Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, Pars I: Familia Romana

This may be the best way to learn Latin. It's certainly the way that is working best for me. I had 2 years of Latin in high school back in the 1980s, and a couple of years ago I got the Wheelock materials to try to continue my studies on my own. Wheelock got me a long way, but it was a struggle to stay engaged, and I put it aside for a while. Someone recommended this book and it's been non-stop since I picked it up. I'm a little over halfway through. I can't say how it would be if you've never had any Latin at all, but I'm finding it very easy (and fun) to progress. I recommend this if you are just starting Latin, also. The book has no English at all, except back cover which is not really part of the book, and copyright info in several languages. Other than that, it's all Latin. Sound terrifying? It's not. The author very cleverly starts with super-simple stories and illustrations not unlike the grade school Dick and Jane stories. Then he builds on to each story, introducing new words as you go, so the material gets gradually more complex. You aren't translating; you are actually reading an thinking in these simple Latin phrases and words that get more complex as you go, each new story building up from the one before. Way more fun than memorizing tables of declensions and conjugations. Although, I confess I don't know if it would be quite so easy had I not memorized and reviewed much of that info in the past. Regardless, the thing I really enjoy is the stories. Some other reviewers did not like the stories, but I'm enjoying them. I was surprised to find I'm actually engaging with them at an emotional level and looking forward to what happens next. You follow a Roman family living in the Imperial era, about the time of Marcus Aurelius as far as I can tell. Along the way, you learn about life in ancient Rome while reading about this family. Some of it is shocking to modern sensibilities- there are slaves, clearly defined sex roles, and sometimes what would be brutal behavior by today's standards. Yet I've been drawn into the story and find myself rooting for the runaway slave, feeling sorry for the pugnacious son whose teacher seems to be right out of a Pink Floyd song, and sympathizing with the mom and dad as they deal with things any parent or spouse will understand. It's a little hokey, yes, but that's just the level I can follow and appreciate! I also purchased the companion book, which is in English, and I recommend this especially if you have no Latin experience. Familia Romana is the Latin text i wish is had in high school, but it's also an effective way to learn or increase your Latin skills. The constant use of the vocabulary in conversational, narrative structure has proven effective for me, and I find my ability to recognize and understand bits of Latin in classical or renaissance text is growing as I go through the book. I certainly recommend it.

Orberg’s Lingua Latina is, hands down, the best Latin instruction book I have ever used—and I’ve used many. Unlike most textbooks, there are no English crutches, no shortcuts: every sentence, story, and exercise is in Latin. By the time you finish, you are reading Latin fluently enough to tackle the New Testament, gaining direct access to the language that shaped the Church, Scripture, and Western thought. What sets it apart is the way Orberg immerses the student in the life of a Roman family, teaching grammar and vocabulary through narrative rather than rote memorization. The stories, simple on the surface, convey the worldview, morality, and rhythms of classical life, revealing the foundation of faith and reason that later nourished Christianity. For me, this book has influenced not just how I approach classical education, but how I structure our home life: it reinforced the importance of disciplined learning, of raising children steeped in the great texts, and of cultivating a culture of virtue and intellectual formation in our family. Lingua Latina is more than a textbook; it is a portal to the civilization and the faith that formed our moral and cultural inheritance.

