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Latin: An Intensive Course
This is a comprehensive introduction to Latin forms and syntax, designed to train the student in reading ancient texts at an early stage.
459 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 12, 2022
Goes really hard, One of the best experiences of my life. I saw birth, and death all in one text.
Shit is hella pricey, but it is a rip if you’re trying to see god, better than any drug out there, that’s for bloody sure.
Shit is hella pricey, but it is a rip if you’re trying to see god, better than any drug out there, that’s for bloody sure.
September 16, 2018
I've never felt closer to a textbook in my life, nor have I ever used one more thoroughly. I feel weirdly and deeply connected to this book in a way that I am not sure will ever fade. Five stars.
August 25, 2023
I don't need to say much about this classic from 1977 other than
The best Latin text now available and I very much doubt that a better one will appear for a long time.
Ralph W. Johnson, Cornell University
And the best Goodreads review said this much:
I've never felt closer to a textbook in my life, nor have I ever used one more thoroughly.
Mary Kate
---
I'd probably think that Ruck by MIT
and Hansen and Quinn by Fordham
might be the best two books for Ancient Greek
and for Latin
Moreland and Fleischer's book on Latin by the University of California
[I've included readings by Brooklyn College by the City University of New York
which might be the most intensive Latin and Greek curriculum in the world
Where they burn through Moreland's Latin or Hansen's Greek in about two and a half weeks.
And then Upper Level Latin is burned through in about three weeks
and Upper Level Greek in about seven weeks
and we're talking about 7 to 10 hour days of the classroom and five hours of study afterwords
So you're burning about 200 hours into Moreland
and 200 hours into Hansen
just for the basics
Think of it like this
20 days of Basic Latin nonstop
20 days of Basic Greek nonstop
and then maybe 30 to 40 days of Higher Latin
and maybe 60-70 days of Higher Greek
if you wanted a pace with 5% more breathing room
200-225 hours with Moreland for Latin
200-225 hours with Hansen for Greek
400 hours of Upper Latin [400-500 hours]
900 hours of Upper Greek [800-1000 hours]
---
Amazone
Concise and Clear
---
Not bad Floyd and Rita!
My experience with the text comes from a 7 week course at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.
This text covers the majority of Latin syntax in 18 intense chapters.
The bulk of the syntax, however, is really covered by chapter 12, with the remaining chapters covering important but not difficult ideas such as "cum" and result clauses.
From the student's perspective, the main weaknesses are the horrible, awkward and unnatural Latin practice sentences in the "preliminary exercises". And, there are only answers to a few of the exercises, making it difficult to self-check.
When time is of the essence, as it is in intensives, there is not time to go over all the exercises in class. "Floyd and Rita" really should fix this deficiency.
Additionally, sentences used to illustrate ideas such as the ablative absolute, are not taken from primary sources. Their examples sentences tend to be very simple, making it even harder to recognize concepts in a tediously long sentence from Seneca.
Further, Floyd and Rita's discussion of ideas such as the gerund/gerundive is very brief. They are accurate discussions, but brief.
I highly recommend using Wheelock's Latin as a sidebar. His examples are better, and his explanations tend to "stick to your bones".
Latin primary sources are graduated. That is, early in the text the readings are horribly butchered for pedogogical reasons. Floyd and Rita have no choice here. But what they do well, is quickly reduce the adaptations so that by Ch 18, one is reading at an intermediate level.
The appendix is okay, but somehow not as easy to reference as Wheelock's. In short, this text gets the job done, but there is little room or time to bask in the excitement of reading Caesar. I compare it to drinking Milk of Magnesia. No fun here. But then, intensive Latin classes are hard pressed to be so. You will indeed learn from Floyd and Rita. (but get Wheelock too!)
Katherine Katsenis
[my thoughts: No! Do Not Use Wheelock!]
---
WAY better than Wheelock
Having used both Wheelock's and Latin Via Ovid, and having taken Latin coursework both in the U.S. and in Germany, I wholeheartedly hold Moreland/Fleisher's Latin: An Intensive Course to be the best Latin language education textbook I have encountered.
I am a student of comparative literature, and therefore a large part of my studies is independent. I spend a great deal of time teaching myself languages (so far Latin, Ancient Greek, German, Italian and French either entirely or partially self-taught) and so it is critical that I find great textbooks. Moreland and Fleisher's Latin: An Intensive Course is both intensive (offering clear explanations of each concept in addition to examples, drills AND exercises for practicing it) and extensive (covering all of the most critical grammar topics and an impressive number of the subtleties of the language (i.e. etymological patterns)).
