The single most important contribution to the area of Latin pedagogy of the 20th century. The use of programmed learning materials opens Latin up to a broad spectrum of students. The direct contact with the wisdom and thought of the ancient people which the course provides through the basic sentences, and the opportunities it provides for aural-oral work are likewise very attractive. -Dr. Rudolph Masciantonio School District of Philadelphia
I am delighted with Dr. Sweet's course. It is a godsend, since I have to teach several levels of Latin in one class period, which meets five times a week. With Artes Latinae I can let the abler students go at their own pace while working with those who need it. I think Artes Latinae is the ideal solution for schools like ours, which do not have sufficient Latin enrollment for several independent Latin courses. -Dr. Jeffery Lyon Antelope Valley College
Instead of pondering dull phrases like "the farmer is plowing near the cottage," students learn, in Latin, aphorisms such as Pliny the Elder's "Wisdom is overshadowed by wine." By substituting or adding words, students begin to understand how the language works. Sweet also rearranged the grammar that clogs up normal first-year courses [and] students seem to respond to the leavening of the old diet. -Newsweek
The Sweet materials, then, are first and foremost of value to students who need to learn according to personal deadlines. Self-pacing with flexible self-imposed deadlines for course completion takes pressure off. [The materials] are successful not because of any pedagogical or linguistic doctrine behind them but because of Prof. Sweet's masterful breakdown of the knowledge and his programming of those bits for self-paced learning. -Prof. Robert P. Sonkowsky University of Minnesota,
Sweet's Artes Latinae is success-oriented. -The Classical Outlook
The program is a life saver. -Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
Artes Latinae brings Latin to life. Artes Latinae uses Latin for everything: to define words, explain structures, ask questions, describe pictures, interpret stories, and talk to people. Artes Latinae is versatile. I have used it successfully with all ability and maturity levels from grades 8-12. Artes Latinae opens doors. The variety of sententiae allows and encourages the teacher to provide cultural enrichment while stimulating discussion on who those Romans really were. Artes Latinae is logical. The order of introduction of structures is determined in part by frequency of use by Roman authors and in part by the degree of contrast with English structures. This eases the students into Latin, avoiding the linguistic shock of paradigms, cases, and declensions on page one and also teaches the most important and difficult lesson first that in Latin word order is almost entirely free and does not signal structure. -Catherine E. Neide East Brunswick High School
