LATIN BY THE NATURAL METHOD FIRST YEAR ( Third Revised Edition) by WILLIAM G. MOST, PH.D. Professor of Latin Loras College Dubuque, Iowa Henry Regnery Company 114 West Illinois St. Chicago, Ill. 60610 Circuluslatinus.org Copyright 1957, 1960, 1964 by Wm. G. Most Printed in the United States of America Circuluslatinus.org FOREWORD On December 31, 1939, in the encyclical On Educa­ it might be used as a means of communicating thought, tion His Holiness Pope Pius XI wrote about the or, in other words, as an indispensable tool in all higher Christian teacher: studies and then in later life. They made extensive use of Latin conversation and of textbooks of easy Latin, such ... in accepting the new, he will not hastily abandon the old, which the experience of centuries has found as dialogues, or "colloquia" about everyday life, the expedient and profitable. This is particularly true in Pater, Ave, psalms, and Gospels. Thus by means of easy the teaching of Latin, which in our days is falling more materials the teachers gave their pupils the copious prac­ and more into disuse, because of the unreasonable re­ jection of methods so successfully used by that sane tice and repetition which alone develop a set of habits­ humanism, whose highest development was reached in and that is the essence of learning a language success­ the schools of the Church.1 fully. The pupils, in truth, felt a sense of achievement The thirteenth and sixteenth centuries were certainly in expressing their thought in a new language. Learning eras when Christian humanism flourished. Also, Latin was fun rather than drudgery. The Latin words methods of teaching are means to the objectives; and directly evoked the ideas, not vernacularequivalents or methods are naturally adapted as goals vary. Hence, the grammatical nomenclature which was laboriously used Holy Father's words clearly manifest his desire for a re­ to catch the ideas. Through mastering the threefold art turn to the objectives and methods of Latin teaching of reading, writing, and speaking Latin the pupils auto­ used with success in the thirteenth and sixteenth cen­ matically acquired much training of mind and cultural turies, coupled with modern improvements. knowledge. But nobody thought of setting up discipline Precisely that is what is achieved by Father William of mind or cultural knowledge as the goal of Latin G. Most's textbooks for teaching and learning Latin by teaching. That goal was mastery of the art of using Latin "The Natural Method." They employ, not slavishly but with ease. with wise adaptation to changed modern circumstances, This entire situation gradually changed from about the objective (facility in using Latin as a means of com­ 1700 onwards. The vernaculars replaced Latin in text­ munication) and methods (habit formation by frequent books and as the medium of instruction. As Latin more repetition) used in 1250 or 1550. They lead the student and more ceased to be necessary as the means of acquir­ to reproduce the natural processes of habit formation by ing and expressing learning, men were less and less which Roman children learned Latin as their mother motivated to study it, and its place in the curriculum tongue. While doing this, the books do not discard the continually waned. To defend it, especially after the valuable training of mind, knowledge of grammar, and times of John Locke ( 1632-1704) and Christian Wolff other benefits hitherto sought by Latin teachers of the (1679-17 54), the teachers pointed to the training of twentieth century, but merely postpone their achieve­ mind and the cultural knowledge it brought. Growing ment until after the student has gained facility in using stress was put upon knowledge of Ciceronian style and Latin. Also, they apply to the teaching of Latin many of grammatical analysis. In time, pupils began Latin not the most effective techniques of teaching modern lan­ at the age of six but at fourteen. They learned declen­ guages, and much that has been learned from the modern sions, conjugations, rules of syntax, vocabulary lists, science called "descriptive linguistics." They are the first and grammatical nomenclature. Then, after 1890 in published American Catholic Latin textbooks which the United States, they decoded the long difficult sen­ do all this. tences of Caesar, and parsed the words. They repeated The great change in objectives and procedures of the process with a speech or two of Cicero and a few teaching Latin between the sixteenth and the twentieth books of Vergil. They were acquiring knowledge about centuries can be sketched here only with the utmost Latin, but not the art of using it with ease as a means of brevity.2 communicating thought. (Ability to read Latin at sight In the centuries of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-127 4) was ranked only in last place among the nineteen ob­ and