It is no wonder that it is used as the foundation for two renowned Latin education programs int he US (Intensive summer courses at UC Berkeley and the Latin and Greek Institute at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College).
Time and time again while working in Moreland and Fleisher's textbook I would come accross explanations of grammatical concepts that stun me in respect to their brilliance and cause me to reflect in disappointment on other textbooks whose authors simply weren't able to offer such great explanations.
Examples are cum clauses (Unit 15) and the simply stunning coverage of participles (Unit 5).
The student is asked to learn how grammatical phenomena in translate from the Latin first literally and only then idiomatically.
This develops an attention for Latin idiom and avoids the tendency pervasive in so many other Latin texts to encourage a lazy assimilation of Latin grammar and vocabulary into English idiom.
Students of Greek will be elated to see that Moreland and Fleischer explain the Latin tense system in a way that tacitly takes verbal aspect into account (i.e. the Latin perfect tense can have EITHER completed aspect in the present tense "I have done" OR simple aspect in the past "I did").
This latter distinction in particular, although elided in so many other treatments of the Latin verbal system, is in fact critical to understanding sequence of tenses in indirect questions, purpose clauses, and so many other complex grammatical structures in the language. (I.e. if the perfect verb has completed aspect in the present tense it is treated as a primary sequence verb and will be followed by present or perfect subjunctive verbs in subordinate clauses, whereas if it has simple aspect in the past it is a secondary sequence verb.)
All of these fascinating and critical details are not only treated with rigor in Moreland/Fleischer but are also explained with a level of clarity that attests to the profound knowledge wielded by the book's authors.
Advanced students as well as motivated beginners will find in Latin: An Intensive Course a thoroughgoing and brilliant treatment of the ancient language which far outruns its peers in quality.
The one negative I can mention is the quality of the binding which is TERRIBLE but it nowhere near important enough to warrant a reduction in stars.
Zack Hayworth
---
Excellent Latin Grammar with Copious Exercises
Having worked through, on my own, Wheelock, and Latin Via Ovid, Using Latin 1 and 2 (which were the textbooks we used in high school back in the 70s), and now Moreland and Fleischer's Latin: An Intensive Course, I'd have to say I'm very impressed with this book.
It truly is highly concentrated Latin, but the grammar is explained very well. I am understanding the changes involved with the subjunctive and relative clauses within indirect statements better than such matters were explained in the other books.
he "self review" exercises presented every 4 chapters come complete with answers, and are very good exercises. (An answer key for most of the other exercises has been composed by professors at the University of Toronto and can be found on the Web.)
The only thing I don't like is the organization of the tables in the appendix giving the full synopses of all noun, verb, adjective, etc. forms which are certainly complete but consumes 46 pages.
The same data is organized into 15 (admittedly slightly larger) pages in my 6th edition Wheelock. The latter simply formats the tables in a way that's much easier to consult. But that doesn't prevent me from giving this fine book all 5 stars.
Addendum: the further I progress through this book (I'm nearing the end), the more impressed I am with it. My favorite Latin textbook used to be Wheelock. This one has clearly eclipsed Wheelock in my estimation by explaining many advanced grammar points better than any other book I've seen.
Dave Slayton
---
Latin? Quickly? You can't beat this
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.
C. Golden
---
Nice book with absolutely wonderful apendices!
I learned Latin using this book in an introductory class at Carleton college, with the result that in two trimesters (approx. 20 weeks) we were reading Cicero.
However, as had been noted, this book is *very* intensive, especially in terms of verbs. You learn the passive periphrastic conjunction before you learn the third declension! This can be both advantageous and disadvantageous.
On the one hand it provides you with almost the entire book to get used to the basic verb forms, while on the other they are given at such a pace at first that many students never truly learn them.
Also, this book's wonderful appendices make it an amazing reference for beginning students of Latin.
Whenever I found myself needing to brush up on the uses of the ablative, I turned to my nice copy of Floyd and Rita where they listed all the basic uses of each case and all the basic uses of subjunctive.
