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Lingua Latina per se illustrata

by Hans H. Orberg

Lingua Latina is a Latin course written entirely in Latin.  It consists of two parts, “Familia Romana” the fundamental course, and Roma Aeterna, the advanced course, with a volume of Indices.  It is considered a complete immersion course providing Latin which students can read and understand immediately.

You may notice some of the books have a new look to them. These are the North America versions, identical to the original in content, but printed and distributed in all English speaking countries.

Click on any category  to the left for more details about the related materials.

 

 

 

Additional Resources

An Entertaining Narrative

Lingua Latina provides a Latin text that students can read and understand immediately without any need for translation.  In this text, every sentence is intelligible per se because the meaning and function of all new words and forms is made clear by the context or by illustrations or marginal notes.  This demands a carefully graded text, but to make learning efficient the content must stimulate interest and make it easy for the reader to visualize the scenes described.  To meet these demands the chapters of Part I form an eventful and entertaining narrative, which captivates students so that the look forward to reading the continuation of the story.  The reading of this Latin ‘novel’ also serves as an introduction to the life and culture of ancient Rome.

Direct Understanding

This Direct Method, based on understanding from the context, has proved efficient both for self-tuition and class teaching.  An important factor is the satisfaction experienced by students when they discover that they can actually read and understand Latin immediately without parsing.  Such direct understanding gives the students self-confidence and stimulates concentration.  It sharpens their faculties of observations and reasoning, faculties that will be greatly needed as the sentences grow more complex.  Reading in this way, they move on step by step towards the ultimate object of Lain teaching: the reading of Latin literature in Latin with real understanding and appreciation.

About the Author

Hans Henning Ørberg, retired teacher, born 1920. 1946 MA in English, French and Latin at the University of Copenhagen. 1946-52 and 1961-63 teacher at various Danish highschools. 1953-61 on the staff of The Nature Method Institute, Copenhagen. 1963-88 teacher at Grenaa Gymnasium. Author of the Latin course Lingua Latina secundum naturae rationem explicata, first published 1955-56. New revised edition published 1990-91 under the title Lingua Latina per se illustrata, with a number of supplements. After his retirement he runs a publishing house called Domus Latina.

On teaching with the Lingua Latina series at all different levels of instruction:

"None of Lingua Latina’s competitors achieve the seamless transition from the author’s Latin to ancient Latin authors that is the hallmark of the Ørberg series. When students read unadapted passages from ancient authors in Lingua Latina, they often have the impression that the ancient author’s work is even easier than the Ørberg Latin they are already reading without difficulty. This is because they have been well prepared by the meticulous and almost invisible gradations in Ørberg’s work – ars latet arte sua!"

SET I: Familia Romana

Individual Books for Set I

Lingua Latina: Part I, Familia Romana

Hans H. Ørberg

2005 • 1-58510-201-6 • paper • 328 pages • 6 x 9 • $21.00    | Buy this Book | 

2006 • 1-58510-238-5 • hardcover • 328 pages • 6 x 9 • $25.00    | Buy this Book | 

Entirely composed in Latin, Part I, Familia Romana, provides an excellent introduction to Latin, including the essentials of Latin grammar and a basic vocabulary of over 1500 words. The thirty-five chapters describe the life of a Roman family in the 2nd century A.D., and culminate in readings from classical poets and Donatus’s Ars Grammatica, the standard Latin school text for a millennium. Each chapter is divided into two or three lectiones (lessons) of a couple pages each followed by a grammar section, Grammatica Latina, and three exercises or Pensa. Hans Ørberg’s impeccable Latinity, humorous stories, and the Peer Lauritzen illustrations make this work a classic. The book includes a table of inflections, a Roman calendar, and a word index, Index vocabulorum.

Latine Disco: Student’s Manual

2003 • 1-58510-050-1 • paper • 50 pages • $6.00    | Buy this Book | 

Student’s manual in English with a guide to pronunciation, instructions and information on key points to be noted in each chapter. This book is especially valuable for students working on their own or in home schooling, though also useful for school or university students.