Familia Romana: a veritable life-saver for those who have struggled with “dead” languages. I struggled with Latin for six years … I used to refer to them as my ‘days as a Roman slave’ between grades 7 and 12. I then went on to struggle with Ancient Greek … an even more challenging language when I studied the Classics prior to ultimately switching to the Sciences. I gleaned enough of both to serve me now and again but not well enough to satisfy my unfulfilled need to read fluently (in their own words) those thoroughly insightful writings handed down from a most curious people devoted as they were to the close examination of life and the experience of living. My take on learning ancient languages (and languages in general) is that it provides a window into the workings of the collective Human mind as well as of the very structure of language; what precisely language is, how it evolved, how it works and why it is so utterly essential to humanity. Such learning, no matter how primitive, provides a wonderful way in which to enrich one’s own language; to be able to expand one’s ability to express even the most elusive of concepts. If there is any experience that truly simulates what is expressed by the word: ‘magic’, F.R. is it! I knew it as soon as I began to tackle this wonderfully well considered work of love and dedication. What an enormous switch from the old days! One quite literally glides along with the reading, somehow absorbing the meaning with only marginal effort. After only a single reading of section one, I quite surprisingly began to hear, unconsciously, echoes of the phrases in the background of my thoughts while preparing coffee. So weird for someone who was never able to elicit a single word of Latin on command, even after having drilled for hours! There is plenty of repetition and clues galore and very well chosen grammatical cues at the margins. Yes, there is an occasional word that just doesn’t quite make sense, even in context but they seem relatively rare. For once, I found that I was no longer making any effort at mental translation. The meaning becomes quite clear as you read. The illustrations are helpful as well, of course. The sections do start out like a ‘Dick, Jane & Sally’ reader but rather swiftly increases in complexity. My background in Latin has been only vaguely helpful in that I know the difference between Nominative and Accusative, Genitive, etc. but, in fact, knowing one’s grammar is non-essential in this regard as you are actually learning on the fly, much as you did when learning to speak your native tongue, before you were forced to absorb the rules of the road. There is also “A College Companion”. I did purchase this item but it would best serve those who have virtually no background in Latin. Never-the-less, I have found it somewhat handy for an occasional clarification of this or that detail and it also happens to contain a Latin-to-English Vocab, which I have only rarely used just to confirm what I had already assumed. It’s all a matter of one’s brain making the correct inferences; something that most everyone does unconsciously while picking up one’s native language or when immersed in the language while living in a foreign country as a way of internalizing linguistic responses. And then, there is the marvelous MP3 recorded in the Classic style Familia Romana: Latine Audio by Hans Orberg himself : https://www.amazon.com/Familia-Romana-Hans-H-Orberg/dp/B0084LQGFA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537112405&sr=8-1&keywords=familia+romana+audio This makes enunciation absolutely clear as he reads word-for-word each section of the manual in fluent but concise Latin. There is an alternate version that is recorded by students in the Ecclesiastical style but it contains any number of problems. I refer to the ‘Ecclesiastic style’ as a non-colloquial, specified allusion to the Gospel while the ‘Classic’ version appears to be more closely associated with a more conversational style of Latin communication. But it comes down, in the end, to personal taste. I am looking forward to the second volume of the lessons and am already at work with the Polis version of the same for Ancient Greek but which I’m finding to be not quite as satisfying and a bit more work-intensive.

I’m been using this to learn Latin on my own and it’s great but I wanted to post a bit of a rant, because this often gets recommended by various online sites without mentioning that it’s part of a system with several other books, and written as a textbook for use by teachers. For self learners there are the Companion by Neumann, the Exercitia, the Teachers Materials (which has the answers to the pensa and the exercises), and the readers Colloquia Personarum and Fabulae Syrae. Setting a regular schedule of working through each chapter as many times as needed, it is quite possible to learn Latin and the fact that these other books are available for LLPSI is one reason the system works so well. But it’s still necessary to study vocabulary and grammar, this book just presents the material centered around reading and seeing the language in actual use, but at a progressive graded level. However from reading the discouraged comments from some folks it’s clear that I’m not the only one who thought that this one book by itself would teach me Latin by some process of “osmotic reading”, and that’s not realistic. Five stars, but it’s not magic.

As someone who has Autism and ADHD, I have struggled in some regards with learning a foreign language (although it has always been a dream of mine). I've attempted to learn many different languages with a variety of sources including in-person courses, textbooks, self-study books, online courses, etc. I have not had any success with them, but I became interested in Latin and figured I would give it a shot. Initially, I had purchased Wheelock's Latin and was very excited to try it out - that was until I opened it. I have some difficulty with focusing and I was immediately overwhelmed by all the grammatical information being spewed at me. I then searched for a new source and was recommended Lingua Latina by MANY people on Reddit. A quick Google search of "best book to learn Latin" and every single post I found also recommended this book. I was a little wary of it because it's all in Latin, but gave it a shot anyway. It may be all in Latin, but it is SO accessible. I was able to read the first chapter without really any difficulty. The margins contain hints and the grammar section at the end really helps to tie everything together. I've also bought the workbook, the conversation book, and the college companion (grammar). Each has been tremendously beneficial on my journey to learn Latin. I am currently finishing up chapter 4. It does get a little bit more challenging as you progress, but it is in no way impossible. I actually went back and re-read the first chapter today and was absolutely amazed at how well everything flowed in my head. I was actually thinking in Latin! I'm very grateful to the author for developing this method, it has been an absolute game-changer in learning a foreign language. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking to learn Latin and is okay with learning it in a way that can be challenging. It is a very rewarding experience though and I have personally not had to make flashcards for vocabulary, which is always a plus for me.