I use basic here not imply that it only lists a few uses, but to differentiate it from a true reference grammar, such as Allen and Greenough's. [Dover 1975, Martino Fine Books 2017]
The downside of this book is that the explanations in the main section of the book are often quite poorly worded. So poorly worded, in fact, that my professors had "patches" that printed out and had us glue to the page over the offending material.
However, I believe that anyone wishing to truly learn Latin quickly should purchase this book
If you have any questions either the appendices or Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, and it should be able to clear up your problems, or if you plan to be continuing in the field.
One can even find it online at the wonderful site of perseus.tufts.edu
sulpicia
....................
....................
see below
The best Latin text now available and I very much doubt that a better one will appear for a long time.
Ralph W. Johnson, Cornell University
And the best Goodreads review said this much:
I've never felt closer to a textbook in my life, nor have I ever used one more thoroughly.
Mary Kate
---
I'd probably think that Ruck by MIT
and Hansen and Quinn by Fordham
might be the best two books for Ancient Greek
and for Latin
Moreland and Fleischer's book on Latin by the University of California
[I've included readings by Brooklyn College by the City University of New York
which might be the most intensive Latin and Greek curriculum in the world
Where they burn through Moreland's Latin or Hansen's Greek in about two and a half weeks.
And then Upper Level Latin is burned through in about three weeks
and Upper Level Greek in about seven weeks
and we're talking about 7 to 10 hour days of the classroom and five hours of study afterwords
So you're burning about 200 hours into Moreland
and 200 hours into Hansen
just for the basics
Think of it like this
20 days of Basic Latin nonstop
20 days of Basic Greek nonstop
and then maybe 30 to 40 days of Higher Latin
and maybe 60-70 days of Higher Greek
if you wanted a pace with 5% more breathing room
200-225 hours with Moreland for Latin
200-225 hours with Hansen for Greek
400 hours of Upper Latin [400-500 hours]
900 hours of Upper Greek [800-1000 hours]
---
Amazone
Concise and Clear
---
Not bad Floyd and Rita!
My experience with the text comes from a 7 week course at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.
This text covers the majority of Latin syntax in 18 intense chapters.
The bulk of the syntax, however, is really covered by chapter 12, with the remaining chapters covering important but not difficult ideas such as "cum" and result clauses.
From the student's perspective, the main weaknesses are the horrible, awkward and unnatural Latin practice sentences in the "preliminary exercises". And, there are only answers to a few of the exercises, making it difficult to self-check.
When time is of the essence, as it is in intensives, there is not time to go over all the exercises in class. "Floyd and Rita" really should fix this deficiency.
Additionally, sentences used to illustrate ideas such as the ablative absolute, are not taken from primary sources. Their examples sentences tend to be very simple, making it even harder to recognize concepts in a tediously long sentence from Seneca.
Further, Floyd and Rita's discussion of ideas such as the gerund/gerundive is very brief. They are accurate discussions, but brief.
I highly recommend using Wheelock's Latin as a sidebar. His examples are better, and his explanations tend to "stick to your bones".
Latin primary sources are graduated. That is, early in the text the readings are horribly butchered for pedogogical reasons. Floyd and Rita have no choice here. But what they do well, is quickly reduce the adaptations so that by Ch 18, one is reading at an intermediate level.
The appendix is okay, but somehow not as easy to reference as Wheelock's. In short, this text gets the job done, but there is little room or time to bask in the excitement of reading Caesar. I compare it to drinking Milk of Magnesia. No fun here. But then, intensive Latin classes are hard pressed to be so. You will indeed learn from Floyd and Rita. (but get Wheelock too!)
Katherine Katsenis
[my thoughts: No! Do Not Use Wheelock!]
---
WAY better than Wheelock
Having used both Wheelock's and Latin Via Ovid, and having taken Latin coursework both in the U.S. and in Germany, I wholeheartedly hold Moreland/Fleisher's Latin: An Intensive Course to be the best Latin language education textbook I have encountered.
I am a student of comparative literature, and therefore a large part of my studies is independent. I spend a great deal of time teaching myself languages (so far Latin, Ancient Greek, German, Italian and French either entirely or partially self-taught) and so it is critical that I find great textbooks. Moreland and Fleisher's Latin: An Intensive Course is both intensive (offering clear explanations of each concept in addition to examples, drills AND exercises for practicing it) and extensive (covering all of the most critical grammar topics and an impressive number of the subtleties of the language (i.e. etymological patterns)).
