One of the first questions I ask my students during our first Latin lesson is: "What course book would you rather use?"
The choice is between:
1) Wheelock's: a traditional Latin course based on grammar explanations, declension and conjugation tables, verb paradygms, translation exercises. It describes the language, and I like it because this is how I learned Latin (and how I keep learning languages), so I am familiar with this method;
2) "Familia Romana", the first volume of the "Lingua latina per se illustrata" series. This book is written entirely in Latin. It doesn't explain anything: instead, it shows how Latin works, by using the same structures many times, until you get familiar with it. No explanations, no declensions or conjugations to learn by heart.
Both courses have pros and cons. They just suit different kinds of learners. Which one would you pick? Or, in other words, what kind of learner are you?
(Feel free to suggest other course books or material in English or other languages.)
