.

[Lucy Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very interesting. Too many people die.

[Wayfarer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cæcilius is dead.

[Kristen Fort · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say... I really enjoy the cultural readings and the format of the fourth edition better than the third edition. The downside is that the differences between the two editions (and I don't have enough of one or the other to keep all my Latin II students on the same edition of the textbook) are astounding - I spent a lot of time comparing the vocabulary lists and the translations, and Stage 15 seems to have the most differences.

Not done combing all the way through the Unit 3 book yet, but out of all the Cambridge texts, I like the Unit 3 book the best!

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to explore new texts for next year. A fairly good textbook--good for building vocabulary and reading fluency. The only thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars is that I'm not in love with the introduction of (some) new grammatical concepts. In all, I could see this working well for some but not all learners. Then again, there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all.

[Seri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that amusing or interesting. But okay, I guess.