The chapters are designed so that they need not be done in a particular order so that readers can jump to a topic of particular interest and gain some depth in their Latin studies by practicing pronunciation, memorizing conversational phrases, creating Latin-language skits or just "messing around" with the language a bit. The book includes plenty of ancient terms as well as words for modern ideas and inventions, so you won't have any trouble discussing everything from weather to the Internet during Latin class.

There are some really neat extras as well. The "Days, Weeks, Months and Years" segment gives some fascinating details on the calendar and time-telling used by the Romans. The "Grammar" chapter, which is particularly extensive, gives plenty of content for teachers wishing to conduct their entire Latin classes in Latin. There are also conversational pieces which would be great for memory work (with a question and answer format), for example: "What is a verb?" and "Give examples of a relative pronoun." (This segment, even if studied only in English, makes excellent review work as well.)

The topics covered are as follows: "Greetings:, "Family", "House and Furniture", "Daily Activities", "Sports and Other Leisure Activities", "The Human Body" (like a normal dictionary, proper names for body parts are included) , "Health and Physical Fitness", "Food and Drink", "Days, Weeks, Months, Years", "Expressions of Time", "Useful Colloquial Expressions", "Clothing and Jewelry", "School", "Buying and Selling", "The Weather", "Animals", "Emotions and Qualities", "Trades and Professions", "The City and Public Buildings", "Government", "War and Peace", "Law and Criminal Justice", "Geography and Topography", "Transportation" and "Grammar". Appendices include "Yes and No in Latin", "Colors", "Numbers", "Proverbs and Sayings", "Computer Terms" and a 137 page General Vocabulary arranged English to Latin.

This will make a fun supplement to students in upper grade school or high school who have already studied Latin for a year or two. The words are fairly simple (requiring both English to Latin and Latin to English translations). One feature that makes it quite accessible is a list of words from which to choose the correct word. There are 50 crosswords in all, plus a complete answer key, and a brief introduction to Roman numerals, some common Latin abbreviations in use today and a list of the Latin mottoes of 19 states and the District of Columbia. A nice product at a very reasonable price!

There are several components of this Latin/Music Appreciation Program. Materials may be purchased individually or in sets, depending on where you purchase them from.

Song Book and Audio CD: A lovely, six voice polyphonic choir performs twenty-four Latin songs and hymns a capella (without accompaniment) on this professionally-recorded CD. Not only is this a beautiful way to present this type of music, but it also makes the music easier to learn for children and families. These songs represent some of the most beautiful musical treasures of the Church - from Gregorian Chant ( e.g. Mass of the Angels and Adoro Te ) to classic four-part hymns (e.g. Panis Angelicus and Stabat Mater). Singing can be a great component of your Latin curriculum. It aids pronunciation, provides additional (and fun) practice and helps students make connections to Latin used outside of class.

The CD alone is a wonderful complement to a Catholic education and a simple way to introduce your children to the beauty of our Catholic heritage. I found my two year old singing snatches of the Ave Maria when we had only listened to the CD a few times. The song book includes four part harmonies and extensive verses all written in modern musical notation (if you'd like the Gregorian Chant notation for the appropriate songs, you will find those in the Adoremus Hymnal). In addition to the more "serious" selections, this set also includes some fun-to-sing songs like the traditional German Student Song Gaudeamus Igitur.

Even on their own, the Lingua Angelica CD and Song Book will make an excellent addition your Latin curriculum, a beautiful component of family devotions and an excellent resource for music history and appreciation. The song book also includes historical notes on the songs and offers some related topics for further research. Every Catholic family - even those not yet studying Latin formally - will enjoy and benefit from this musical set.

Student Book and Teacher Manual (Level I): The first level Lingua Angelica text gently guides student and teacher through sixteen Latin prayers and songs through the study of vocabulary and grammar. While this is not intended as a complete Latin program in and of itself, it will reinforce grammar components learned elsewhere and help interconnect Latin studies with related subjects. Ideally, this supplement would be started once the student has completed about three quarters of Latina Christiana I. Each lesson covers a song or a part of a song; offering new vocabulary and practicing noun, verb and adjective endings. The back of the text includes thirteen pages of Grammar Charts for easy reference.

The Introduction to the Teacher's Manual gives a great overview of the reasons why Christian Latin can be so helpful and formational on many levels - both as a foundation of "real" Latin for students to build their later studies upon and as a beautiful and worthy subject matter for our children to memorize and learn to appreciate for their own sake. This manual also includes a detailed schedule (with varying levels of learning activities which are easily adaptable for different abilities) and grammar and vocabulary notes on each song.

The entire Lingua Angelica - the Song Book, audio CD and two levels of Texts (with teacher's manuals) provides a well-planned six-year Latin supplement based on these songs and prayers. These six years are specifically intended to complement the two years of Latina Christiana and four years of Henle.