It is no wonder that it is used as the foundation for two renowned Latin education programs int he US (Intensive summer courses at UC Berkeley and the Latin and Greek Institute at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College).
Time and time again while working in Moreland and Fleisher's textbook I would come accross explanations of grammatical concepts that stun me in respect to their brilliance and cause me to reflect in disappointment on other textbooks whose authors simply weren't able to offer such great explanations.
Examples are cum clauses (Unit 15) and the simply stunning coverage of participles (Unit 5).
The student is asked to learn how grammatical phenomena in translate from the Latin first literally and only then idiomatically.
This develops an attention for Latin idiom and avoids the tendency pervasive in so many other Latin texts to encourage a lazy assimilation of Latin grammar and vocabulary into English idiom.
Students of Greek will be elated to see that Moreland and Fleischer explain the Latin tense system in a way that tacitly takes verbal aspect into account (i.e. the Latin perfect tense can have EITHER completed aspect in the present tense "I have done" OR simple aspect in the past "I did").
This latter distinction in particular, although elided in so many other treatments of the Latin verbal system, is in fact critical to understanding sequence of tenses in indirect questions, purpose clauses, and so many other complex grammatical structures in the language. (I.e. if the perfect verb has completed aspect in the present tense it is treated as a primary sequence verb and will be followed by present or perfect subjunctive verbs in subordinate clauses, whereas if it has simple aspect in the past it is a secondary sequence verb.)
All of these fascinating and critical details are not only treated with rigor in Moreland/Fleischer but are also explained with a level of clarity that attests to the profound knowledge wielded by the book's authors.
Advanced students as well as motivated beginners will find in Latin: An Intensive Course a thoroughgoing and brilliant treatment of the ancient language which far outruns its peers in quality.
The one negative I can mention is the quality of the binding which is TERRIBLE but it nowhere near important enough to warrant a reduction in stars.
Zack Hayworth
---
Excellent Latin Grammar with Copious Exercises
Having worked through, on my own, Wheelock, and Latin Via Ovid, Using Latin 1 and 2 (which were the textbooks we used in high school back in the 70s), and now Moreland and Fleischer's Latin: An Intensive Course, I'd have to say I'm very impressed with this book.
It truly is highly concentrated Latin, but the grammar is explained very well. I am understanding the changes involved with the subjunctive and relative clauses within indirect statements better than such matters were explained in the other books.
he "self review" exercises presented every 4 chapters come complete with answers, and are very good exercises. (An answer key for most of the other exercises has been composed by professors at the University of Toronto and can be found on the Web.)
The only thing I don't like is the organization of the tables in the appendix giving the full synopses of all noun, verb, adjective, etc. forms which are certainly complete but consumes 46 pages.
The same data is organized into 15 (admittedly slightly larger) pages in my 6th edition Wheelock. The latter simply formats the tables in a way that's much easier to consult. But that doesn't prevent me from giving this fine book all 5 stars.
Addendum: the further I progress through this book (I'm nearing the end), the more impressed I am with it. My favorite Latin textbook used to be Wheelock. This one has clearly eclipsed Wheelock in my estimation by explaining many advanced grammar points better than any other book I've seen.
Dave Slayton
---
Latin? Quickly? You can't beat this
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.
C. Golden
---
Nice book with absolutely wonderful apendices!
I learned Latin using this book in an introductory class at Carleton college, with the result that in two trimesters (approx. 20 weeks) we were reading Cicero.
However, as had been noted, this book is *very* intensive, especially in terms of verbs. You learn the passive periphrastic conjunction before you learn the third declension! This can be both advantageous and disadvantageous.
On the one hand it provides you with almost the entire book to get used to the basic verb forms, while on the other they are given at such a pace at first that many students never truly learn them.
Also, this book's wonderful appendices make it an amazing reference for beginning students of Latin.
Whenever I found myself needing to brush up on the uses of the ablative, I turned to my nice copy of Floyd and Rita where they listed all the basic uses of each case and all the basic uses of subjunctive.
I use basic here not imply that it only lists a few uses, but to differentiate it from a true reference grammar, such as Allen and Greenough's. [Dover 1975, Martino Fine Books 2017]
The downside of this book is that the explanations in the main section of the book are often quite poorly worded. So poorly worded, in fact, that my professors had "patches" that printed out and had us glue to the page over the offending material.
