Latin by the Natural Method. Volume 1

by William G. Most, Ryan Grant (Editor)

From the Most Americans who have studied Latin, with our priests and seminarians included, have employed this method, which they thought was 'traditional'. But as something fully developed, this tradition scarcely goes farther back than 1880; and even in its beginnings it hardly antedates the seventeenth century. In contrast to this method of grammatical analysis, Father Most's textbooks reproduce much of the "natural method" by which children learn their native language. Hence, the significance of Father Most's books is manifestly great for the Latin classes in any Catholic high schools or colleges. So much of our Catholic doctrine and culture have been deposited in Latin that we want many of our educated Catholics to be able to use Latin with ease. But the special significance of Father Most's texts is for the Latin classes in our seminaries. Here the students still have much the same cogent motives to master the art of using Latin with ease as the pupils of the thirteenth or sixteenth century. They need it as an indispensable means of communicating thought in their higher studies, and afterwards throughout life. The objectives (knowledge about Latin and training of mind) and corresponding methods (grammatical analysis and translation) "traditional" since 1880 have taken over in our seminaries; and there too the students have been experiencing an ever growing inability to use Latin. Father Most's textbooks can contribute much towards revolutionizing the teaching of Latin by bringing back, as the chief objective, the art of reading, writing, and (when desired) speaking Latin with ease." Fr. Most's textbooks can be classed in categories of similar texts, such as Hans Ørberg's Lingua Latina, as well as Ecce Romani which is a simplification of Ørberg or others which aim to teach Latin not even so much as a modern language, as to teach it by a method more natural to the philosophy of learning Languages. Fr. Most's text, however, is tailored to a Christian perspective. The work begins with readings in Roman History bringing in simple sentences and gradually building up the student with additions of vocabulary to reading accounts of Scripture, Ancient Egypt, Gilgamesh as well as amusing tales with a parrot. This is an excellent text applying the "natural method" with English language instruction to help the student read and understand Latin natively, with numerous vehicles for simplifying the necessary memorization as well as aiding in truly understanding Latin without constant need to look in a dictionary for rudimentary sentences. This is the second edition, correcting certain errors in the original. The reprint is from the 1960 edition, and follows the presentation of the text found in that edition.

Genres: Language

309 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2015

About the author

Fr. Most held doctorates in both classical languages and theology. For over 40 years, beginning in the 1940's, he taught undergraduates at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. Then at the end of the 1980's, while in his own mid-70's, Fr. Most moved to northern Virginia to take a position on the faculty of the Notre Dame Institute, a Pontifical institute offering a Masters Degree in religious studies.

Fr. Most's arrival in Virginia placed him on the doorstep of Trinity Communications, whose president, Jeff Mirus, had already published two of Fr. Most's books. In 1986, Trinity had also commissioned John Janaro to write a brief life of Fr. Most and nine other outstanding American priests in a book called Fishers of Men.

Therefore, when Trinity founded the Catholic Resource Network (CRNET) in 1993, it was natural for Fr. Most to become both a theological advisor and an important member of CRNET's Ask the Experts panel, which fielded Catholic questions from users. When CRNET moved to the Internet and merged with the Eternal Word Television Network, Fr. Most continued this role in the Catholic Q&A section on EWTN's web site.

Author of numerous scholarly and popular books and articles covering such topics as grace, Scriptural interpretation, the role of Mary in the redemption, and many other topics, Fr. Most was internationally recognized as one of the premier faithful Catholic theologians of our time. His theological breakthroughs on difficult questions regarding grace, free will and the prerogatives of Mary are already legendary.

For the last few years of his life in the late 1990's, Fr. Most suffered limited mobility because of blood cancer. He could not teach in the classroom as often as he would have liked. Yet his spirit was more than willing and his keen mind still in demand. The result? His contribution online became even more important -- both to himself and to those who would learn from this great Catholic thinker.

