The credo upon which this book is constructed runs somewhat as follows:
Things exist written in the Latin language that are worth reading today.
Latin should be so taught as to develop power to read those things in Latin.
One learns to read by reading.
Material for reading in the early stages should be easy and repetitious, and should introduce new vocabulary in self-evident situations.
The acquisition of the language itself is a sufficiently large task for the beginner. He should not be called upon to deal with situations outside his own experience or to acquire knowledge through the new medium; neither should his problem be complicated by the necessity of learning a formidable grammatical nomenclature or a science of grammar that the Romans themselves managed to do without until its introduction by Dionysius Thrax, who was born 166 b.c.
Omission of formal grammar need not result in inaccurate or incorrect Latin. A tendency to inexactness can be corrected by much oral reading of Latin and by writing in Latin.
This translation of this credo into a beginner’s book is characterized by certain definite features:
Vocabulary—Vocabulary has been chosen on the principle that words most frequently used in Latin literature should appear early and should be repeated often. Lodge’s Vocabulary of High School Latin (Columbia University: Teachers College, 1912) has been used to determine frequency. Words have been divided into seven classes:
Class I.—Words appearing 1,000 times or more in the passages usually read in high schools. These words are all introduced early and repeated frequently.
