Welcome to Latin! We hope you will enjoy learning the language and finding out how people lived in the Roman Empire.

Each Stage of the course has roughly the same layout.

First come some Model Sentences. These have pictures with them and introduce new points in the language. They also introduce new characters and give the theme for the stories.

Each stage includes a number of stories and one or more About the language sections which explain the new language features.

There are also revision exercises called Practising the language.

Each stage has a section in English which tells you about some aspect of Roman life.

Last of all comes a Words and phrases checklist.

As well as the course book you will have use of

• an Independent Learning Manual (ILM) which has additional exercises and suggestions for tackling the various sections of the course book along with an Answer Book (AB) so that you can check your work;
• sn Independent Learning Guide (ILG) which will tell you what to need to do and which pieces of work to submit for marking;
• the CLC e-Learning Resource on DVD (this will be available on computers in school);
• material on the CSCP website which you can access in school or at home.

How to learn efficiently

It is better to have several short sessions a week than one or two long ones. Try to find short periods (even 10 minutes or so) as often as possible to revise recent work. This is particularly useful when learning vocabulary or grammar.

Use active learning methods whenever possible. With vocabulary, learn a few words and then cover up the English and test yourself. Words you cannot remember can be written down in a notebook so that you can concentrate on words you find it hard to remember. (Try to relate Latin words to ones you know in English or other languages.) Make use of the online Dictionary (click a word to hear how it is pronounced) and the Vocab Tester on the CSCP website.

Keeping track of your progress

Use the Progress record for each Stage (in the ILM) to keep track of where you are. You can also note here any questions you may want to ask next time you e-mail your tutor. (Please do not write directly in the ILM but photocopy the page first.)

Make full use of the ILM, website and e-learning resource to find out about life in Roman times.

Create a Latin folder on your hard drive to keep all your Latin files in. It would make sense to have a subfolder for each Stage.

Now go to Electronic Latin