I really like the approach of this book. I bought it as a complete novice to Latin. I like the inductive, learn-by-reading method this book uses. The nice illustrations and book design add to my pleasure when working in this book. Unfortunately, for me at least, the readings are mostly uninteresting. They aren't really stories - they lack most of the elements that make a story: interesting characters or situations, suspense and meaningful stakes, obstacles and villains, character transformation, etc. There are some more interesting accounts of myths, etc. toward the end. But, overall, I found the readings tedious, which is a major drawback for a self-learner like me trying to self-motivate to study. If you can force yourself read this book, you will learn a lot of Latin, however. I use this book as additional Latin practice, after other books. I also bought the audio readings for this book. As a self-learner, these have been invaluable to hear how things should be pronounced. I also like to just repeatedly listen to get a better feel for the language. The audio is quite expensive - EXCEPT for here on Amazon, where it's sold a drastically lower price. It is here: Familia Romana: Latine Audio . This is the classical pronunciation. There is also a "church Latin" pronunciation available, found here: Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata Pars I: Familia Romana Latine Audio: Ecclesiastical Pronunciation . I'm an adult learning Latin on my own. I like to also learn grammar along the way. So I have decided to use this book a supplement, to practice reading Latin. My main book will be the Cambridge series, which I love. The first book is Cambridge Latin Course Unit 1 Student's Text North American edition . (There is also a cheaper paperback version.) I believe there are grammar supplements for this Lingua Latina series, too, but I had heard good things about the Cambridge books so I just went with that. I was also feeling a bit poor after paying so much for this book (I bought the Cambridge books used and very cheap.)

A fantastic way of learning Latin! I wish it had been around when I was trying to memorize long lists of noun and verb endings with no idea how to use them. My only complaint is that the print is quite small. By the way, I tried the ebook and found that it is only images of the pages in the paper book. No way to search in the book or online. Too bad.

I'm self-teaching myself Latin (although I took a short introductory course some years ago) and I found this book an extremely useful and enjoyable - but if you're working without a teacher, I'd recommend using this in concert with another, more traditional textbook. I used it alongside Wheelock's Latin, and the different approaches seemed to compliment each other very well. The strength of Lingua Latina is that it gets you reading passages of Latin straight away, and gets you used to comprehending Latin as you read it, without hunting for the nominative, verb, accusative etc, as you do using a grammar-heavy text book. The book is just as useful for boosting your vocabulary. The index system, which leads you to the first time a word is used (where it is usually glossed in the margin with text and/or illustrations) is a stroke of genius, and it meant that I only resorted to a dictionary around a dozen times throughout the whole book. Given there are around 1,800 words in the book, that's not bad going, and understanding words in this way really helps them to stick. Having said that, if you are self-taught, you'd better do all the 'boring' memorisation or declensions and conjugations alongside this book, as the exercises are a little lacklustre. And there are a number of times that I was glad that I'd been able to study the grammar in Wheelock in English - particularly the subjunctive - as Lingua Latina alone probably would have had me in tears. But with Wheelock behind me, Lingua Latina does a great job of allowing you to see these arcane grammatical concepts in action. Participles never felt so natural! The book itself is beautifully produced and illustrated. One minor quibble is that Orberg puts indirect speech in inverted commas, which frankly seems to confuse matters. But if you know that that's what you're looking at, it's easy enough to ignore. All in all, very useful, and great fun to read.

You will learn Latin in the most matural way. The book has not a single word in English. All Latin. Even the grammar is explained in Latin but it is so contextual and well written that I am able to pick up the vocab and grammar and even figures of speech easily. I never even had to use a dictionary. The context clues suffice. This should be how every language book is written!! The story of the Familia Romana is also entertaining. Hic liber bene est!!

Superb in all regards! very good quality.

