Latin: An Intensive Course

I have just finished this book while taking the Intensive Summer Latin Course at Franciscan University in Steubenville and I would have to say that this book definantly prepares you for reading real unaddapted latin texts. After finishing the book in approx. 4 weeks we were able to dive straight into Cicero. However, I would not reccommed this book for someone trying to learn latin on their own. Without an answer key or a professor to help you through the sentences and grammar one could easily give up their study of this beautiful language.

I used this as a way to cram Latin down myself before taking the M.A. program at the Warburg. Learning Latin from this is the equivalent of getting a drink of water from a fire hose. The subjunctive in the second chapter..?! You have GOT to be kidding....but they do, and it works. The most frustrating part is the inability to check one's translations of the exercises against anything, and yes, quite a few of the sentences are extremely contorted to the point of generating different interpretations from different Latin profs. After I finished this I found I still needed much more practice for those long Latin sentences with N dependent clauses (figuring out what pronoun referred to what.)Still, this will pound Latin grammer into you the way that you will never forget. Highly recommended....except yes, the binding is horrid and my copy is now nothing more than a pile of ordered pages.

I have now completed my fourth reading of this very excellent work by Moreland and Fleischer. While it may be true as one reviewer states that many of the sentences in this book do not resemble "real" Latin by "real" authors, readers should remember that these sentences are exercises -- not passages. Their purpose is to present puzzles whose solutions will leave a strong impression upon those students who continue to the end of the book where "real Latin" does indeed occur: Caesar, Petronius, Cicero, Martial, and others are represented in brief passages.But forget about the passages. This book shines in its ability to communicate grammatical principles clearly, in a logical order, with little wasted space. Having completed its eighteen units, students will be able to jump easily into Livy or Pliny and thence into the wider corpus.I learned Latin from this book. I now use it as a teaching text for my independent study kids (high school). The book can be completed in about three semesters, exposing students to the entire grammar (and some reading experience) early enough to have them reading Ovid and Vergil while their peers are still struggling with semi-deponent verbs and the ablative absolute.Forget Wheelock and buy this book. By the time the binding falls apart (and it will) you'll be well on your way to great grammatical skills. These rapidly developed skills will come at the expense of the wider vocabulary encountered in other texts, but the memorization of vocabulary is relatively cheap and easy work.

This is probably one of the best books to learn the latin language. Every base is covered within its pages. The book is very intensive and every word and sentence is important - there isn't any "fluff" in this book. This being the case the book may not be for everyone. If you are motivated and study hard you will build a very solid foundation in the latin language using this book. That being said, I agree with earlier posts in the construction of this book. A book of this quality should come in a durable clothbound edition. The pages in my copy are falling out and the publisher should be ashamed of the book craftsmanship. Why are the best books given the worst binding ? GET THIS BOOK IN HARDCOVER.

Of the several Latin grammars I have used (or tried to use), Intensive Latin clearly ranks as my favorite. The book is very thorough but incredibly concise, so much that you might miss some of the details the first time through. As a consolation, however, the book has an excellent index system, such that even each vocabulary entry has an associated chapter number. The contents are arranged fairly logically, although this might not seem apparent to the newcomer. Each chapter (or "unit") succinctly presents several concepts, and ends with a vocabulary list and extensive drills, exercises, and readings. Interspersed among the units are multi-unit reviews that provide self-exercises and generally help the reader better assimilate the information contained in the previous units. The book concludes with an appendix summarizing all the grammar concepts, two vocabulary lists (Latin-English and English-Latin), and an index. Having used the book in a college course, I did not note any errors in the book's content. The book clearly focuses on "classical Latin", as indicated by the vocabulary lists and reading selections. However, one studying this book will be more than sufficiently prepared to tackle reading Medieval Latin sources. Corroborating the statements of a fellow reviewer, I found that the binding really is poor. Anyone using the book seriously will have to glue, tape, or otherwise rectify the situation to keep all the pages in one spot and in the proper order. This book is completely undeserving of such a substandard edifice! In sum, I highly recommend Intensive Latin to the serious student. Less eager individuals might find themselves swept away by the rapidity of presentation.