2005 • 1-58510-223-7 • paper • 32 pages • $6.00    | Buy this Book | 

A Latin morphology. Includes tables of paradigms and forms corresponding to the course material.

2005 • 1-58510-212-1 • paper • 136 pages • $14.00    | Buy this Book | 

An extensive collection of exercises—entirely composed in Latin—for the 133 lectiones in Part I: Familia Romana. An important tool which every student will profit from and enjoy. Focus now publishes this title in the US and, although the cover and ISBN have changed, the contents are the same as the original book with the ISBN 87-997960-2-6.

Latin-English Vocabulary for Part I

1998 • 1-58510-049-8 • paper • 20 pages • $3.00    | Buy this Book | 

Vocabulary lists matching Part I: Familia Romana. This item can be purchased or downloaded in a word file by clicking here.

Online Vocabulary Flash Cards here.

Jeanne Marie Neumann

2008 • 978-1-58510-191-7 • paper • 348 pages • $24.95    | Buy this Book | 

Based on Hans Orberg's Latine Disco, with Vocabulary and Grammar. Click here for more information.

A grammar handbook to accompany Lingua Latina: Familia Romana, designed especially for college students who approach Lingua Latina at an accelerated pace. 

Companion Materials to Set I

**Note: These materials cannot be requested as review or desk copies and must be purchased**

Transparency Masters & CD w/ images (Mac/PC)

2006 • 1-58510-239-3 • 44 transparency masters & CD-ROM • $24.95    | Buy this Item |

A set of 44 transparency masters, containing 264 images from Familia Romana and Colloquia Personarum. Also includes a CD of all images in jpeg format.

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata CD-ROM for the MAC

2006 • 87-90696-13-1 • One disc • $50.00    | Buy this CD |

This CD for Mac computers contains both parts of the Lingva Latina Per Se Illvstrata: Part I, Familia Romana and Part II, Roma Aeterna, with Indices, the two exercise books Exercitia Latina I and II, and the volume Grammatic Latina, a Latin morphology. Minimum Requirements: Mac OSX version 10.3, 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4, 256MB RAM, 700MB Hard disk space, 1024x768 screen resolution, and QuickTime player version 6.5.

Familia Romana CD-ROM

2004 • 87-90696-08-5 • One disc • $29.95    | Buy this CD |

This CD for PC computers contains the complete text of the book; a recording of 30 chapters in the classical Latin pronunciation; and a full interactive edition of the Pensa (or exercises). For more details, click here. Future editions of the same disc will be available for Linux platform. For upgrades, go here http://www.lingua-latina.dk/upgrade.htm

Latine Audio for Familia Romana Cap. I-X

2005 • 1-58510-192-3 • audio CD • $24.95    | Buy this CD |

Contains an audio-recording of the first ten chapters of Familia Romana in the restored pronunciation of classical Latin.

Exercitia Latina I CD-ROM

2005 • 87-90696-10-7 • PC CD-ROM • $24.95    | Buy this CD |

Contains supplementary grammatical exercises for each of the 133 lessons in Familia Romana.

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SET II - Roma Aeterna

Individual Books for Set II

Lingua Latina: Part II, Roma Aeterna

Hans H. Ørberg

2003 • 978-87-997016-8-1 • paper • 424 pages • 6 x 9 • $32.00    | Buy this Book | 

2003 • 978-1-58510-314-0 • hardcover • 424 pages • 6 x 9 • $35.00    | Buy this Book | 

In Part II, Roma Aeterna, the subject is Roman history. Roma Aeterna includes a wide range of classical Latin literature. The main subject of the twenty-one long chapters is Roman history as told by Roman authors themselves. A description of the monuments of Rome, is followed by a prose version of Vergil’s Aeneid I-IV, with extracts from the original, and Livy’s Book I, supplemented by extracts from Ovid. At first, Livy’s prose is gently adapted, but most of the book integrates unadapted texts by Livy, Aulus Gellius, Nepos, Sallust, Cicero and Horace with linguistic and historical information in a seamless narrative. The Indices is a supplement which contains lists of the Roman consuls and their triumphs (Fasti consulares and triumphales), as well as name and word indices covering the whole course. A Latin-English Vocabulary II is also available.

