Could anyone here recommend some good beginner books for learning Latin?

In Christ,

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

Is this for a child, young adult, or adult?
That makes a difference.

~Larie

Oh, sorry for not including that.
Young adult, I'm 18.

In Christ,

Thomas

Dear Thomas

In my novus ordo seminary we used Scanlon:

http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Grammar-Voc ... 0895550024

Book 1 deals with the missal and breviary, book 2 is canon law and philosophy.

Depending on what your final aim is, you may find texts by Wheelock or Henle worth your money. They will both give you a solid grammatical background, as well as good vocabulary coverage.

Will you study this on your own?

Thomas,
Before you go and spend good money on a printed book, have a look at the lessons in Father Reginald Foster's Latin class which you will find here.
There are just two PDF files that you can download -- which he calls "The First Experience" and "The Third Experience". (He explains why there's no PDF for "The Second Experience").

As yet, I have not worked my way through these lessons to see if they measure up to the promise, so it might be a bit premature for me to mention them. But what immediately struck me is that he takes you along in easy steps, and gives little tips that help to build up confidence in finding your way into a language that can be quite daunting for the beginner.

As the Vatican's latinist, Fr Foster lamented: "If speeches were still written in Latin, the Pope would not speak so much."

Check out my resources here, esp. the Simplicissimus Ecclesiastical Latin course.