I received this comment:
Hello….I have 2 students in 9th grade and we are finishing Henle 1 through the Classical Conversations program. We have had to pare down the workload considerably just to be able to keep up. We will not be in the CC program next year and I don’t wish to move on to Henle 2. I am looking for a Latin 2nd-year course for high school but I am not sure what a good follow-up to Henle 1 would be especially after getting through it with some difficulty. Do you have a recommendation on how to pursue the 2nd year of Latin. Frankly, we are weary of Henle, however, would not mind using it as a reference and for reading from time to time. Thanks!
Here is my reply:
Hi!
You are not alone. I receive emails like yours every week. Many people are weary of Henle Latin. Believe it or not, there are 14-year-old girls out there who are tired of translating sentences that involve the slaughter of Gauls, the burning of grain, and dead bodies lying on the ground in the forest.
There is always Visual Latin. However, if you have already been through most of Henle Latin, you may want more.
I would recommend you switch to Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg. It’s a novel, and it is actually interesting. It is more challenging than Henle Latin in many ways. For example, Henle Latin teaches about 400, or 500 words. Lingua Latina teaches 2,000 words.
Some schools use Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg for Latin 1. Some for Latin 1 and 2. In fact, I have only seen colleges use it for Latin 1. If a student makes it through Lingua Latina, they will be ready for almost anything. They will be done with Latin grammar. Nothing will lie ahead but reading and more vocabulary.
If you start reading Lingua Latina, and you get stuck, I teach the book every year on my site: https://dwanethomas.com/.
Keep Henle Latin nearby, though. You are correct. It is a pretty good reference point.