Exercitia Latina II

2007 • 978-1-58510-067-5 • paper • 140 pages • $12.00    | Buy this Book | 

An extensive collection of additional exercises for the lectiones in Part II Roma Aeterna.

Indices

2003 • 87-997016-9-3 • paper • 64 pages • $9.00    | Buy this Book | 

Contains list of Roman consuls and their triumphs (Fasti consulares and Fasti triumphales), a name index (Index nominum) and a word index (Index vocabulorum) of all the words used in both parts of the course. An integral supplement to Roma Aeterna.

Instructions for Part II (In English)

2001 • 1-58510-055-2 • paper • 64 pages • $6.00    | Buy this Book | 

Provides historical and grammatical information on each of the 21 chapters in Roma Aeterna.

Latin-English Vocabulary For Part II

1998 • 1-58510-052-8 • paper • 40 pages • $3.00    | Buy this Book | 

Covering both parts. A printed copy of this booklet can be ordered from Focus or downloaded free by clicking here.

Companion Materials to Set II

Roma Aeterna CD-ROM

2005 • 87-90696-09-3 • PC CD-ROM • $29.95    | Buy this CD | 

The CD-ROM Roma Aeterna contains the complete text of the book with Indices, and an interactive edition of the Pensa with an audio- recording of the questions and answers in Pensum C.

Instructor's Materials

There are two different groups of materials here for instructors. The Instructor's materials include answers to exercises and some advice for teaching. The Latina Doceo is a guide for teachers that will include information on what the series is, how it works philosophically, lots of advice on aspects of teaching, and advice on teaching each of the chapters. Both can be useful.

Lingua Latina Instructor’s Materials

2003 • 1-58510-074-9 • paper • $19.95    | Buy this Book | 

This book contains all the instructor's materials originally included in separate booklets:

• Teachers Materials: 84 pages • Includes advice for the instructor, and all Pensa from Books I and II, on separate sheets for photocopying and distribution.

• Lingua Latina: Answer Key: (Pensa Soluta) to Books I and II
  42 pages •Answers to all the Pensa (Exercises) in the two text volumes.

• Answer Key for Exercitia Latina I

• Answer Key for Exercitia Latina II

This material replaces previous booklets (00560: Teacher's materials. 00625 Pensa Soluta: Answer keys to exercises in Books I and II; 00684 Answer key to Exercitia Latina I, and 00714 Answer Key to Exercitia Latina II) which are no longer available.

Latine Doceo:  A Companion for Instructors

Christopher Brown

2004 • 1-58510-093-5 • paper • 68 pages • $18.95    | Buy this Book | 

This book is designed to provide background to the methodology and philosophy of the Lingua Latina series. It includes the prefaces to many earlier editions and to some worldwide editions of Lingua Latina. It also includes a wealth of teaching tips and strategies for the book as a whole and for each of the specific chapters in the first book. It should provide invaluable for instructors at colleges, schools and at home.

Contents

Spanish Set I

Lingua Latina consists of a series of materials that are used around the world. Because it is completely in Latin, the same books are used with students whose native language is Italian as well as those whose native language is Danish, German, Polish, English, or Spanish. Some additional materials have been developed, however, and these provide some bridge between a student’s native language and the Latin he or she is learning. The following are those materials for native Spanish speakers.

Familia Romana

Hans H. Ørberg

2005 • 1-58510-201-6 • paper • 328 pages • $18.95    | Buy this Book | 

Latine Disco Español: Spanish Student’s Manual (In Spanish)

2004 • 1-58510-096-X • paper • 50 pages • $4.50    | Buy this Book | 

A Spanish language version of  Latine Disco for use in conjunction with Familia Romana, with a guide to pronunciation, instructions and information on key points to be noted in each chapter. This book is especially valuable for students working on their own or in home schooling, though also useful for school or university students. With this and the Vocabulary book, a native Spanish speaking student is can approach Latin through his native language, putting him or her on an equal par with native English speakers in the same course.