However, I believe that anyone wishing to truly learn Latin quickly should purchase this book
If you have any questions either the appendices or Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, and it should be able to clear up your problems, or if you plan to be continuing in the field.
One can even find it online at the wonderful site of perseus.tufts.edu
sulpicia
....................
....................
see below
January 14, 2009
A wonderful reference, though a terrible guide.
November 24, 2025
have not finished the book but I have in fact finished my latin course for the term and will not be properly studying it next term so here we are
November 23, 2020
Having completed Wheelock and a number of other textbooks, I found this book to be clear and useful for the purposes of revision and, in particular, for the analysis of grammar and syntax. It is uncompromising in its approach and would be unsuitable for absolute beginners because too much information is presented from the outset. While the exercises are designed to test the learner’s power of analysis, they are, at times, overwhelming and laborious, the translations often being awkward. The setting of authentic texts (even adapted) at a very early stage rarely occurs in textbooks teaching other languages and yet this is a frequent occurrence in Latin. While one of the principal aims of learning Latin is to be able to access the works of the Classical authors, to include extracts which require in excess of 50 footnotes can be detrimental to the morale of the learner who is still grappling with the basics. I doubt many ESL textbooks would throw Dickens at beginners. Learning a language is a gradual process of acquisition and, I imagine, only the most determined of students with no prior knowledge of Latin, could successfully meet the challenges it presents. One must be wary – in intensive courses – of apparent achievement in the short term. A student may spend several hours away from class studying the relevant chapter, ploughing through the exercises, consulting the footnotes and learning the vocabulary and, superficially at least, being able to reproduce that knowledge the following day. However, whether that knowledge is actually embedded is a different matter. Had I picked up this book at the beginning of my studies of this fabulous language, I doubt I would have continued. It is far better to use works with a more measured approach and more thorough grounding in the basics of declension, conjugation and key syntactical features before progressing to this one. There are answers available online from, as far as I can discover, three sources, and, for an independent learner, these are essential. However, these answer keys do contain numerous errors in grammar and translation; I have three versions of the answers and, usually, one out of the three at least will be correct, but it is clear from the answers that those who wrote them also faced difficulties in interpreting the syntax of some of the more unwieldy sentences in the Latin-English translations.
May 9, 2009
Great way to learn Latin. They were not kidding when they named it an "intensive" course. Unbelievable that this book is designed to be done a chapter a day over the course of a few weeks. I'm studying it in a class and we're only covering half the book in an entire semester and it's been a challenge to stay on top of the material. I would probably not be able to learn Latin with this book without a teacher, even with a year and a half of college German in my past. The grammar would be a bit much for self study. Maybe if I'd taken and mastered Ancient Greek, or Russian. The teacher also provides helpful supplemental handouts. That is to say, there are probably better self-study Latin books out there (Wheelock's perhaps?), but if you have the advantage of a teacher, then this book seems the quickest way to get the basics of the language in your head in a (relatively) short amount of time. One last note, I've read other reviews complaining about the clunkiness of the Latin examples. It's true, some of it sounds kinda' funny. But I think it's not a deterrent from using the book. Rather, it's incentive to start reading real Latin as soon as possible.
November 16, 2015
This is certainly a great tool for classes working on an intensive level of Latin instruction. It is certainly not for the faint of heart. The material is covered quickly and accurately, with exercises that use stealth and repetition to force you to integrate what you're learning. I would recommend this book for anyone taking a Latin class who wants a reference source and especially for intensive classes. For the reader wanting to learn Latin independently, be warned that these are challenging concepts presented in a very quick, intense way.
April 28, 2018
NOT good for self-tutorial, despite its claim to be apt for it. "Drills", as the authors called them, are overwhelming in nature from the start and the fact that there's no answer sheet of any sort included makes it worse.
Immidiately picked up "'Hugo's Simplified System' Latin In Three Months" and although it's not miles better-certainly not in composition and typography, it's definitely more engaging and better suitable for self learning, so far.
This one, I can see it serving its original purpose well as a class book with the guiding of a skilful teacher.
Immidiately picked up "'Hugo's Simplified System' Latin In Three Months" and although it's not miles better-certainly not in composition and typography, it's definitely more engaging and better suitable for self learning, so far.
This one, I can see it serving its original purpose well as a class book with the guiding of a skilful teacher.
