John Piazza
Comprehensible Input / Extensive Reading resources for Latin
The biggest obstacle to
developing true reading proficiency in Latin (in my humble opinion) is a lack
of resources by means of which students can (1) read large quantities of
comprehensible Latin, and (2) read for content, rather than simply for practice
in particular constructions and/or vocabulary (although this is an important
by-product).
The term Òcomprehensible
inputÓ was coined by linguist and educator Stephen Krashen. Rudolph Masciantonio
has summarized his theory of language acquisition and how it might be applied
to the teaching of classical languages. Read it HERE.
On this page, I am compiling
resources which will hopefully be of help to those who want to take advantage
of current research on language acquisition, but did not have access to
materials which support such methodology.
Latin
for Beginners by Angela Wilkes
et al. (Usborne Language Guides)
This is a great companion for
any Latin class, method, or textbook, for teachers who want their students to
learn the Latin words for everyday objects and activities. The illustrations
are silly, but the latin is generally good and contains many useful everyday
phrases. It is divided into 15 comic book chapters which give Latin, English
and pictures of everyday objects, phrases and scenarios. Everything from saying
hello ot telling the time, to colors, is included in this book. At the end is a
handy grammar and vocabulary referece guide. Again, this is NOT a primary
textbook, but is pretty close to ideal as a supplement. This book is infinitely
more useful and accessible than TraupmanÕs Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency.
Also, it costs less than $12
on Amazon.
Colloquia
Cottidiana: An Introduction to Everyday Useful Latin. A work in
progress by Robert Patrick and Myself. (300 kb pdf)
Narrationes de Historia et
Mythologia Romanorum. Using older
Latin textbooks, I have compiled almost 600 pages of comprehensible first-year
level narratives which can be read extensivley for content.
Latin history narratives
(25mb pdf)
Latin mythology
narratives (9mb pdf)
Antonio DÕElia. Litterarum
Latinarum Historia. An introduction to Latin literature, in
Latin, which covers the major and minor authors, from the beginning to the
early Church fathers. Third year level, more or less. Great supplement for AP,
or for teachers. This book is still in print, though only in Italy. Go HERE to order a paper copy.
If you are interested in seeing an excerpt, let me know.
Ad Usum Delphini editions of
Latin authors. These editions contain paraphrases and commentary in Latin.
The Latin-Latin
dictionary/thesaurus known as the Gradus ad Parnassum, or Regia Parnassi, is at
long last available in electronic format. Download it HERE as a large
but precious PDF.
For another helpful online
Latin-Latin dictionary, check out Novus Linguae Et Eruditionis Romanae
Thesaurus HERE.
Information on teaching Latin Prose Composition
(160kb pdf)
Teaching Latin Verse
Composition (really!)
A Dictionary of Latin
Synonyms (pdf 16mb). A very useful tool for writing and understanding
Latin.
If you have any questions or
comments, please contact me:
john dot piazza at yahoo dot
com