2005 • 1-58510-223-7 • paper • 32 pages • $6.00    | Buy this Book | 

A Latin morphology. Includes tables of paradigms and forms corresponding to the course material.

2005 • 1-58510-212-1 • paper • 136 pages • $12.95    | Buy this Book | 

An extensive collection of exercises—entirely composed in Latin—for the 133 lectiones in Part I: Familia Romana. An important tool which every student will profit from and enjoy. Focus now publishes this title in the US and, although the cover and ISBN have changed, the contents are the same as the original book with the ISBN 87-997960-2-6.

Vocabulario Latino-Español

2001 • 1-58510-057-9 • paper • 50 pages • $4.50    | Buy this Book | 

Student’s vocabulary list Latin-Spanish. This book is also available as a free download, accessed by clicking here.

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Latin Readers in the Ørberg method

P. Vergilii Maronis: Aeneis, Libros I et IV

2008 • 978-87-90696-17-7 • paper • 80 pages • $12.95    | Buy this Book | 

A text comprised entirely of Latin covering Vergil's Aeneid Books 1 and 4. This text can be used in conjunction with Lingua Latina Part II: Roma Aeterna or any 3rd year Latin course that studies Vergil.

Vocabulary list for this book is available as a free download. Click here.

For sample pages, click here.

Caesaris Commentarii De Bello Gallico

2003 • 87-90696-06-9 • paper • 96 pages • $10.00    | Buy this Book | 

From Books I (partial), IV, and V. This Caesar can be read by students who have finished Part I, Familia Romana. Contains an index of names, and an index of vocabulary. Text and marginal notes are all in Latin. Contains part of Book I.

Vocabulary list for this book is available as a free download. Click here.

For sample pages, click here.

Colloquia Personarum

2005 • 1-58510-156-7 • paper • 80 pages • $12.00    | Buy this Book | 

An illustrated collection of supplementary texts, mostly dialogue. To be used in the first year. There is one colloquium matching each of Chapters 1-24, Part I, Familia Romana. Focus now publishes this title in the U.S. and the ISBN and cover have changed, but the interior of the book remains the same. There is a Latin-English vocabulary list available free for download for this book which you can download by clicking here. 

Petronius: Cena Trimalchionis

2000 • 87-90696-04-2 • paper • 64 pages • $10.00    | Buy this Book | 

Selection from Petronius’s Satyricon. Abridged edition with marginal notes in Latin. To be read by students who are halfway through Part II, Roma Aeterna. There is a vocabulary list for this text.  There is a Latin-English vocabulary list available free for download for this book. To download click here.

Plautus: Amphitryo

2001 • 87-997016-7-7 • paper • 84 pages • $12.00    | Buy this Book | 

Abridged edition with introduction and marginal notes in Latin. This comedy can be read by students who have finished Part I, Familia Romana.

Fabellae Latinae

2006 • 87-90696-15-8 • PDF • FREE    | Download Free PDF | 

A collection of easy elementary texts, Fabellae Latinae, corresponding (lexically and grammatically) to chapters I–XXV in Familia Romana, similar and supplemental to Colloquia Personarum.

To satisfy the demand for more comprehensive exercises, Hans Orberg has made a version of Fabellae Latinae where nearly all the grammatical endings have been left out. You can download this version free here.

Sallust & Cicero: Catilina

2006 • 87-90696-11-5 • paper • 80 pages • $12.00    | Buy this Book |

Sermones Romani

2004 • 87-90696-07-7 • paper • 64 pages • $13.00    | Buy this Book | 

Authors included are Plautus, Cato, Cicero, Phaedrus, Horace, Tacitus, Martial, Pliny, Aulus Gellius, and Lucas. Grammatical notes follow the Lingua Latina pattern, on the same page, and in Latin to encourage students to think in Latin. book details

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