August 3, 2009
I know, I know. I should have done this decades ago. Actually I did do this decades ago. This is the text from the Latin Workshop at Cal that I took in summer 1974, though now in a fancy blue paperback. This is a great way to learn the language quickly. All you have to do is have the discipline to memorize the paradigms. And to have patience with the Romans, who seem sometimes to have constructed conjugations to confuse 21st century learners.
April 11, 2016
Very pleased to be finished with this text, as it was used for LAT 501 and LAT 502 courses respectively. Heavy in the syntax and grammatical construction department, it's a great text because it gives you much of what you would generally learn in a second year course from the get go. We will be going through Müller's dictionary of Latin terms for my next course intermediate LAT601 this fall. Translating Aquinas, Augustine, Jerome, Beza and more dues vult.
May 3, 2015
Some of the synthetic sentences rarely sound right in translation, and some of the authentic sentences are far too complicated for the Exercises section, but for someone who had no Wheelock nor Latin some months ago, this was a clear and thorough and very successful text.
Takeaway:
"Cur aliqui adulescens per forum heri currere constituit?"
Takeaway:
"Cur aliqui adulescens per forum heri currere constituit?"
May 25, 2012
A very good quick intro to Latin grammar. Probably the quickest way to learn the language if the student is committed to the task and bright enough to grasp the material quickly. I taught from this at NYU years ago.
Read
July 24, 2018i found a copy of the preliminary edition of this at a used book sale for $1 and couldn't wait till summer to start working through it. after 3 units (out of 18) it seems nice and fast (it introduces the subjunctive in unit 2).
update: finished
update: finished
January 11, 2009
A really good book for learning Latin. We covered it in three weeks...which was a bit crazy...but then it was onto Cicero and Catullus...
October 12, 2009
If you want to learn Latin quickly, if painfully, this is the only book to own.
April 13, 2012
Very helpful and instructive. The exercises are straight-forward and build upon each other nicely.
July 16, 2014
Very useful with any intensive Latin course. I would not recommend this for personal study unless an answer key is found or able to be purchased.
June 21, 2020
Great, concise textbook, though I wish the charts were better.
update 6/21/20: I love this book!! So practical. Just read it cover to cover again.
update 6/21/20: I love this book!! So practical. Just read it cover to cover again.
February 6, 2024
Honestly, this is one of the best textbook overviews of Latin that I have encountered. The text explains the grammar clearly and gives good examples. The exercises and drills are also thoughtfully written in that they put to practice what was just taught.
Advanced Latin can be overwhelming for students! This textbook made it *seem* easier to my students and was pleasant to use and easy to navigate as the teacher.
My only feedback is that I do wish there were an answer key volume. Would help in a bind with checking translations!
Advanced Latin can be overwhelming for students! This textbook made it *seem* easier to my students and was pleasant to use and easy to navigate as the teacher.
My only feedback is that I do wish there were an answer key volume. Would help in a bind with checking translations!
June 9, 2024
My favorite introductory Latin text. I've gone back to it multiple times since first working through it in college. Wheelock is good, but the Moreland and Fleischer, for my money, has the most coherent structure and logical progression of structures and exercises.
November 16, 2017
Good enough, but could use a good update. Great and organized if you just want a refresher of Latin grammar.
June 21, 2023
Concise. This, however, nearly at the cost of completeness.
(Also... "intensive" is certanly an understatement.)
(Also... "intensive" is certanly an understatement.)
June 22, 2023
Suited to a certain type of learner but boy does it do wonders for that type
August 18, 2024
I got through this in 5 weeks at CUNY Brooklyn College's Latin/Greek Institute (where I got to hang out with Rita herself!!). It was a very intense experience, but I think it was the best way I could've learned Latin. Each unit consists of a lot of information, which can certainly be overwhelming, but going through the exercises two (and sometimes three) times really helped me make sense of it all. Also, memorize the principal parts!! I pretty much ignored them until Unit 5; going back through and learning them all made my life so much easier. The textbook is designed to cram as much information into your brain as quickly as possible, but if you have the opportunity, take your time with it. Don't neglect any part of any chapter, and learn all of the vocabulary. Every piece of information is there to help you, and it will likely be useful when reading real Latin (so pay attention to the parts of speech too!) Fully commit yourself, and you will reap the rewards.
October 10, 2008
A great book that I need to apply a little more!
Read
August 8, 2011Help .... me ...
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews