Disce Latinam! Creating the Next College Level Introductory Latin Course

I. General State of College Level Beginning Latin Textbooks

It is widely accepted that choosing a textbook for beginning Latin courses at the college level involves making a choice between reading method books designed for a much younger audience (Ecce Romani, Oxford Latin Course, Cambridge Latin Course) or grammar first based books which are thorough and fast paced, but lack connected readings and are often rather overwhelming for the average college student.

The panel’s organizer and responder and are under contract to produce Disce Latinam! for Prentice Hall (expected publication 2010). The panel proposes to obtain two basic types of input from those who teach beginning Latin at the college level and those who are involved in Latin pedagogy at any level.

Ad Hoc Round Table Discussion

The second part of the panel will then be a discussion of two sample chapters of the textbook. Panel participants will have been sent these in advance and those attending the session will obtain copies as they enter. Strengths and weaknesses of the sample will be discussed, first by the panelists and then by all in the room.

The panel will end with a return to basics through a discussion once more of what the next generation of college beginning Latin textbook should include. Of special interest is the opinion of panelists and audience alike on the following issues: 1) the usefulness and format of workbooks 2) the merits or a teacher’s manual vs. an annotated teacher’s edition 3) what an optimal on line package should look like (a publisher’s representative will be on hand to answer questions).