Product Review

Over half of the English language is derived from Latin.

amateur—amo, I love
Montana—mons, mountain
patriot—patria, native land
spectacular—specto, I look at
mural—murus, wall

These and thousands of other words we use every day keep this "dead" language—a language of kings and poets, of scrolls and secrets—alive. And this means that when we study Latin, we're not just learning about Rome—we're learning about ourselves. Rediscover this time-honored language, which led classical education pioneer Dorothy Sayers to declare that "Latin should be begun as early as possible ... when the chanting of amo, amas, amat is as ritually agreeable to the feelings as the chanting of eeny, meeny, miney, moe."

In Latin Primer 1 Martha Wilson equips elementary school students (grades 3 and up) with a solid foundation in classical Latin. Newly revised and expanded, this text covers the very basics: vocabulary for everyday concepts like farming, sailing, the human body, constellations, and family; verb and noun endings; and other beginning grammar concepts.