Latin: which is considered the best course?

[Bonsoir]

Anyone have any opinions on Cambridge Latin versus other courses?

[LIZS]

Sadly I believe Cambridge is considered a bit old hat even though they have revamped it recently. ds' teachers write their own (HOD is a leader in the field).

[Bonsoir]

Thanks LIZS. Anyone else?

[funchum8am]

Is it for a class or an independent learner?

[Bonsoir]

It's a choice by a school.

[TheFirstOfHerName]

The Cambridge Latin Course leads nicely into the WJEC level 2 certificate in Latin language, which is equivalent to a GCSE and counted as such by universities.

Strengths of the CLC: there is a narrative to keep students interested, and they can start translating simple passages after a few lessons. There are many free online activities for each stage of the course, including vocab tests, grammar and translation exercises.

Weaknesses: the way it teaches grammar is by example rather than by logical theory. So students end up learning grammar in little bits in a not very logical order.

[Bonsoir]

Thanks! I did two terms of Cambridge Latin (in 1978/79...) before moving school and taking up traditional Latin. I remember the vague approach to grammar and much preferring the subsequent structured approach.

What is WJEC?

[titchy]

WJEC is the exam board.

[Bonsoir]

Oh as in the Welsh exam board?

[titchy]

Yes!

[Lilymaid]

Caecilius est in horto

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

The DC's prep school use this one for common entrance
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1902984005/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=190298403X&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=19KE3YHBYS9JS1ZKM1H3&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

It has good reviews.

[Bonsoir]

I'm generally a fan of Galore Park text books.

[Givemeabreakimtryingmybest]

I used CLC as it is so well supported but as TheFirstofHerName points out the grammar needs further reinforcement so I supplemented with "So you really want to Learn Latin" Combining the 2 really worked for my classes as I could dip in to the specific areas of grammar as necessary as we were going through the CLC - it made the whole experience less rigid and formulaic.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Marking my place to discuss the weaknesses mentioned with DD's latin teacher.

[TalkinPeace]

DD did Cambridge Latin and then the WJEC which is actually two GCSEs one for Language, one for literature - I have her certificate
she loved it
sadly the Latin teacher has retired so the school dropped it as a subject

[Bonsoir]

Are there any other GCSE level qualifications that complete CLC other than the WJEC certificate?

[TheFirstOfHerName]

I think OCR do a Latin GCSE but I don't know how much overlap there is with the CLC syllabus.

[TheFirstOfHerName]

DS1 has nearly finished CLC Unit 3 (book 3). He has gained a reasonable vocabulary of a few hundred words, an interest in ancient Roman culture, a limited knowledge of word endings (he can recognise most indicative verb endings and nouns in the nominative and accusative cases). The grammar weakness has resulted in a guess-and-hope approach to translation.

He would like to get a B or above in the WJEC Level 2 Core Latin Language exam in May.

We'll see...

[LIZS]

Ds took OCR.

[angelcake20]

We used Ecce Romani in the 80s, which seems to still be on the go. I liked it but I think we were taught a lot of grammar and did a lot of translation exercises that were independent of the course. Year 7 DS is using CLC, which seems to have a lot more history and social stuff in English. They are whizzing through it and he is really enjoying it, to my surprise. 25-30% of the year do GCSE but I don't know which board. Lots of nostalgia for Dh, who also used it and can still quote a surprising amount, though I'd say I can remember a lot more than he can!

[Pantah630]

DS2 use CLC think they're mid book 4 now, he'll take OCR next year, and is on course for top grades. He has a good grasp of vocab and grammar but he has a natural talent for languages wish I did is taking Spanish to gcse, and has picked up Italian igcse to do as a twilight subject. They have a very good Latin teacher at the moment, it was a bit hit and miss in yr8 and he learnt more grammar on a 2 day MN Academy Latin course than he did at school, luckily what he learnt has stayed with him, again I wish I could say the same.

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Dd1 did CLC and then the OCR GCSE. Ds was using Galore Park SYRWTL Latin in y7 and 8, don't know what he's using this year, and doesn't want to carry it on. CLC is much more appealing than the GP books!

[Tinuviel]

DS1 started with CLC but then as I was unhappy with the way the grammar wasn't really covered logically we switched to Galore Park. However, he found that a bit dry on its own so we combined the two, which he really enjoyed. He got a B in the OCR GCSE and is now working towards AS. The Galore Park has certainly prepared him better for that.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

My DD's school had ditched OCR in favour of WJEC. I'm not entirely convinced she needs two GCSE's in Latin though.....

[sablepoot]

a school near here that switched from OCR to wjec found that with same teaching time pupils are getting better results for two certificates that are more consistent with the rest of their GCSEs than they were getting for the single OCR GCSE. ie: a pupils often dropped a grade and got an a with OCR, but tend to get as with wjec. So would seem WJEC is considerably easier than OCR, whether that makes one or other better is open for discussion.