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Wheelock's Latin #1
Wheelock's Latin
When Professor Frederic M. Wheelock's Latin first appeared in 1956, the reviews extolled its thoroughness, organization, and conciseness; at least on reviewer predicted that the book "might well become the standard text" for introducing students to elementary Latin. Now, more than four decades later, that prediction has certainly proved accurate. The sixth edition of Wheelock's Latin has all the features that have made it the bestselling single-volume beginning Latin textbook, many of them revised and expanded:
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
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2286 people want to read
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August 15, 2012
This review is for Peter.
This is both a review and a very short guide for those interested in jumping off the Latin cliff without a teacher. This is my first review on Goodreads, so please be gentle.
First off, Wheelock is THE text for learning Latin. I have never come across a text that is even remotely close to competing with his.
Latin is a middling-hard language to learn. A lot of Latin textbook writers realize this and reduce their entire text to phrasework: “The boy is Flavius,” “The sailor speaks,” “The girl loves the dog,” etc. etc. etc. Which leaves a person discouraged after having to memorize a whole slew of phrases without any supportive structure to help them remember all that gibberish, and, more importantly, leaves them unable to read a single passage in an actual Latin work.
Wheelock does not do this. He takes an extremely orderly, sequential approach to teaching the grammar and structure of the language, which is what is really needed in order to be able to read actual Latin works in future. He also keeps things as straightforward as possible, without getting caught up in all the ins and outs of the language and devolving into dozens upon dozens of grammar charts to memorize, which is what happens in a scary number of textbooks trying to teach a highly inflected language.
However, this might be a difficult text for someone who has never studied a highly inflected language before. Anyone who doesn’t know the difference between the dative and ablative, or what a gerund or the subjunctive tense is, will likely be confused and frustrated by Wheelock’s fleeting explanations. If this is the case I would recommend studying how inflected languages work before even opening Wheelock, or starting off with an easier inflected language, such as German.
On the upside for those struggling through an inflected language for the first time, after learning Latin learning all descendant Romance languages will be a walk in the park.
On the other hand, anyone who has studied an even more inflected language, such as Ancient Greek or Sanskrit, will find this textbook just a matter of course for getting through, and should come out the other end with no trauma and a competent enough grasp of the language to begin reading.
Wheelock does not go into much detail about pronunciation, for which a teacher will probably be necessary unless you have already studied other dead languages.
Please note that this text teaches classical Latin. Those looking to learn medieval Latin will have to do some additional study after completing this text. Even if you are intending to learn medieval Latin, I would still recommend Wheelock as the starting point.
Once finished with this text, it will be time to reap the fruits of your labor and actually start reading the Latin works, for which you should be well prepared after finishing Wheelock. I would recommend starting with Nepos, whose sense of eloquence is limping at the best of times but who writes simply and gives the beginner a more refined sense of “good” and “bad” in terms of Latin style (Nepos being an example of the “bad” end of the spectrum). This is a good edition for beginners: Cornelius Nepos: Three Lives: Alcibiades, Dion, Atticus
Cicero is also an excellent starting point, because he is as good as it gets in terms of Latin prose, and yet his writing is not overly difficult for the beginner. These is a very good beginner's edition of one of his most brilliant speeches: Cicero's First Catilinarian Oration
Livy is often recommended as another good starting point for prose. I found his style irritating when I was first starting out, but perhaps that was just me. This would probably be the best edition to use: Livy: Book I (Livy)
Sallust is a good starting point for becoming familiar with old Latin. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with a good edition of his works for beginners.
Pliny is a good starting point for becoming familiar with silver-age Latin. I particularly liked this edition: Fifty Letters of Pliny
For poetry, Catullus is an excellent jumping-off point. This is a good beginner's edition: The Student's Catullus
The end goal for short poetry will probably be Horace, but (at least for me) Horace was really hard. I would recommend waiting on him until you are competent enough to read without extensive commentary.
For the first work without needing extensive commentary from an editor, I would begin with Cicero’s De Senectute (On Old Age) and De Amicitia (On Friendship). I would recommend the Loeb text (the Red Books), so that you can check your reading against the English translation on the page opposite when you get stuck: On Old Age, On Friendship & On Divination
Probably the ultimate goal for those learning Latin will be Vergil. Vergil's Aeneid: Books I-VI is an excellent text for reading the first six books, after which you’ll probably be competent enough to read without the hand-holding of an editor.
At which point it will be time to move on to the Holy Grail of editions of Latin texts, the Oxford Classical Texts (i.e., OCTs or the Green Books). They have no commentary except for an introduction by the editor (written in Latin; these people are serious), and an apparatus criticus, which you will probably be interested in by this point. Here's an example of an OCT: de Republica, de Legibus, Cato Maior de Senectute, Laelius de Amicitia
An excellent website is Project Perseus, suitable for all your Latin-reading needs once you are competent at reading and when you are just reading for leisure rather than for a serious study of the work. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/c...
And yes, I just completely ignored Ovid. Can you tell I learnt golden-age Latin?
Latin is a pretty hard language and shouldn’t be attempted for some flash-in-the-pan reason, such as learning the roots of English words to be better at spelling, or in order to know the literal meanings of scientific names. If that is the case you will be better served by memorizing etymologies out of a dictionary. You must plan on devoting a lot of time and effort to learning this language and then to becoming better acquainted with it by reading in it. Latin is no French or Spanish. You’ll also need to develop a serious interest in Roman culture for the all the WTF? moments you are going to encounter in your reading.
But in my opinion all the effort of learning Latin is completely worth it. Who is the greatest writer who ever lived? To anyone who said Shakespeare: them’s fightin’ words. The greatest writer who ever lived (in my humble opinion) is Vergil. The man has no equal, in any language I’ve ever read. And his works transfer awfully into English. Every beautiful, brilliant, perfect thing he does is lost in translation. In order to read Vergil, you need to know Latin.
So. Yes. Study Wheelock, learn Latin, read Vergil. That’s basically the whole plan.