St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) virtually all jectives of Latin teaching listed by the teachers during education was imparted from Latin textbooks explained 1 Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 22, 80; America Press Edition ' p. by oral Latin. The pupils learning Latin were almost en­ 29. tirely between the ages of six and about fourteen. The 2 F<?ra !,onger account, see "A Sketch of the History of Latin chief objective of the teachers was to impart the art of Teaching, pp. 218-258 of Ganss, G.E., S.J., St. Ignatius' Idea of a Jesuit University, Marquette University Press ' Milwaukee ' reading, writing, and speaking Latin with facility, that 1956. Circuluslatinus.org the Classical Investigation of 1923.) With most stu­ edge about Latin and training of mind) and correspono­ dents the learning of Latin became drudgery rather than ing methods (grammatical analysis and translation) fun and a growing sense of achievement. Enrollments "traditional" since 1880 have taken over in our semi­ fell. In 1910, 49.05% of the American high school stu­ naries; and there toothe students have been experienc­ dents were taking Latin. By 1954, only 7% were study­ ing an ever growing'inability to use Latin. Father Most's ing it (-1.3% in Alabama, 5.8% in Wisconsin, 16.4% textbooks can contribute much towards revolutionizing in Connecticut).3 the teaching of Latin by bringing back, as the chief Most Americans who have studied Latin, with our objective, the art of reading, writing, and ( when de­ priests and seminarians included, have employed this sired) speaking Latin with ease. Thus they will help method, which they thought was "traditional." But as towards realizing not only the desires of Pope Pius XI something fully developed, this tradition scarcely goes cited above, but also those expressed by Pope Pius XII to farther back than 1880; and even in its beginnings it the Carmelite Congress on September 13, 1951: hardly antedates the seventeenth century. Alas, the Latin language, the glory of priests, now In contrast to this method of grammatical analysis, has rather few devotees, and even they are constantly languishing. Let there be no priest who does not Father Most's textbooksreproduce much of the "natural know how to speak and read it easily and quickly. method" by which children learn their native language. Beyond this, may there arise among you some neither Hence, the significance of Father Most's books is mani­ mediocre nor few who can write it even in a com­ festly great for the Latin classes in any Catholic high pressed and elegant style of speech.4 schools or colleges. So much of our Catholic doctrine Towards the accomplishment of these lofty objec­ and culture have been deposited in Latin that we want tives, our hope and prayer is that Father Most's impor­ many of our educated Catholics to be able to use Latin tant textbooks using the "natural method" will have a with ease. wider and wider use. But the special significance of Father Most's texts is GEORGE E. GANSS, S.J ., PH.D. for the Latin classes in our seminaries. Here the students Director, Department of Classics, still have much the same cogent motives to master the Marquette University, art of using Latin with ease as the pupils of the thirteenth January 20, 1957 or sixteenth century. They need it as an indispensable 8 The F.L. Program, Report No. 2 (August, 1955), Boston, means of communicating thought in their higher studies, D.C. Heath Co., p. 5. 4 and afterwards throughout life. Theobjectives (knowl- Acta Apostolicae Sedis 43, 737. Circuluslatinus.org TABLE OF CONTENTS LESSON PAGE LESSON PAGE 1. Perfect indicative active, third singular 22. Present indicative active, third singular, in Nominative and objective singular of the first four conjugations . 45 three declensions . 1 23. Present indicative active, third plural, in four 2. Perfect indicative active, third plural conjugations Objective plural of firstthree declensions -iunt verbs . 47 Quod indirect statements . 3 24. Review Lesson . 49 3. Ablative singular of the firstthree declensions 25. Is and idem in three cases . 51 Prepositions . 5 26. The use and declension of (threecases) 53 4. Review Lesson . 7 qui 27. 5. Ablative plural of the firstthree declensions Quidam, ipse and sui in threecases . 55 The expletive there 28. Review Lesson . 57 Plebs . 9 29. Present indicative passive, third singular and 6. Nominative singular and plural of the first plural three declensions . 11 Present infinitive passive . 59 7. Objective and ablative of fourth and fifth 30. Dative case of all fivedeclensions declensions Word order sandwiches . 61 Adjectives used as nouns 31. Deponent verbs Ablative without prepositions . 13 Going to towns and cities . 63 8. Review Lesson . 15 32. Review Lesson . 65 9. Nominative of fourth and fifthdeclensions 33. Imperfect indicative active, all conjugations Present active infinitives .