Download Teach Yourself Latin Free PDF book by F. Kinchin Smith (1958)

The linguistic training of Latin, emphasizing as it does constant processes of analysis and synthesis, teaches clarity and precision of thought, lucidity of expression in English, and in particular the ability to distinguish the thought and the form in which it is expressed.The position of Latin is unique in this respect because, more than any other language likely to be studied, it involves the translation not of single words but of ideas. Not only is a knowledge of Latin indispensable as a scientific basis of European language studies, but we believe the training that it involves to be of unrivaled assistance towards the subsequent study of almost any new subject. Method of Using this Book Make certain resolutions before you begin:—(i) Never use the Key before you have attempted the exercise or translation for yourself. (ii) Always read Latin through at least twice before beginning to translate. In this way, you will accustom yourself to thinking in Latin.The best way to use this book is to work right through it, exercise by exercise. Thus, write out Exercise i (a), then turn to Part II and correct your version before going further. For a thorough study, constant revision is necessary. As soon as you have completed five lessons, then revise; as soon as you have finished the next five, revise again, and so on to the end of the book. In the case of those students who are unaccustomed to grammatical form, and find the English-Latin exercises very difficult, the following plan may be recom¬ mended for a first reading.Read Lesson I, then work Exercise i (a). Turn to Part III (p. 242) and correct your version of 1 (a). Then, instead of turning back to Part I, keep at Part III, and turn 1 ( 5 ) (p. 268) into English, afterward correcting your version by com¬ paring with i ( b) (p. 199) in Part II. By doing this with all the Lessons you will get right through the book the first time without doing anything but Latin- English. You could then go through the book work¬ ing in an ordinary way—using Part III as the Key throughout.It is clear that the book may be used in various ways according to the needs of the student, the essential point about them all being that they can be followed without any other help than is given in the book itself. N.B. The Latin exercises should always be attempted before the pieces of original Latin, as they are easier and give practice in the new grammar.For the first few chapters, special vocabularies are provided, but these do not include the words in the original Latin selections. For these, the student should consult the Vocabulary at the end of the book. Since this book is often used by students who are working with an examination in mind, an index has been added to facilitate easy reference to rules, usages, and certain special words that a candidate needs to have continually in mind. The book will, therefore, continue to be useful when the student moves on to more advanced work.