Lector salve!
John Amos Comenius was a Czech scholar who lived in the 17th century and is regarded as a founding father of modern language pedagogy. Ahead of his time, Comenius believed that foreign languages are not learned by memorizing grammar rules or vocabulary, but by using them in everyday situations. He regarded speaking, listening, reading, and writing as the main “channels” through which a language is learned – a theory that gained widespread recognition in the 20th century.
To prove his theory, Comenius authored a series of textbooks for teaching the Latin language. These are as useful today as they have ever been. Most of today’s Latin textbooks are no match for Comenius’ works because they are either very basic or center around grammar rules – the very approach that Comenius criticized in the 17th century. If you are a beginner, the modern textbooks are a good starting point, but if you want to proceed to the advanced level, you need Comenius.
This website was created to give everyone access to Comenius’ Latin textbooks in full text format. Read them, work with them, and bring your Latin to the next level!
Wonder where to start? Follow these steps:
- Learn the basics of Latin using an ordinary textbook that suits you. Comenius recommended that students should learn the basics of Latin, including the grammar, for at least a few months before transitioning to his usage-based method. Read this article to become familiar with Comenius’ method.
- Start with the Vestibulum, Comenius’ most beginner-friendly text. The booklet contains just 427 short, memorable sentences that will turbocharge your learning. Read and reread them, copy them, take notes, maybe even draw pictures or record yourself reading. In a word: engage with the text rather than read it passively. After a couple of weeks, your active vocabulary will go through the roof.
- Continue with the Auctarium, the Orbis Sensualium Pictus, the Janua Linguarum, and have a look at the accompanying dictionary, the Lexicon Januale, for even more comprehensible input. Comenius believed that comprehensible input is the key to language learning, and his textbooks offer tons of it. (Note that, contrary to today’s “Input Hypothesis”, Comenius held that speaking and writing are just as important as listening and reading.)
- Go back to those classic authors that you struggled with before. You will notice that you have become much better at reading Latin.