Artes Latinae
by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc.
Reviewed by Martha Robinson
Purchase details: Artes Latinae, A Complete, Self-instructional Latin Course, CD-ROM Level 1, $297, published by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by buying this program from our ChristianBookDistributors link.
Originally published in 1968, Artes Latinae level 1 teaches the equivalent of one year of high school or one semester of college Latin. Students may progress at their own speed with very little participation from the homeschooling parent. Materials included in the level 1 package are an overview manual, a Windows-compatible CD-ROM, a "Reference Notebook" workbook, a "Graded Reader" and its teacher's manual, and a book of unit tests and its teacher's manual. All books are softcover and the "Reference Notebook" and "Unit Tests" are consumable. The American scholastic pronunciation by Waldo Sweet, the author, may be used, or the new options of restored classical or ecclesiastical pronunciations may be selected from the menu.
Artes Latinae uses "programmed" learning, in which a concept is presented on one "frame" or screen of the computer and then is reinforced by having the student type in responses to reworded versions of the concept on subsequent frames. In unit one, which is devoted to explaining how to use the program, the concept of thinking, saying, and typing responses is reiterated many times. It is possible to skip through the frames without answering or by looking at the answers. Students are expected to be self-motivated and responsible with the only check on their work (beyond the self-check) being the unit tests administered by the parent.
In the teacher's manual to the unit tests, the comment, "Programming makes it more obvious how great the gap can be between the fast and slow learner," appears. While Artes Latinae is accommodating to the fast student who wishes to blaze ahead, slower students will need to repeat units in order to retain the material and further assistance from the parent may be needed.
The text window in the program consists of a menu bar and space below it for the text of the lesson. Icons, representing options to hear the "teacher" talk (VOX), see the words the "teacher" is saying (VC), see the answer (ANS), enlarge the picture by opening another window (PICTURA), move about in the program or bookmark your location (BROWSE), and go forward and backward through the frames (NEXT, PREV), are shown on the menu bar. The text of the lesson ends with a blue horizontal bar.
The stated purpose of Artes Latinae is to give the student an acquaintance with Latin literature, primarily from the years 50 B.C. to 100 A.D. In thirty units of 200 or more frames each, this program offers a vastly different order and method of teaching concepts than most programs. Using 140 "basic sentences," which are actually quotations or secular proverbs, the student learns vocabulary and grammar. A line drawing is shown with each sentence. The sentences are simple at the beginning and easy ways are recommended to pick out grammar components. For example, verbs are said to end in "-t", while subjects end in "-s" and direct objects end in "-m." Students are expected to memorize the basic sentences and as study continues, the pupil finds out that Latin is not quite as simple as presented in the beginning. In the last few lessons, twelve longer "readings" are introduced for study.
The first unit covers a little about Roman history for the purpose of illustrating how to use the program. Units 2 and 3 emphasize correct pronunciation. I found a slight problem with the pronunciation of "v" where the addition of ecclesiastical pronunciation to the existing program causes an incorrect answer. Vocabulary is introduced for the purpose of understanding the basic sentences only and paradigms are not mentioned until Unit 9. Full conjugations of "to be" and "to be able" are not introduced until Unit 25.
Artes Latinae uses some different words for grammar concepts. Declension endings are referred to as "signals." The program explains that transitive verbs come between two nouns rather than a traditional discussion of direct objects. Conjunctions are referred to as "connectors" and a clause is called a "kernel."
Support Materials
The Manual: The manual gives an overview of the materials, basic loading instructions, information on how to use the software, a discussion of the different pronunciations, and an index of grammatical terms.
Reference Notebook: The reference notebook is a 50 page workbook with a fill-in-the-blank section for Latin grammar facts from the CD-ROM and word forms/paradigms/conjugations, and a place to write all the basic sentences and readings.
Unit Tests: The test booklet has one to three page tests on Units 2 through 30. Questions about the material in the unit are included along with the pictures to help the student recall the basic sentences and readings. This book is not reproducible.
Teacher's Guide to Unit Tests: This book reproduces the tests with all answers completed. It also offers guidance on giving tests and on helping slower students and includes a scoring system.
Graded Reader: Lectiones Primae, the graded reader, offers a huge quantity of interesting readings. The units in the reading are correlated with the grammatical concepts in the CD-ROM. Derivatives are listed along with additional vocabulary and definitions needed to do the readings. More quotations and secular proverbs appear in the beginning with interesting stories available as the student progresses. The original program had filmstrips about Roman life and several of the lessons cover these, but unfortunately, the publisher's proposal to put the filmstrips on CD-ROM is on hold, so these few lessons are rendered less useful. A glossary of all words on the CD-ROM and in Lectiones Primae is included in the back.
Teacher's Guide to Lectiones Primae: The translations of all readings are in the teacher's guide along with comments about the readings and Roman life and tips on teaching.
Recommendation: The content and method of Artes Latinae suggest to me that it is for a motivated student of high school or greater age. Before buying this program, I would recommend that you have your student try the demonstration on the publisher's website linked above as the "programmed" method may not appeal to your student or you may prefer to be more involved in your student's learning. If you have a student who picks up language more slowly, he or she may find it frustrating to have to repeat lessons as is recommended in the program. On the other hand, if you have a student who retains information easily, Artes Latinae offers an opportunity to move through Latin at a rapid pace.
While covering grammar in a different way than other programs, Artes Latinae is thorough in teaching all the concepts of first year Latin. I found the Lectiones Primae, the graded reader, to be especially interesting and enjoyable. It would make an interesting supplement to any Latin program.
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