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Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata

It teaches Latin in a very cool way, where the entire book is written in Latin but it starts off with simple sentences anyone with a Romance language background can understand, before diving into deeper sentences, all while being illustrated so one can still follow the plot if they're stuck.

It contrasts with very dense Latin books that focus on grammar and spelling, which often bore students. LLPSI instead takes readers on an entertaining journey.



This book is awesome. I wish they made something similar for other languages (actually French has a video series, French in Action, that is similar but not quite as effective as LLPSI).


Search for “nature method <language>“. There are a few books in this style for various languages.


Thank you, had no idea this existed. Here is a link with a list that someone compiled https://blog.nina.coffee/2018/08/27/all_nature_method_books..... The French link is broken but the others that I tried work.


Sorry, I was on mobile and wasn't in a good spot to find any links.

https://vivariumnovum.it/risorse-didattiche/propria-formazio...

That has a functioning link for the same content as the nina.coffee page tries to link to. There are several more French texts, as well as English, Italian, Spanish, and German.

There's an Icelandic text which isn't totally in Icelandic but, IIRC, is in the same vein as these. PDFs of it can also be found online pretty easily. I have not explored any languages beyond these as the two languages I'm interested in learning/practicing are Italian and Spanish, this content was sufficient for me.


Dutch has the Delft Method, it's a textbook and some additional materials.


It seems that people who recommend LLSI rarely mention the accompanying workbooks. Do you feel like they are a good value add, or is Famillia Romana strong enough on its own?

Consider the perspective someone who does not know anything about this book previous to reading your comment. Searching Amazon for Hans H. Ørberg is not likely to make it clear which book (or books) you are actually recommending.


LLPSI Pars I, Familia Romana

LLPSI Pars II, Roma Aeterna

These are the two main books. Each has companion books such as exercise books and teachers' guides. After these two, you should be able to read Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, but Ørberg also has other books.

As for whether the workbooks are worth it, I never used them, but then again I only read the main book for leisure, not in an academic setting or for serious study. If you're in the latter, then I'm sure the workbooks would help.


That sounds amazing. I'll check it out. Does anybody if there are similar books for the original languages of the bible?(Hebrew and Koiné Greek mainly). Of course there is the added burden of different writing systems. But maybe someone came up with a clever solution for that too :)


This seems widely recommended here, but there exists more traditional textbooks treatments too, which some people may be more comfortable with:

- Benjamin Kennedy's Revised Latin Primer

- Wheelock also remains a standard treatment.


I occasionally pickup and read my old Wheelocks Latin.


I've heard about this book, but does it really work even just for reading ? And is there an companion audio ?


It does work, at least in my case. There is a companion audio as well indeed: https://hackettpublishing.com/lingua-latina-per-se-illustrat...

I recommend the classical pronunciation by Ørberg himself.




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