And for those of you who are newbies to serious language-learning and still considering tackling Latin: I think (I hope) you will find there is something really remarkable about knowing a second language. Especially a language so different from English, spoken by a people whose culture is so far removed from ours. It’s as if you’ve been looking at the world from one perspective your entire life, like looking in a mirror, and then suddenly you see everything from a different angle. The 2D world becomes 3D. And the more different the language is, the more radical a change in perspective you get, and the more languages you learn the more facets you get in the picture. (It can be rather addicting.)
So, good luck. I hope if Wheelock opens the door for you, it’s onto a strange new world filled with wonderful things.
It’s something very special to laugh at someone’s bad joke, which is just as lame now as it was 2,000 years ago. Or to read something in Cicero and then turn around and read somebody saying the exact same thing in a modern book. Or to be crying over Vergil when you finally realize what Shakespeare meant when he said, “What is Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba, that he should weep for her?"
This is both a review and a very short guide for those interested in jumping off the Latin cliff without a teacher. This is my first review on Goodreads, so please be gentle.
First off, Wheelock is THE text for learning Latin. I have never come across a text that is even remotely close to competing with his.
Latin is a middling-hard language to learn. A lot of Latin textbook writers realize this and reduce their entire text to phrasework: “The boy is Flavius,” “The sailor speaks,” “The girl loves the dog,” etc. etc. etc. Which leaves a person discouraged after having to memorize a whole slew of phrases without any supportive structure to help them remember all that gibberish, and, more importantly, leaves them unable to read a single passage in an actual Latin work.
Wheelock does not do this. He takes an extremely orderly, sequential approach to teaching the grammar and structure of the language, which is what is really needed in order to be able to read actual Latin works in future. He also keeps things as straightforward as possible, without getting caught up in all the ins and outs of the language and devolving into dozens upon dozens of grammar charts to memorize, which is what happens in a scary number of textbooks trying to teach a highly inflected language.
However, this might be a difficult text for someone who has never studied a highly inflected language before. Anyone who doesn’t know the difference between the dative and ablative, or what a gerund or the subjunctive tense is, will likely be confused and frustrated by Wheelock’s fleeting explanations. If this is the case I would recommend studying how inflected languages work before even opening Wheelock, or starting off with an easier inflected language, such as German.
On the upside for those struggling through an inflected language for the first time, after learning Latin learning all descendant Romance languages will be a walk in the park.
On the other hand, anyone who has studied an even more inflected language, such as Ancient Greek or Sanskrit, will find this textbook just a matter of course for getting through, and should come out the other end with no trauma and a competent enough grasp of the language to begin reading.
Wheelock does not go into much detail about pronunciation, for which a teacher will probably be necessary unless you have already studied other dead languages.
Please note that this text teaches classical Latin. Those looking to learn medieval Latin will have to do some additional study after completing this text. Even if you are intending to learn medieval Latin, I would still recommend Wheelock as the starting point.
Once finished with this text, it will be time to reap the fruits of your labor and actually start reading the Latin works, for which you should be well prepared after finishing Wheelock. I would recommend starting with Nepos, whose sense of eloquence is limping at the best of times but who writes simply and gives the beginner a more refined sense of “good” and “bad” in terms of Latin style (Nepos being an example of the “bad” end of the spectrum). This is a good edition for beginners: Cornelius Nepos: Three Lives: Alcibiades, Dion, Atticus
Cicero is also an excellent starting point, because he is as good as it gets in terms of Latin prose, and yet his writing is not overly difficult for the beginner. These is a very good beginner's edition of one of his most brilliant speeches: Cicero's First Catilinarian Oration
Livy is often recommended as another good starting point for prose. I found his style irritating when I was first starting out, but perhaps that was just me. This would probably be the best edition to use: Livy: Book I (Livy)
Sallust is a good starting point for becoming familiar with old Latin. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with a good edition of his works for beginners.
Pliny is a good starting point for becoming familiar with silver-age Latin. I particularly liked this edition: Fifty Letters of Pliny
For poetry, Catullus is an excellent jumping-off point. This is a good beginner's edition: The Student's Catullus
The end goal for short poetry will probably be Horace, but (at least for me) Horace was really hard. I would recommend waiting on him until you are competent enough to read without extensive commentary.
For the first work without needing extensive commentary from an editor, I would begin with Cicero’s De Senectute (On Old Age) and De Amicitia (On Friendship). I would recommend the Loeb text (the Red Books), so that you can check your reading against the English translation on the page opposite when you get stuck: On Old Age, On Friendship & On Divination
Probably the ultimate goal for those learning Latin will be Vergil. Vergil's Aeneid: Books I-VI is an excellent text for reading the first six books, after which you’ll probably be competent enough to read without the hand-holding of an editor.
At which point it will be time to move on to the Holy Grail of editions of Latin texts, the Oxford Classical Texts (i.e., OCTs or the Green Books). They have no commentary except for an introduction by the editor (written in Latin; these people are serious), and an apparatus criticus, which you will probably be interested in by this point. Here's an example of an OCT: de Republica, de Legibus, Cato Maior de Senectute, Laelius de Amicitia
An excellent website is Project Perseus, suitable for all your Latin-reading needs once you are competent at reading and when you are just reading for leisure rather than for a serious study of the work. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/c...
And yes, I just completely ignored Ovid. Can you tell I learnt golden-age Latin?
Latin is a pretty hard language and shouldn’t be attempted for some flash-in-the-pan reason, such as learning the roots of English words to be better at spelling, or in order to know the literal meanings of scientific names. If that is the case you will be better served by memorizing etymologies out of a dictionary. You must plan on devoting a lot of time and effort to learning this language and then to becoming better acquainted with it by reading in it. Latin is no French or Spanish. You’ll also need to develop a serious interest in Roman culture for the all the WTF? moments you are going to encounter in your reading.
But in my opinion all the effort of learning Latin is completely worth it. Who is the greatest writer who ever lived? To anyone who said Shakespeare: them’s fightin’ words. The greatest writer who ever lived (in my humble opinion) is Vergil. The man has no equal, in any language I’ve ever read. And his works transfer awfully into English. Every beautiful, brilliant, perfect thing he does is lost in translation. In order to read Vergil, you need to know Latin.
