The Phenomenon of Language
by David Florian
Reviewed by Martha Robinson
Purchase details: The Phenomenon of Language, 2nd edition, by David Florian. $41.94 for TM and student workbook. Published by Prentice Hall Publishing. To order call, 1-800-848-9500. Homeschoolers must fill out a form stating that they are homeschool teachers in order to order tests and teacher materials. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by ordering through our Amazon affiliate link.
Written for public school children, The Phenomenon of Language is a self-teaching, 278-page workbook. Little, if any, participation is required on the part of the teacher beyond checking answers. Discussion of the principles taught would be helpful, but is definitely not required. The author suggests that it will take most students one semester to complete the sixteen lessons.
The combination of inductive and deductive teaching methods make The Phenomenon of Language highly suitable for the suggested age range, middle-schoolers, or logic-stage students. "Analysis questions" are posed and then the student is led through a series of exercises that allow him to discover the answer through drawing conclusions, which are then written in the "Analysis Answer" box. On occasion, the student will be given the rule in a "Conclusion" box after the analysis is complete. "Nota Bene" boxes contain information that is required to be successful with the exercises. The "Exercitationes" section has mostly fill-in-the-blank activities to support grammar and vocabulary. Short selections for translation from Latin are offered in the "Fabulae" or "Historae" sections, and longer readings in English on the topic of Roman culture or history are found in the "Narrationes" sections. A few classroom activities are suggested in the text.
Latin basics are covered in this introductory course. The present tense of first and second conjugation verbs and "to be," infinitives, first and second declension nouns in the nominative and accusative cases (with a brief mention of the ablative case), agreement of adjectives, questions, and Latin expressions are included. The program emphasizes derivatives, and the last few exercises ask the student to use his knowledge of Latin to translate sentences in French, Romanian, Italian and Spanish. The author suggests that this program could be used along side of The Phenomenon of Language programs in Spanish and French.
The teacher's manual offers seventeen pages of brief notes and suggestions for the teacher. Student pages are reproduced four per page with the answers included.
Recommendation: The Phenomenon of Language would be a good choice for a basic introductory Latin program for a logic-stage student. This curriculum gives a taste of Latin and its influence on other languages along with a light introduction to Roman culture. If you are getting started on Latin with your seventh to ninth grader and you are not quite ready to jump into a rigorous Latin program, this could be a good start. As little is required of the teacher, this program could also work well for the busy homeschooling parent who does not want to learn Latin. The Phenomenon of Language would also be a great warm-up for students prior to joining a co-op Latin course. At the very reasonable price of $41.94, The Phenomenon of Language will find a following in the homeschool market.
HomeschoolChristian.com resources related to this review:
Latin Curricula Comparison Chart to help select an introductory or intensive program.
HomeschoolChristian.com's Classic Languages Resource Section
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