I received this email::
Hello, Dwayne. I am curious to know more about your online classes and/or suggestions for my son, who is about to enter his senior year. Through Classical Conversations, he has had Henle Latin I and II; d/t certain circumstances, his class did not move on to Henle III this past year. I’m having to work outside of CC this year for Latin III. I had him registered in Landry Academy for Latin III (using Wheelock’s curriculum), but they had to cancel the class. Some of the classical online schools are just too costly. Do you have a program that he would fit into with having had Henle I and II? Your programs are a lot more affordable, but I’m still fuzzy on some details. If he has to do Latin on his own, which curriculum would you suggest? I won’t be of much help to him. I do own VL DVDs, but I don’t know that those are the correct level. ANY insight would be GREATLY appreciated! I am a bit overwhelmed that the school year is about to start and now I’m in a quandary about Latin (not to mention that some colleges don’t accept Latin credits)!
Here is my reply:
Good morning!
First of all… wow. I did not know that some colleges were not accepting Latin credits. Well, that’s lame. Sigh.
I was going to teach Henle Latin III this year, but since Henle Latin II is such a drag, I just couldn’t face it. So, I, too, cancelled Henle Latin III.
Unfortunately, you are correct about Visual Latin. It does not satisfy the requirements for Latin III.
However, I am offering a class that will satisfy the requirements for Latin III. If you subscribe to my site, you will have access to every class I teach. This includes access to the class Roma Aeterna. In some schools, this counts as Latin 3. In some schools, Latin 4. This is a tough book. It is a history of Rome and the Roman people… in Latin.
Here’s the trouble. I require students to read Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg before joining Roma Aeterna. Here’s why. Lingua Latina teaches students almost 2,000 words in Latin. Henle Latin 1 teaches about 400. Henle Latin 2 teaches another 500, or so. 90% of the words in Henle 2 are specific to Julius Caesar’s Gallic wars. This means that students who have read Lingua Latina are way ahead of students who have only read the Henle series.
There is good news. If a student has been through Henle 1 and 2, there should be no new grammar to learn. In other words, a student could simply read Lingua Latina as a novel, which it is.
Here is what I recommend. Order a copy of Lingua Latina, and have your son read as much as he possibly can over the rest of the summer. Since the book is actually interesting (unlike the Henle series), he may be able to finish the book before classes start in August.
If you subscribe to my site, you will also have access to all of my instruction for Lingua Latina. If he is reading and if he gets stuck, he will be able to watch the instructional video for each chapter.
I hope this answers all of your questions. Feel free to contact me if you need more help.
Have a happy Wednesday!
