Ossa Ostensa: A proven system for demystifying Latin, Book One

Product Description
Ossa Ostensa is the world's first comprehensive example of how to teach and learn the Latin language using the unique teaching system of the internationally recognized authority Reginald Foster. Laura Pooley – prize-winning graduate of the University of Oxford and currently a supervisor at the University of Cambridge, brings to life the year she spent in Rome studying Latin with Reginaldus. His inspiring and transformative method of teaching combines with Laura's twenty years of teaching experience to produce concise and crystal-clear explanations of the language. The three 'experiences' of Latin: beginners, intermediates and advanced, are divided between three user-friendly workbooks. Each workbook comprises around thirty lessons, where the language is presented in hand-out form requiring very little modification by prospective teachers. Each language area is then illustrated by translated reading examples. After each lesson, Laura provides translation practice targeted to the taught content. These Latin passages are divided into Classical and Post-Classical literature, to appeal to the interests of all Latin students. Not only that, but each passage is accompanied by teaching questions and translation hints, the mainstay of Reginaldus' classroom persona and pedagogy so famously encapsulated in his Ludi. Students therefore can exercise recent language content and develop deep and spontaneous fluency in the Latin language. For the first time, the experience of learning with Reginaldus is available to everyone.
Review
"Although Reginald Foster has died, his influence lives on.
Ossa Ostensa shows how Foster's unique methods of Latin teaching can be put into practice for today's teachers and students."―Tom Keeline, Washington University in St. Louis\n"Lovers of Latin, rejoice! Laura Pooley has produced a masterful workbook that captures the pedagogical spirit of her
magister, the late Fr. Reginald Foster. Her book is a lucid presentation of Foster's unique and effective method of teaching Latin, which throws the student into real Latin (from the classical period to Pope Francis's tweets) right from the first lesson. What a wonderful contribution for teachers and students!"―Jeanne-Nicole Saint-Laurent, Marquette University\n"
o tempora! o mores! Let's not kid ourselves, the teaching of Latin has been dumbed down. And unsurprisingly Latin literacy has deteriorated woefully. Ask Classics graduates from even the world's most prestigious universities and they will tell you that by and large unseen translation is an exercise in invention - a case of finding words that look half English and thinking up a half sensible piece of prose around them. Reginald Foster's method of teaching Latin offers a wonderful, joyful corrective to the ineffective pedagogy of the last sixty years or so. Follow his lessons conscientiously, and over time Cicero, Horace, St Augustine and Erasmus will speak to you, in Latin, across the ages. Pooley's book should be treasured for its witty, friendly guidance through Foster's ideas and principles.
Sic itur ad astra."―Katie Walker,
The Oldie\n"Most of us who teach Latin have heard of the legendary teaching style of Reginald Foster and in the wake of his passing a substantial literature is being produced, including an imposing set of texts he was using in the classroom that he called the
Ossa Latinitatis. Laura Pooley experienced Foster's teaching firsthand and seeks here to bridge the gap between a newcomer to the language and a system that clearly has its advantages and its fans. Laura is an experienced Latinist who has taught Latin at all levels and she brings a clarity and palpable enthusiasm to the material. As she says, 'Latin is Latin', and even an old hand will enjoy thinking of Latin from a fresh perspective and so amply illustrated with an extraordinary range of original texts."―Charles Weiss, University of Cambridge
About the Author
Laura Pooley current