Advent Christmas Book

Excellent introduction to Church Latin with useful drill, English-to-Latin translation, and an increasing amount of Latin from the Vulgate and liturgical texts in every chapter. By ch. 35 you are reading Latin, and lots of it, without first mentally translating into English. Collins' organization and discussions of vocabulary are perceptive, and his offered 'standard translation' of different subjunctive usages very helpful. Good selection of additional readings follows the 35 chapters of textbook grammar. Sitzfleisch was required, but I worked through every exercise and reading in the textbook in 28 days of the Christmas break, making cards for vocabulary I simply could not remember. (My progress was eased because I already knew the Latin paradigms.) I referenced the answer key for the last 8 chapters, when the English-to-Latin translation became more difficult. Highly recommended.