Book Reviews

Getting Started with Latin by William E. Linney

When I previewed the book in Mr. Linney's website, I knew I had to get hold of a copy. When I finally held my own copy, I was not disappointed. In fact, it was everything I had hoped it would be! My nine year old daughter loves it and has no problem working through the lessons. In fact, Latin is now one of her favorite subjects. We have so much fun going online to hear the pronunciation of the word or expression we are learning for the day. We can actually speak Latin now! Sum et nauta et agricola. :) How's this for a start?

Strengths of the program

There are 134 lessons. Each is self-explanatory. Even if you, the parent, have never studied Latin, you will feel comfortable with it. Older students will enjoy going through it themselves.
It is self-paced and self-contained. I really like this aspect of it.
There are lots of practice exercises after each new concept. Answers are given at the back of the book.
It is non-consumable so you can use it with multiple children.
You can download the free pronunciation recordings in MP3 format. Each new word and exerise is read aloud by the author and you can choose from either classical or ecclesiastical pronunciation recordings.
There are no extra materials to purchase. Yeah!
The program is non-threatening and you feel a sense of achievement after each lesson. Can you imagine the delight in your child's eye after each lesson? Well, that's what I see my daughter's eye after each one and that warms my heart.

I have two other programs in my bookshelf but I knew my daughter was not ready for them. And I wanted the whole experience to be an enjoyable and enriching one. This program, Getting Started with Latin, fits the bill perfectly! I will not hesitate to recommend this to any homeschooler or just about anyone who wants to learn Latin from scratch.