Smith and Thompson’s First Year Latin

Jenney's Latin #1

by Charles Jenney, Jr., Minnie L. Smith, Harold G. Thompson

used.

Genres: Reference, Language, Nonfiction, Textbooks, School

451 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Silver · Rating 1 out of 5]

My Latin teacher put me through hell.

[Katya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating is 4.5. The historical bits are so enjoyable and the sense of achievement you'll feel with the Latin texts graduating in complexity is irreplaceable.

But for me, reading this congruent to another resource was the most effective strategy. Use it alongside another reference (like Wheelock's) so that it will negate the weakness of either and reinforce what you've learned in a way that your brain isn't used to. You'll learn some concepts later than desirable in one book and earlier in another but it will help hammer things in.

[Knox Merkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly good survey of Latin grammar, clearly explaining each new concept, with lots of good exercises. Even though it's following the grammar/translation method, the goal is to get the student reading, and everything is oriented towards reading Caesar the following year, so the examples and exercises are all very military-themed, which is fun.

[rogue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a kid. It is laid out very well has great little distractions: info-boxes, quotes, "If You Lived in Ancient Rome..." cultural details, fun "Speaking and Listening" conversations, and geographical descriptions of the remnants of Roman society today. Just a fun book to work from, and it's also incredibly thorough. Where else in a First Year Latin book will you be exposed to details such as the internal accusative? "Translation Help" info boxes also teach you to be a thoughtful reader and translator: think word order doesn't matter? Think again because "Tullius rex" implies "King Tullius" while "rex Tullius" is "Tullius while king." The material, while not easy, is presented very intuitively. I love that the first chapter starts you off with nouns (the first declension), whereas Wheelock's starts you off with verbs. The rationale explained much later on is that Latin nouns are very specific whereas verbs are general with many meanings; thus verbs usually come last in a clause because you need the rest of the words to figure out which meaning of the verb to use. I reread this book as an adult and it lived up to all my charming childhood memories of Latin class. The only major flaw I can think of is that the end-of-chapter readings when they try to paraphrase Livy into "easier Latin" end up introducing some confusing and unclear constructions.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you cant get Wheelock's, get Jenny's. This is a textbook that pulls no punches. It doesnt have the old fashioned charm of Wheelock, but I'll be darned it makes you learn. If Wheelock is the poet of the latin textbooks, then Jenny is the roman general barking at you and pushing you down that 20 mile highway at top speed. If you REALLY want to get kicked into action, make sure your instructor has this to work from. Ave!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the very logical approach Jenney takes. I taught High School Latin for the first time this semester and found the text very approachable for myself and my students. As a Latin student, I am glad I learned with the more poetic, whole-language approach of Wheelock, but not everyone fuses the art and science of foreign language acquisition in the same way I do. Jenney parses Latin into the bite sized chunks needed for rote mastery without dumbing it down. That is a marvelous feat.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This textbook is used for levels 1 & 2 of Latin at Saint Mary's Academy (Bay View). I've never used the "Purple Jenney," but I suspect I would find it more to my liking. This text seems a little archaic and lacking in cultural/historical context.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kids at the school I teach at use the same Latin book I had almost twelve year ago. I remember the way the vocab boxes look and the culture sections. I might borrow one sometime to scan the cover.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I taught from this text book and I really liked the flow of the information. It really felt like it progressed in a way that made the material easy to assimilate and build upon. If you are looking for a formulaic approach to learning or teaching Latin, I recommend Jenney's First Year Latin.

[William Herbst · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very traditional grammar translation method Latin textbook. It is a classic and I have both taught from and tutored from this book. It is quite good at what it sets out to do but it's methodology is currently (possibly somewhat unjustly) unpopular in American secondary education circles.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredible, you should all read it, you'll love it I promise

[Brigit]

added

[Marc Sylvester · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could only go back to these times, the world would be a better place.

[Belle Pace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ya Latin! I <3 latin!

[Katie]

Well... I used this book from 6th grade to 9th Grade in Latin class....