So. Yes. Study Wheelock, learn Latin, read Vergil. That’s basically the whole plan.
And for those of you who are newbies to serious language-learning and still considering tackling Latin: I think (I hope) you will find there is something really remarkable about knowing a second language. Especially a language so different from English, spoken by a people whose culture is so far removed from ours. It’s as if you’ve been looking at the world from one perspective your entire life, like looking in a mirror, and then suddenly you see everything from a different angle. The 2D world becomes 3D. And the more different the language is, the more radical a change in perspective you get, and the more languages you learn the more facets you get in the picture. (It can be rather addicting.)
So, good luck. I hope if Wheelock opens the door for you, it’s onto a strange new world filled with wonderful things.
It’s something very special to laugh at someone’s bad joke, which is just as lame now as it was 2,000 years ago. Or to read something in Cicero and then turn around and read somebody saying the exact same thing in a modern book. Or to be crying over Vergil when you finally realize what Shakespeare meant when he said, “What is Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba, that he should weep for her?"
February 23, 2017
I finished Chapter 40 of Wheelock's Latin this morning, after working on the book about 10 minutes to an hour a day (average: about 20 minutes) before breakfast for about a year, exemplifying how making something a habit and sticking with it every day, no matter what, will definitely get you places. I haven't tackled the supplementary material - yet - but may do so, since I've come this far, and would like to maintain and build on my efforts thus far. My declensions, conjugations and parsing skills are still relatively shaky, and I may at some point start all over from Chapter 1 and try to better solidify what I've learned, but I'm very happy with all that I've gained from this daily practice.
If you'd like to refresh your Latin, or start from scratch, this is IMHO the best place to start that I know of. I've dabbled in a good number of languages in my day, and can say with some authority that literary Latin is darn DIFFICULT! But what people always say about the value of the mental training it gives, in addition to greatly deepening your knowledge of Roman history and the English (or other European) language, is true. Wheelock's Latin receives my highest recommendation. For between-meal snacks, I also recommend Eugene Ehrlich's Amo, Amas, Amat and Veni, Vidi, Vici - they're great ways to put what you've learned into practice, and become acquainted with Latin phrases common in legal practice and academic writing. Some of the phrases had me laughing out loud while reading the books on the subway - which those around me mostly politely ignored!
If you'd like to refresh your Latin, or start from scratch, this is IMHO the best place to start that I know of. I've dabbled in a good number of languages in my day, and can say with some authority that literary Latin is darn DIFFICULT! But what people always say about the value of the mental training it gives, in addition to greatly deepening your knowledge of Roman history and the English (or other European) language, is true. Wheelock's Latin receives my highest recommendation. For between-meal snacks, I also recommend Eugene Ehrlich's Amo, Amas, Amat and Veni, Vidi, Vici - they're great ways to put what you've learned into practice, and become acquainted with Latin phrases common in legal practice and academic writing. Some of the phrases had me laughing out loud while reading the books on the subway - which those around me mostly politely ignored!
October 17, 2012
Technically I have a few more chapters to go, but I'm gonna go ahead and review it.
The good: Wheelock does a good job of teaching you Latin grammar. The bad: it does a good job teaching you Latin grammar--and nothing else. This book teaches you to "read" Latin sentences like algebraic equations--break a contextless sentence into its component parts and solve for the subject, verb, etc. This approach goes against everything we know about how the brain acquires language.
When it does offer reading passages with some context, many are epigrams or poetry which feature tricky syntax. Not until you've completed the entire 40 chapters of grammar do you encounter more than one paragraph of contiguous, simple Latin prose. Each chapter ends with a rambling page or two about some ancient Latin graffiti--pages and pages wasted on what amounts to a few sentences that could have been dedicated to useful, graded reading passages. It also tries to insert as much unadapted Latin as possible, as early as possible. Because, you know, new Latin students should cut their teeth on Cicero just as ESL students do with Shakespeare...
Considering that the main thing one can do with Latin is read in it, any course intended for beginners should be focused on developing reading proficiency, but this is not the aim of this book. Wheelock teaches you to translate Latin into English with the aid of a dictionary. If that's all you want, Wheelock is for you. If your goal is to have read at least one simple book--or even a short story--in Latin after a year of study, then this is not the book for you.
It's not that this book is horrible, it is not. However, I think the approach is all wrong for "a book which provides both the roots and at least some literary fruits of a sound Latin experience for those who will have only a year or so of Latin in their entire educational career" (Preface). With this goal in mind, labeling the various uses of the ablative or subjunctive clause types would not be high on my list of importance. Ernest Blum outlines the why and how of a program that would address the scenario Wheelock intended to with his book.
If Wheelock's Latin were a basketball player, it'd be great at making foul shots, but utterly unable to dribble.
The good: Wheelock does a good job of teaching you Latin grammar. The bad: it does a good job teaching you Latin grammar--and nothing else. This book teaches you to "read" Latin sentences like algebraic equations--break a contextless sentence into its component parts and solve for the subject, verb, etc. This approach goes against everything we know about how the brain acquires language.
When it does offer reading passages with some context, many are epigrams or poetry which feature tricky syntax. Not until you've completed the entire 40 chapters of grammar do you encounter more than one paragraph of contiguous, simple Latin prose. Each chapter ends with a rambling page or two about some ancient Latin graffiti--pages and pages wasted on what amounts to a few sentences that could have been dedicated to useful, graded reading passages. It also tries to insert as much unadapted Latin as possible, as early as possible. Because, you know, new Latin students should cut their teeth on Cicero just as ESL students do with Shakespeare...
Considering that the main thing one can do with Latin is read in it, any course intended for beginners should be focused on developing reading proficiency, but this is not the aim of this book. Wheelock teaches you to translate Latin into English with the aid of a dictionary. If that's all you want, Wheelock is for you. If your goal is to have read at least one simple book--or even a short story--in Latin after a year of study, then this is not the book for you.
It's not that this book is horrible, it is not. However, I think the approach is all wrong for "a book which provides both the roots and at least some literary fruits of a sound Latin experience for those who will have only a year or so of Latin in their entire educational career" (Preface). With this goal in mind, labeling the various uses of the ablative or subjunctive clause types would not be high on my list of importance. Ernest Blum outlines the why and how of a program that would address the scenario Wheelock intended to with his book.
December 16, 2023
This edition gives historical background—language etymology. There are an extensive amount of exercises. Substantive terms are bold and hard to overlook. If you are into speed reading, the introduction will assist in the pronunciation for vowels, consonants and diphthongs. Online or traditional idea cards and a dedicated tutor/scholar will benefit with erudition that lasts far longer than an ice cream cone on a hot California summer day.
"Inexorably accurate translation from Latin provides a training in observation, analysis, judgment, evaluation, and a sense of linguistic form, clarity, and beauty which is excellent training in the shaping of one’s own English expression,” asserted Frederic Wheelock.”
― Frederic M. Wheelock
To supplement the knowledge gained here, you can refer to, practice and review the videos found on YouTube.com. Latin is the foundation for the Spanish language and with effort you will find the connectivity between the two. Many languages stem from latin, this knowledge may serve to benefit the student that is curious about other languages with this base.
"Inexorably accurate translation from Latin provides a training in observation, analysis, judgment, evaluation, and a sense of linguistic form, clarity, and beauty which is excellent training in the shaping of one’s own English expression,” asserted Frederic Wheelock.”
― Frederic M. Wheelock
To supplement the knowledge gained here, you can refer to, practice and review the videos found on YouTube.com. Latin is the foundation for the Spanish language and with effort you will find the connectivity between the two. Many languages stem from latin, this knowledge may serve to benefit the student that is curious about other languages with this base.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2015
I used to think that Wheelock advocates were just a little too content with the standby, traditional, status quo, intro to Latin text to be bothered to examine the virtues of other options. I was wrong. Now that I have worked my way through the 40 chapters of this classic text, I understand why it has become the classic and why it should remain the preeminent Latin textbook.
Frederic M. Wheelock understood that learning to read Latin should be for the purpose of learning to read real Latin sources. Too many proponents of Latin today laud it for its benefits in boosting English vocabulary or the rigorous thinking its inflected nature demands. These are great benefits, but they are just the cherry on top, so to speak. As one moves week by week through Wheelock's Sententiae Antiquae and longer literary selections, one starts to think like a Roman, to ponder the ideals of virtue and friendship, the perils of money and poverty, the trials of youth and old age, the reasons for living and dying. Even the "modern" practice translation sentences reflect Roman life and thought. After years of teaching children entry-level Latin with canned sentences about farmers and women and horses in unceasing, mind-numbing succession, translating my way through Wheelock is like waking up into an entirely new world.
This book combines excellent pedagogy with excellent content. The lessons move very steadily and waste no time on extraneous explanation, but the translation exercises are oh so carefully structured to support and strengthen the student's growing grammatical knowledge. Yet grammatical knowledge grows within the context of real, mature, philosophical thought and moving poetry and clever humor. The fact that even seven editions later this book still contains so much of deep worth is testament to the enduring power of Latin and its authors. Wheelock's Latin gives a little glimpse of what a true liberal education must once have been, and that glimpse is breathtakingly wonderful. I would venture that few other language textbooks today could claim to mold a student's mind and character alongside of teaching vocabulary and grammar. Wheelock's does. It is a treasure.
Frederic M. Wheelock understood that learning to read Latin should be for the purpose of learning to read real Latin sources. Too many proponents of Latin today laud it for its benefits in boosting English vocabulary or the rigorous thinking its inflected nature demands. These are great benefits, but they are just the cherry on top, so to speak. As one moves week by week through Wheelock's Sententiae Antiquae and longer literary selections, one starts to think like a Roman, to ponder the ideals of virtue and friendship, the perils of money and poverty, the trials of youth and old age, the reasons for living and dying. Even the "modern" practice translation sentences reflect Roman life and thought. After years of teaching children entry-level Latin with canned sentences about farmers and women and horses in unceasing, mind-numbing succession, translating my way through Wheelock is like waking up into an entirely new world.
This book combines excellent pedagogy with excellent content. The lessons move very steadily and waste no time on extraneous explanation, but the translation exercises are oh so carefully structured to support and strengthen the student's growing grammatical knowledge. Yet grammatical knowledge grows within the context of real, mature, philosophical thought and moving poetry and clever humor. The fact that even seven editions later this book still contains so much of deep worth is testament to the enduring power of Latin and its authors. Wheelock's Latin gives a little glimpse of what a true liberal education must once have been, and that glimpse is breathtakingly wonderful. I would venture that few other language textbooks today could claim to mold a student's mind and character alongside of teaching vocabulary and grammar. Wheelock's does. It is a treasure.
September 28, 2015
For generations of American students, "Wheelock's" is the Latin textbook they remember from their schoolyard days. And indeed, if you had a charismatic teacher who could convey his/her love of the language, these 40 chapters contain almost everything you'd need to know about the language. But if your teacher is mediocre, your extracurricular syllabus is annoying, or if you're learning on your own... you'll need a bit of backup.
The more I use Wheelock's, the more I acknowledge that it's a damn thorough textbook. If you read each chapter in detail, and do all the exercises (both in the chapter, in the supplements, and preferably in the additional Exercise Book) you should have a thorough grounding of how to use Latin. The book features edited excerpts from real Roman texts in each chapter, so you also get a sense of the variety of usage when the language is actually placed in context.
If there are problems, they're simply that this isn't the most innovative of texts. It's a top-down approach, itemising a few grammatical concepts each chapter and then parading examples in front of you. The examples use the same nouns over and over again, which helps to cement your focus on the grammatical item du jour, but makes things a little repetitive for sure. It's rote learning (which, don't mistake me, is necessary for an inflected language like Latin) but it relies so much on a passionate teacher. This is probably why many kids come out of school with dreary memories of their Latin classroom!
I highly recommend the enjoyable, narrative-based Cambridge Latin Course (which, to my mind, introduces the concepts in a more logical sequence) or - if you're an adult learner on your own - Reading Latin, by Peter V. Jones, which focuses on translation. They're both far more immersive in both Roman culture and the language, and will be a lot more fun. At the same time, I've finally committed to doing the Wheelock, and I must admit it works well. I'd probably recommend a combination of any 2 of the above. If you're going with the Wheelock, I recommend finding Dale Grote's companion book, or even his lectures which can sometimes be found on line. He goes through all of the supplementary questions and details how the language works. It's a thoroughly engaging way to approach Wheelock. On your own, you may have the concepts down, but it's a heady tome that offers little in the way of mental stimulation.
I realise this is an ambiguous review (particularly when I've gone with 4-stars!). I guess in closing: Wheelock's is a textbook best as a support to either the Cambridge or Reading Latin. At the same time, its generous use of real Latin, combined with 40 chapters of thorough material, means that a seriously committed student will take a lot away from it. It's a shame so many kids these days are taught by underwhelmed literature teachers or dull curricula from the '70s!
The more I use Wheelock's, the more I acknowledge that it's a damn thorough textbook. If you read each chapter in detail, and do all the exercises (both in the chapter, in the supplements, and preferably in the additional Exercise Book) you should have a thorough grounding of how to use Latin. The book features edited excerpts from real Roman texts in each chapter, so you also get a sense of the variety of usage when the language is actually placed in context.
If there are problems, they're simply that this isn't the most innovative of texts. It's a top-down approach, itemising a few grammatical concepts each chapter and then parading examples in front of you. The examples use the same nouns over and over again, which helps to cement your focus on the grammatical item du jour, but makes things a little repetitive for sure. It's rote learning (which, don't mistake me, is necessary for an inflected language like Latin) but it relies so much on a passionate teacher. This is probably why many kids come out of school with dreary memories of their Latin classroom!
I highly recommend the enjoyable, narrative-based Cambridge Latin Course (which, to my mind, introduces the concepts in a more logical sequence) or - if you're an adult learner on your own - Reading Latin, by Peter V. Jones, which focuses on translation. They're both far more immersive in both Roman culture and the language, and will be a lot more fun. At the same time, I've finally committed to doing the Wheelock, and I must admit it works well. I'd probably recommend a combination of any 2 of the above. If you're going with the Wheelock, I recommend finding Dale Grote's companion book, or even his lectures which can sometimes be found on line. He goes through all of the supplementary questions and details how the language works. It's a thoroughly engaging way to approach Wheelock. On your own, you may have the concepts down, but it's a heady tome that offers little in the way of mental stimulation.
I realise this is an ambiguous review (particularly when I've gone with 4-stars!). I guess in closing: Wheelock's is a textbook best as a support to either the Cambridge or Reading Latin. At the same time, its generous use of real Latin, combined with 40 chapters of thorough material, means that a seriously committed student will take a lot away from it. It's a shame so many kids these days are taught by underwhelmed literature teachers or dull curricula from the '70s!
August 29, 2024
Latin may seem to be a “dead” language to most people, but for me it was a bit of a life-saver, at least as far as the English language goes. Growing up, I heard Flemish and French and Italian and Aussie Strine and never the twain did meet. Eventually, two things happened: First, a nun taught me diagramming which opened the world of English to me. Previously, I said the words and sentences but never really understood them. Second, a chance encounter with some Latin sayings led me to take some Latin classes at university. It wasn’t to learn an ancient language so much as it was to understand how certain words evolved into English, which made the language so much easier to comprehend. To each their own, I guess, but the fortuitous combination of Roman Catholicism and a determined college professor provided a journey into a love of English which certainly wasn’t there before.
This book is one I used at school, although we never completed the entire publication. The poor teacher probably lamented a class of slow-burners, but the lack of speed in getting through the book was perfect for me. It seemed only fair to see if I could at least read it through so many years later, to see what I could understand. I’m still a bit of a dimwit when it comes to language, but the way the book is laid out for the student remains a high point for ease of use.
Each chapter focuses on a different part of Latin, for example, pronouns or conjugations. There are pages devoted to the explanation of what is to be learned followed by vocabulary and then a practice & review section. Then there are several sentences in Latin that must be translated along with some famous Latin sayings. Finally, the chapter will end with an etymology explanation of what was learned.
I’ll admit that I’m a bit slower so many years on, as I didn’t comprehend everything I was reading, but I certainly tried to do some translating. When this book was first published, students didn’t have Google translations, so it took greater effort from students to actually concentrate and learn the lessons rather than just complete them. At some point in the future, when life gets slower, I will look to return to this course with a Roman determination to conquer the words before me.
Book Season = Year Round (take that, Cicero)
This book is one I used at school, although we never completed the entire publication. The poor teacher probably lamented a class of slow-burners, but the lack of speed in getting through the book was perfect for me. It seemed only fair to see if I could at least read it through so many years later, to see what I could understand. I’m still a bit of a dimwit when it comes to language, but the way the book is laid out for the student remains a high point for ease of use.
Each chapter focuses on a different part of Latin, for example, pronouns or conjugations. There are pages devoted to the explanation of what is to be learned followed by vocabulary and then a practice & review section. Then there are several sentences in Latin that must be translated along with some famous Latin sayings. Finally, the chapter will end with an etymology explanation of what was learned.
I’ll admit that I’m a bit slower so many years on, as I didn’t comprehend everything I was reading, but I certainly tried to do some translating. When this book was first published, students didn’t have Google translations, so it took greater effort from students to actually concentrate and learn the lessons rather than just complete them. At some point in the future, when life gets slower, I will look to return to this course with a Roman determination to conquer the words before me.
Book Season = Year Round (take that, Cicero)
November 13, 2008
Ahhh, Wheelock, an old friend. Before I knew the glories of advanced scientific/mathematical study and just how valuable a truly excellent textbook is, there was one paperback gem of autodidacticism, one appetite-whetting volume bearing the portent of positive information-acquisition feedback loops to come. That book was Wheelock's Latin, then in its 3rd edition (I now own the 5th; the 6th has been issued for some time). While it lacks the extensive excerpts from rhetoric and poetics necessary for any serious study of Latin as a passion, this is the ne plus ultra of a first course -- a method largely axiomatic in character, combined with superb drills. A motivated self-study could easily cover several chapters each evening, leaving you with a firm foundation in Latin syntax and vocabulary within a month.
While my professional life has benefited more than anything else from a ridiculously early exposure to programming and a deep grokkage of calculus/algebra, my intellectual life overall has been most enriched by studying Latin and Greek. Everyone ought do so, and there's absolutely no better place to start. God bless you, Dr. Wheelock.
Publisher's page
While my professional life has benefited more than anything else from a ridiculously early exposure to programming and a deep grokkage of calculus/algebra, my intellectual life overall has been most enriched by studying Latin and Greek. Everyone ought do so, and there's absolutely no better place to start. God bless you, Dr. Wheelock.
Publisher's page
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July 25, 2025fuck it i deserve credit for this one. fall 2019.
September 10, 2018
Great grammar with copious exercises. Very thorough education of the written Latin language. But keep in mind that a language can't be learned through grammar alone. I'm using it alongside "Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata", Adler's "Practical Grammar of the Latin Language" and the "Orbis Sensualium Pictus" of John Amos Comenius. I would also recommend trying Evan der Millner's comprehensive audio courses on latinum.org.uk.
It is important to read, write, listen to and speak the language. One is not fluent until fluent in all of these.
I have the 7th edition of Wheelock's
It is important to read, write, listen to and speak the language. One is not fluent until fluent in all of these.
I have the 7th edition of Wheelock's
April 1, 2008
What I learned from this book:
Latin.
Latin.
December 2, 2015
I was at a concert of Renaissance music last week, and picked up the program to read through the translations. And glanced over to the left, where the original Latin text was printed. And realized that I could read it. I. Can. Read. Latin. Now. Awesome!
February 4, 2016
I mean I learned Latin (pretty much)
July 14, 2020
Disclosure: I am a high school Latin teacher. I first began teaching the subject forty years ago. This well known textbook follows the “grammar translation” approach (versus the “reading method”), a time tested, proven old school formula that is excellent for learning Latin.
Wheelock is quite good for college students, high school students, or 18th century middle school prodigies. Also well suited for independent learners and adults. It is very cut and dried, like a grammar book with graded sentences for translation (both English to Latin and Latin to English). There are also a few sententiae antiquae thrown in for good measure.
Here’s your work plan: proceed diligently from chapter to chapter. Memorize the grammatical rules, word forms (i.e., declensions and conjugations) and vocabulary. Dutifully complete the exercises. If you finish the book, you will have an excellent handle on Latin and be positioned to begin reading Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Caesar, Catullus, Livy, Martial, Sallust, Cicero, and lots of others.
For the record, reading the above mentioned authors is the single most important, if not the sole reason for learning Latin in the first place. It seems so absurdly obvious, yet so many people I encounter are utterly mystified about the reasons why students take the time and the trouble to learn this magnificent language. When you have worked your way through the Aeneid, the Metamorphoses, the Odes, or Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul, you have achieved something important in your education. Labor omnia vincit!
Wheelock is quite good for college students, high school students, or 18th century middle school prodigies. Also well suited for independent learners and adults. It is very cut and dried, like a grammar book with graded sentences for translation (both English to Latin and Latin to English). There are also a few sententiae antiquae thrown in for good measure.
Here’s your work plan: proceed diligently from chapter to chapter. Memorize the grammatical rules, word forms (i.e., declensions and conjugations) and vocabulary. Dutifully complete the exercises. If you finish the book, you will have an excellent handle on Latin and be positioned to begin reading Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Caesar, Catullus, Livy, Martial, Sallust, Cicero, and lots of others.
For the record, reading the above mentioned authors is the single most important, if not the sole reason for learning Latin in the first place. It seems so absurdly obvious, yet so many people I encounter are utterly mystified about the reasons why students take the time and the trouble to learn this magnificent language. When you have worked your way through the Aeneid, the Metamorphoses, the Odes, or Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul, you have achieved something important in your education. Labor omnia vincit!
February 19, 2022
This textbook is helping me get exactly what I wanted out of a course to bring my Latin back from the dead (I'm up to Caput 14 of 40 of the 7th edition).
The subtitle of Wheelock's Latin is "based on the writings of Cicero, Vergil, and other major Roman authors". My incentive for undertaking a course in the language was to be able to read the poetry and maybe a bit of the prose and I am very much enjoying the book's SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE.
The course stretches me and demands that I get re-acquainted with the structure, with the bones, of the language - and I'm getting a similar satisfaction out of that as I've had from solving a crossword puzzle.
Much later. I'd got up to I think it was the pluperfect subjunctive passive when the Covid restrictions eased and I put Wheelock aside for a while, maybe till the next lockdown.
The subtitle of Wheelock's Latin is "based on the writings of Cicero, Vergil, and other major Roman authors". My incentive for undertaking a course in the language was to be able to read the poetry and maybe a bit of the prose and I am very much enjoying the book's SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE.
The course stretches me and demands that I get re-acquainted with the structure, with the bones, of the language - and I'm getting a similar satisfaction out of that as I've had from solving a crossword puzzle.
Much later. I'd got up to I think it was the pluperfect subjunctive passive when the Covid restrictions eased and I put Wheelock aside for a while, maybe till the next lockdown.
August 14, 2022
Spent 10 weeks and translated nearly everything with a classmate and college professor. I enjoyed it!
January 6, 2025
well i suppose with my latin final last month i am DONE with beginning latin and thus i NEVER have to think about wheelock again! i am not going to lie: making my latin master doc has let me know that allen and greenough clears easily. i suppose one can talk all they want about the cambridge and how caecilius est in horto. and maybe one can talk about the oxford or the ecce romani or the lingua latina per se illustrata. but wheelock is what i had to use and unfortunately wheelock and co. explain jack shit to you. for instance—i wrestled in the mud with my least favorite thing in latin, the relative pronoun. i hate relative pronouns, even more than i hate participles. "lacey," you say, "i thought you hated the participle so much!" it is true. i hate relatives even more. and what does wheelock tell me in the relative pronoun chapter? he gives me the qui/quae/quod chart and says that the relative must agree with the antecedent. okay, well, i already knew that, yes yes yes. what next? "oh," says wheelock, "that's it! that is all." what about gendernumbercase quirks? "no! no thank you." listen. the pictures are nice. when i am mired in the midst of the present passive, i imagine it would be nice to stumble upon a picture of the house of menander. but is that really necessary? do i need to see recreations of graffiti from Pompeii? and the little jaunty "valēte!" when they end a section after telling us not a damn thing about the grammar? don't anger me now. i give it two stars for the vocabulary, which is very good, and the declensions charts in the index. when anthony wrote his own version of the aeneid and had us translate fifteen million lines of it per week, you best believe i had the wheelock glossary open, scrolling back and forth to see what quicquid or quiscumque or quotiēnscumque or whatever the hell those godforsaken q words meant. now i will return to the comfort of allen and greenough.
December 6, 2016
I picked my old Latin textbook and worked through it last month or so, still the best way to learn Latin. I would recommend one of the older versions, though. The older version is more compact and easier to get through, also cheaper. Basically, the book introduces the major grammar points, has some made-up sentences to translate, and then a selection of ancient authors. You can probably safely skip the English to Latin exercises, unless you are really gung-ho; in which case, there is probably something wrong with you. There are 40 chapters, and once you are done with it, you'll be able to read to the level of Caesar, Cicero and maybe even Virgil, but slowly with a dictionary. You'll definitely be able to skip the extensive passages at the end of the book, and move on to a more interesting Level II reader. It will probably take you a year to get through the book if you have no prior Latin. Good luck.
August 30, 2013
Everything you will ever need for a foundation in Latin. Then, after you have mastered this text, get a hold of Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar. Then after that, well, if you truly master Allen and Greenough's, why are you not teaching Classics?
Wheelock's is great, highly recommended! Latina est gaudium!
Wheelock's is great, highly recommended! Latina est gaudium!
April 22, 2016
My hatred for this book is not because it is a particularly terrible book of its own accord. It is because it is awfully difficult way to be introduced to Latin and the name "Wheelock" still sends goosebumps down my spine.
July 30, 2013
Went through about 350 pages of this grammar book in about 2.5 weeks—crazy pace. Now I can converse with Latinos, I guess.
Want to read
November 29, 2020Yes, I’m spending my scholarship money on a book to learn latin.
May 8, 2024
Well, that was an experience.
June 10, 2025
Ruined my life for 9 months. But also is my mother and gave birth to me. Meaning?
Read
June 1, 2025I studied this book so hard the cover fell off, yet I still don't understand Latin
November 22, 2022
The common criticism re: Wheelock's lack of sensible structure is probably justified—I'd have hated to have had to use it to learn Latin the first time around. As a refresher course, however, I found it worked well: it eschews the usual laborious ``puella est in cena'' type translation exercises in favour of actual Latin as she was spoke (``sententiae antiquae'') from the second chapter on, and while I can't imagine that being anything but frustrating to a half-interested ten-year-old, it gives you a sense of rapid progress as a revisitor.
A thing that Wheelock's Latin undoubtedly does better than my secondary school textbooks did is place Latin in context relative to other languages: almost every vocabulary item has a list of English derived words, and occasionally there are tables showing the development of Latin wordforms in modern Romance languages as well (including Romanian, which people in Western Europe tend to forget even exists). The introduction even (very briefly) discusses Proto-Indo-European! The flipside is that almost no effort is made to put Latin in its cultural and historical context—the history of Rome is left as a broad sketch, and Roman culture is only mentioned obliquely when it's relevant to the interpretation of certain passages.
If you learned Latin in (continental) Europe, things that may also upset you are the insistence on seeing the first person present indicative as the dictionary form of a verb (as opposed to the infinitive), the altered standard order of cases (nominative → genitive → dative → accusative → ablative → vocative, instead of nominative → vocative → accusative → genitive → dative → ablative†), the bizarrely Englishized terms for everything (gerund and gerundive instead of gerundium and gerundivum, imperfect and pluperfect instead of imperfectum and plusquamperfectum, &c.), and Wheelock's off-putting infatuation with the American military. Since this course was written for GIs returning from WW2, however, that last one, at least, was probably to be expected.
Another thing that caught me off guard was the inclusion of Latin Bible quotes among the sententiae antiquae, which made me realise that that's something my school never did, despite being a Catholic school.
On balance, though, I expected this to be a lot worse than it turned out to be. It's occasionally obvious that Wheelock, in contrast to most Europeans, isn't working out of an education tradition that never stopped teaching Latin since Latin was still a living language, but rather from the point of view that Latin is just an interesting thing to dabble in, but both approaches will get you to speaking Latin if that's where you want to get.
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† ``Rosa, rosae, rosae / rosam, rosa, rosa / rosae, rosarum, rosis / rosas, rosis, rosae'' doesn't scan; sorry, Jacques Brel.
A thing that Wheelock's Latin undoubtedly does better than my secondary school textbooks did is place Latin in context relative to other languages: almost every vocabulary item has a list of English derived words, and occasionally there are tables showing the development of Latin wordforms in modern Romance languages as well (including Romanian, which people in Western Europe tend to forget even exists). The introduction even (very briefly) discusses Proto-Indo-European! The flipside is that almost no effort is made to put Latin in its cultural and historical context—the history of Rome is left as a broad sketch, and Roman culture is only mentioned obliquely when it's relevant to the interpretation of certain passages.
If you learned Latin in (continental) Europe, things that may also upset you are the insistence on seeing the first person present indicative as the dictionary form of a verb (as opposed to the infinitive), the altered standard order of cases (nominative → genitive → dative → accusative → ablative → vocative, instead of nominative → vocative → accusative → genitive → dative → ablative†), the bizarrely Englishized terms for everything (gerund and gerundive instead of gerundium and gerundivum, imperfect and pluperfect instead of imperfectum and plusquamperfectum, &c.), and Wheelock's off-putting infatuation with the American military. Since this course was written for GIs returning from WW2, however, that last one, at least, was probably to be expected.