Although that contribution is continued in The Most Database on PetersNet, Fr. Most himself has passed beyond theological speculation. In late January of 1999, he began to suffer a general system breakdown and he died shortly after 1:00 a.m. on January 31st at Prince William Hospital in Manassas, Virginia.

Fr. Most was 84 years old. He had spent well over sixty of those years in direct, active and faithful service to the Church for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Reviews

[Sam U · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book for improving read skills once one has known all the basic grammar of Latin. Readings are mainly based on the history of Rome and the Old Testament, so one can follow the reading and pick up the vocabs very easily as long as he is already familiar with the stories. The grammar section of this book serves more like a re-fresher and not very exhaustive, so I recommend a different book for complete beginners as a sturdy knowledge on Latin grammar certainly helped me enjoy this book more.
Do come back to this book later when you are ready to tackle more sophisticated training on reading Latin.

[Trinity · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve found no book better at reviewing Latin grammar through reading than this book. If you’ve read LLPSI by Ørberg I cannot recommend this book enough. The readings themselves are very straightforward so you don’t get lost. The first half of the book is Roman history, but the grammar is so simple you won’t get lost. Once the grammar gets harder he switches over to Bible stories to keep the content more relatable to Western readers (at least Christians).

He includes “scramble exercises” which summarize the readings but make the word order much more complicated. The familiarity with the words and grammar make it so they’re not such a headache, but enough of a brain teaser to keep it fresh. The carryover of these exercises to other Latin is exceptional.

After reading this text I was able to return to books I got stumped on and easily tackle them. I can confidently say now that I’m in the intermediate stage of Latin readers rather than beginner.

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hunc librum mihi valde placuit. Cavete, linguam latinam adhuc disco, et tiro sum. Ergo, qua scripta est hic, mendaciarum plena esse potest.

Duas rationes libri huius meliores sunt alteris libris:

1- Quamquam liber est ad linguam discendam, non macronibus utitur. Macrones etiam auxilia tironibus sunt, sed aliquando librum facilem lectu sine macronibus amisi, quia opera latina macrones non habent et non est facile mihi verba sine macronibus legere. Qua de causa, hunc librum, qui facile legere posse, ad legendum sine macronibus bene videtur mihi.

2- Lectiones libri ex historia romana vel historia sacra constat, quae nota sunt omnis. Aliae lectiones habent "Scramble exercise". In has partes, lectiones rescriptae sunt, positionibus verborum mutatis. Hoc modo, difficilior legendi sunt.

Fortasse librum not est optimum ut linguam latinam discere coeperis, sed optimum est postquam LLPSI perlegisti.

[Edragone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beaucoup de textes à lire mais des choix grammaticaux et lexicaux parfois douteux

[Marloes D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 1

In 81 lessen doe je basiskennis Latijn op. Elke les begint met een verhaal: in het begin gaan deze over de geschiedenis van Rome en bij keizer Augustus gaat dat over in verhalen uit Genesis en Exodus. Het is dus op christenen en dan met name katholieken gericht.

De opbouw van de grammatica is ook logisch: eerst leer je van de werkwoorden de 3e persoon enkelvoud en meervoud en later pas de volledige verbuigingen. Hierbij wordt de grammatica duidelijk in de verhalen toegepast en wordt er handig herhaald. Zo blijft het hangen zonder dat je stampen moet. Je raakt er natuurlijk mee vertrouwd.

Enige minpunt: het boek begint met "Maria habuit parvum agnum" - een populair Amerikaans lied. Ongeacht het onderwerp wordt het witte lam echter regelmatig opgevoerd wat kinderachtig en irritant is.

Ik vond dit boek supergeschikt om Latijn te herhalen en nieuwe woorden te leren. Er staan ook oefeningen Engels-Latijn in maar voor de antwoorden heb je een apart boek nodig. Hierbij gaat het om hele zinnen en niet om bijvoorbeeld het benoemen van vormen zoals je dat op school deed. Het boek is dus vooral geschikt om beter te leren lezen.

Volume 2
48 lessen, vanaf 36 specifiek gericht op kerklatijn