The Cambridge Latin Course
The Cambridge Latin Course consists of five student books.
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The course book is a Latin novella with a continuous storyline from Book 1 right through to Book 5. However, each book is, taken in sequence, effectively a standalone episode. So students who do not read further than Book 1 or Book 2 will still feel that the story is ‘complete’. Those who get hooked by the story – and many do – are motivated to read through to the very end.
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The books intermingle Roman civilisation and culture (all accurately researched for the time period of the 1st century AD) and Latin language / grammar. Extensive use is made of visual material as a support to the language learning and for its intrinsic interest. Each book follows a similar format, with a number of Stages or Chapters, each of which starts with an Initial Stimulus picture (the ‘hook’), a series of Model Sentences in which the new grammar feature is introduced with visual support, some short stories in Latin to learn the new language features in the context of a meaningful and attractive narrative, an explanation of the grammar, consolidation of the new language through practice exercises, some well-illustrated background material on the cultural and historical topic, and a vocabulary revision list. Each book also contains the grammar tables and explanations and a dictionary that suits the level of the book.
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I’ve taught this book series for over 30 years to students of all academic attainment.
Book 1 is set in AD79 in Pompeii just before Mount Vesuvius erupts. The first half of Book 2 is set in Roman Britain not long after the Roman invasion. The second half is set ‘in flashback’ I Roman Egypt. Book 3 returns to Roman Britain. Books 4 and 5 are set in Rome, under the emperor Domitian.
Teacher’s guides are available for each book, and are full of useful advice about how to teach each stage.
Student Study Workbooks (for independent study) and Answer Keys. Useful for students who are being home-educated or who are absent from school for other reasons.
Worksheets masters (photocopiable worksheets) are a useful trove of extra materials for homework or project-based learning.
Cambridge Latin Grammar covers all the grammar features needed.
Cambridge Latin Anthology of adapted original texts, for moving beyond synthetic Latin to original authors. The texts are chosen for their lively interest for students aged 16 and are lightly adapted for easing them into reading fully original texts.
DVDs for Books 1 and 2. Contain electronic versions of all the stories, drag-and-drop exercises, video dramatizations of the stories (in Latin with Latin subtitles) and background documentaries for all the subjects studied. Also included are ‘talking head’ teacher to explain the grammar.
For further details, including extensive online resources, go to: https://www.cambridgescp.com