40 years ago, when I was at high school, my class enjoyed one term of Latin lessons. Unfortunately, when it came time to choose our elective subjects, I was the only student who chose Latin, so the school naturally declined to run the subject. I have wanted to learn Latin ever since. I’ve never managed to find a class to attend and made a few false starts over the years in trying to teach myself from dusty old textbooks I’ve come across. I am so happy to have finally found this book! I’m only up to Chapter 8 so far, but it is so enjoyable and achievable! I’d highly recommend it for anyone trying to work their own way through Latin lessons. Instead of front loading and drilling on dry grammar and vocab, which some other texts do, the emphasis here is on reading Latin, with the supporting grammar introduced gradually and in context. I’m just starting out, but already I find myself working in Latin as opposed to just translating Latin. The publisher (Hackett Publishing) has an interactive website. For a small fee you can sign up for the online courseware which includes flash cards and recordings of Lingua Latina Familia Romana, both in classical Latin pronunciation and also in ecclesiastical pronunciation. You can stream the sound files and/or download them as mp3 files. The online resources also include Orberg’s Latine Disco (student manual) and Grammatica Latina, so there is no need to buy these books. Incidentally, both the student manual and the Latin grammar are also included in the companion volume “Lingua Latina: A companion to Familia Romana” by Jeanne Marie Neumann, and this is well worth purchasing too. A word of warning though… the online courseware also gives you interactive access to all of the supplemental grammatical exercises which are published separately in the book “Lingua Latina: Exercitia Latina 1”. You can answer the questions and get a score online. Initially I thought this would suffice and I decided not to purchase the Exercitia Latina booklet, which in any case has no answer key. However, after a few weeks of working that way, I decided that having a hard copy of all the exercises together in a booklet would be easier, so I purchased the Exercitia Latina 1 book, and also the “Lingua Latina: Teacher’s Materials and Answer Keys” so that I could mark my own work. Here’s what I discovered… the Exercitia booklet offers lots of helpful clues in the margins which are absent from the online courseware. Accordingly, I’d recommend teach yourself students buy that booklet too!

La méthode Ørberg est une méthode alternative pour l’étude de la langue latine entièrement rédigée en latin, ce qui en fait une méthode universelle. En effet, bien que cette magnifique édition en papier glacé soit anglaise, cela importe peu car à l’intérieur tout est en latin. La méthode est pratique pour un démarrage rapide de l’étude de la langue, car contrairement aux méthodes conventionnelles, surtout en France, on ne commence pas directement par l’apprentissage de la première et de la deuxième déclinaison. En effet, le livre s’organise autour d’une petite histoire d’une famille romaine sous l’empire, enchaînant des chapitres thématiques avec une série de phrases qui se répètent en se complexifiant, tant sur le plan lexical que syntaxique. Des exercices sont proposés à l’issue de chaque chapitre. Je vous recommande d’acheter également le Grammatica latina, qui vous permettra de retrouver davantage d’explications grammaticales sur les concepts étudiés. Enfin, une mise en garde : si vous êtes étudiant en spé LCA au lycée, en khâgne ou en fac de lettres, sachez que cette méthode ne vous préparera pas vraiment aux épreuves auxquelles vous serez confrontés.

I don't write reviews for everything I buy on Amazon but this one merits good publicity because it is excellent. I have learned a number of languages and used a lot of language course books in my time but this is the best, the most stimulating and the most enjoyable to use that I have come across in any language. What I like about it is that while many Latin primers tend to end up with you learning about Latin, which is not the same as learning Latin, Familia Romana (Lingua Latina), in contrast, has you immersed in using the language from the outset. This is partly because it is entirely in Latin with no recourse to translation - instead guiding the reader with illustrations and Latin to Latin hints and explanations - and also because it is not packed full of tables of declensions and inflexions but introduces these by gradual use of the language itself in genuinely amusing tales from daily Roman life. As you are guided through the inflexions by this means patterns emerge that you don't spot by staring at endless grammatical tables and explanations. When you think about it, that is how we learn languages naturally. No toddler sits down and looks at a verb table; they listen and use the language and get the patterns by demonstration and use rather than explicit explanation. That is the approach this book takes too, and, for me, it works wonders. Another feature that I initially had my doubts about, but now appreciate, is that there is no separate section with the correct answers to the questions. You do the exercises and can find the correct answers in the text. This keeps you checking back through the text and in that way learning a lot more than you would by just looking up the answers in the back. It's more stimulating and keeps the book lighter too - such ergonomics in book design matter to me. The result is that you end up learning Latin, not just about it. And that is, essentially, what I love about this book. It engages the student to the full and I am so enthused by this approach that I want to spread the word. Just one thing I would point out for the sake of balance however: my own use of the book is complemented by being fluent in one or two Latin based languages already and also by having all those other lesser latin primers I tried out before finding this one, plus a Latin dictionary, to hand as study aids. So I am not using the book entirely on its own. On the other hand, Familia Romana is the base for my Latin studies while the other primers are no more than occasional aids in using it. In conclusion, I can't praise this book enough and I hope many readers of this review will be encouraged to try it out, just as I was by other positive Amazon reviews.