Another thing that caught me off guard was the inclusion of Latin Bible quotes among the sententiae antiquae, which made me realise that that's something my school never did, despite being a Catholic school.
On balance, though, I expected this to be a lot worse than it turned out to be. It's occasionally obvious that Wheelock, in contrast to most Europeans, isn't working out of an education tradition that never stopped teaching Latin since Latin was still a living language, but rather from the point of view that Latin is just an interesting thing to dabble in, but both approaches will get you to speaking Latin if that's where you want to get.
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† ``Rosa, rosae, rosae / rosam, rosa, rosa / rosae, rosarum, rosis / rosas, rosis, rosae'' doesn't scan; sorry, Jacques Brel.
July 20, 2017
This is the textbook I used in a Latin intensive class which runs through the whole book in a matter of two months. Latin is taught distinctly as a reading language, with the communication toward Roman and medieval texts and authors. Till the very end of our class, we were not asked to introduce ourselves or performing daily dialogues, but the very first sentence should set the tone of the whole experience: "Labor me vocat", the work calls me! And the second one -- "Mone me, si erro", warn me, if I err! Hence, from the very beginning, Wheelock offers a different world.
The textbook is helpful and accessible enough for self-tutoring, however I doubt that I myself could have gone far without an encouraging teacher and a discipline of drills and practices.
Why study Latin? I did not appreciate the precision of Latin fully till arriving at the world of indirect questions, indirect statements, and the much fuller range of subjunctives. In the Roman mind (or in its helpful nurturing handmaids such as Cicero), there was a distinct realm of reality between factual ('indicative') versus not directly factual. This clear demarcation through of acts, versus non-facts such as reports, thoughts, hypotheticals, is astonishing. Why? Because a Roman would distinctly hear that difference without even have to think too hard about it. Its very language marks the different realms through the subjunctive mood. English itself, has largely faded its subjunctives, hence facts, non-facts, news, fake news, all clear as mud ...
I am grateful to have encountered Latin as a beginner through this helpful, rich and rather startlingly different mode of learning through scholars worked around Wheelock.
The textbook is helpful and accessible enough for self-tutoring, however I doubt that I myself could have gone far without an encouraging teacher and a discipline of drills and practices.
Why study Latin? I did not appreciate the precision of Latin fully till arriving at the world of indirect questions, indirect statements, and the much fuller range of subjunctives. In the Roman mind (or in its helpful nurturing handmaids such as Cicero), there was a distinct realm of reality between factual ('indicative') versus not directly factual. This clear demarcation through of acts, versus non-facts such as reports, thoughts, hypotheticals, is astonishing. Why? Because a Roman would distinctly hear that difference without even have to think too hard about it. Its very language marks the different realms through the subjunctive mood. English itself, has largely faded its subjunctives, hence facts, non-facts, news, fake news, all clear as mud ...
I am grateful to have encountered Latin as a beginner through this helpful, rich and rather startlingly different mode of learning through scholars worked around Wheelock.
Read
March 9, 2011Cum veniam finem, autem lux luxuriaque nec pulchrae nec felices plus sint. In fact, inasmuch as iter est destinatiem, the reward of these daily lessons since October has been in the self-discipline and byway sensitivity by observing not just etymologies but the nearly mathematical nature of language as a structure to be infinitely declined and conjugated. It puzzles the will as wonder and exasperation to encounter a language in which almost no words in a sentence can be found in a dictionary, because they must first be deciphered back to their roots and methods. Nunc scio quid sit diligentia.
We'll see when the Cambridge beginner's guide to the Aeneid comes out in late April whether I learned anything. I can't discourse aloud except as they did in the Tombstone film, quoting aphorisms in mildly related sequence. I can write and translate basically with reference materials handy.
For anyone interested I highly recommend Wheelock's method. He loves to excess the moralizing of Cicero vs Catullus, though. The later editions revised posthumously include more exercises (with answer keys) and are more verbose in explanation.
Best site ever: http://nodictionaries.com/
We'll see when the Cambridge beginner's guide to the Aeneid comes out in late April whether I learned anything. I can't discourse aloud except as they did in the Tombstone film, quoting aphorisms in mildly related sequence. I can write and translate basically with reference materials handy.
For anyone interested I highly recommend Wheelock's method. He loves to excess the moralizing of Cicero vs Catullus, though. The later editions revised posthumously include more exercises (with answer keys) and are more verbose in explanation.
Best site ever: http://nodictionaries.com/
July 26, 2010
Though at many points during my first year of Latin I think I might have assigned a single star to this book, on the whole it's one of the best Latin textbooks that I have seen. The layout is exceptionally good and concepts are introduced in a manner that makes a lot of sense.
My main complaint is about the exercises: there are too many in each chapter, more often than not, and some of them can be nonsensical - even when translated correctly! I think if spread out over 50 lessons instead of 40, a more reasonable amount of vocabulary might be approached in each lesson.
On the whole, however, it teaches the language well and offers a lot of interesting etymological and cultural information while presenting a solid survey of grammar.
My main complaint is about the exercises: there are too many in each chapter, more often than not, and some of them can be nonsensical - even when translated correctly! I think if spread out over 50 lessons instead of 40, a more reasonable amount of vocabulary might be approached in each lesson.
On the whole, however, it teaches the language well and offers a lot of interesting etymological and cultural information while presenting a solid survey of grammar.
July 3, 2007
best latin textbook i know of -- spoilt me on a lot of modern language textbooks, since it relegated conversation to the last 10 lines of text at the end of each chapter. (Yeah, I know that most people actually want to have conversations in German/French/Polish; i just want a textbook for reading, that reads like a pulp noir novel).
I should also say that this is the textbook where i first learned a lot of the rudiments of Indo-European grammar studies, taught by the teacher whose summer etymology class turned me on to linguistics in general (thanks for sharing, Dr. Hall).
I should also say that this is the textbook where i first learned a lot of the rudiments of Indo-European grammar studies, taught by the teacher whose summer etymology class turned me on to linguistics in general (thanks for sharing, Dr. Hall).
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