Download Wheelock's Latin, 7th Edition (The Wheelock's Latin Series) eBook

If I can give this book 6 Stars, I would. It's obviously very well laid out, has a ton of great content, and I love the extra mile of giving historical background and the like. It's much more than I expected from a scholarly Latin text book. It's no wonder that it is so popular. I blew me away that I got this hardback textbook for like only $18. To me that was unbelievable. If you are interested in learning Latin, this is your book.

The important terms are in bold, there are footnotes to give extra detail, and there are several appendices towards the end of the book. Do not skip the introduction, as it includes instructions on how to pronounce the vowels, diphthongs, and consonants and also gives interesting background in history on the development of book. I'm an adult learner, so I really appreciate the effort that was taken to explain some of the grammatical concepts, having been out of school for quite a while. There are many examples of key Concepts being presented in Table Fashion which I really like because I'm a visual learner. Don't get me wrong, you will still need to do your due diligence and do things like create index cards for vocabulary words so you can drill yourself. In other words, you are not going to learn Latin by osmosis. It's hard work, but well worth the effort.

Well, flipping through the book while doing this review I just realized there's a self tutorial exercise section. I will definitely be using that. There are also supplementary reading and vocabulary lists after the last chapter. In fact, I just realized this book actually goes on for another 200 Pages after the last chapter which is chapter 40. Chapter 40 ends on page 350. Loci start on page 351 and ends on 411. Then there's a self tutorial section; a key to tutorial exercises; appendices; a vocabulary section, both from English to Latin and Latin to English; a section on abbreviations; a very detailed index; and more. If you're concerned about supporting materials, don't worry. I know this is just a review for the book, but there are available to you an associated workbook, reader, audio CDs, website, and more. I've also discovered that there's a fairly large community that uses Wheelock Latin materials and there are mobile apps and other websites regarding Wheelock Latin.

I consider myself somewhat of a slow learner regarding language, but I am very pleased with the learning materials and have already started reading and comprehending small sentences after only two weeks. I'm also finding that this is helping me immensely in understanding Spanish which I am also in the process of learning. That is of course because Latin is the parent language for Spanish.

I could go on and on about this book and the whole series of materials available, but I have other things I need to get done today. I should say, that I'm rarely this motivated to write a long review, but with this exceptional book I felt it merited an effort consummate with the effort they made in creating the book.

Contrary to the previous review written by Samantha Toffolo, I recommend the kindle edition. I found the diagrams, albeit small, completely legible. You can always download the sample and see for yourself. besides, diagrams only take up 5% of the book, while the maps and paintings are superfluous anyways, they don't help you learn Latin.

Why I highly recommend the kindle edition is that you can set bookmarks. At the end of each chapter you are told to go to the back of the book to do exercises. In the paperback, this is like going from pg50 to pg600 for exercises then pg650 for the answers. Have you ever had to flip to the end of a colossal book for footnotes or glossary? It's a pain. Not only can I set bookmarks on kindle and go to them with a flew clicks, I can preview bookmark pages, i.e., they're superimposed on the page you have open. So if I'm quizzing on pg600, I don't even have to go to pg650, its overlayed on top. I can't stress how convenient this is and how convenient bookmarks in general are for such a large book, not to mention the search feature and the ability to use a latin-english lexicon.

Another reviewer didn't like all the additions, particularly the graffiti section and the added exercises. I also disagree because Lefleur knows this book will be used not only by students but by those self-teaching, such as myself. Anything that will make Latin more fun and accessible is great in my opinion. The book is big though, but as another reviewer states, there isn't enough reading material and I agree. However, if you added reading material this book would be even larger, which is unrealistic. Unless of course, you have a kindle.

It is my understanding that this is a great classic. I believe I know why; the explanations are decidedly interesting. The book is a treasure trove of information and it is very nicely presented. It succeeds in being friendly without any loss of standards. However, for me at least, the book is difficult to use without a teacher's help. While there are self correctable assignments, I am one who needs some boring drill and a ton of repetition. Having said this, I realize that my four star rating is unfair and I must change it to a five. The book was not designed for me but for use in a teacher taught class. I will simply have to plug along.

A comprehensive text book for an enjoyable, but sometimes difficult subject. A fair warning - this book does feel like it throws you in whether you can swim or not. That said, this tough teaching makes it a good choice, because it has many authentic texts to translate. Very thorough, and bound to refresh your understanding of English grammar too. It's easy to see why this has long been considered a classic.

This is an excellent resource and primary text book. The chapters are well laid out with vocabulary and examples. However, I would highly recommend some kind of supplementation especially if you are a self studying to emphasis important points and to keep you motivated. There are plenty of YouTube videos that track the chapters and I found them of much help.