Orbis Pictus

Utilizing macaronic sentences, Latin idioms, illustrations that get at the essentials of words, and a glossary for pronunciation, synonyms, and other useful words, the Orbis Pictus series provides Latin educators with a tool specifically to introduce Latin vocabulary, regardless of their textbook or philosophy of teaching. The Orbis Pictus series helps students pick up vocabulary in the best ways possible:

1. It introduces words topically, which aids the memory.
2. Each new word is given in the context of a sentence specifically meant to help a student learn the word.
3. It uses illustrations, which clarify a word's meaning, help with memorizing, and make lessons more interesting.

The Orbis Pictus series is a great help for students learning to read Roman authors, especially when combined with a grammar-centric text. It can be used as a refreshing supplement for any Latin textbook or completely on its own. It has no prerequisites, and could be useful for even the most advanced students of Latin.

This first volume in the Orbis Pictus series, The Natural World, covers almost five hundred words on the natural world. This includes not only vocabulary that appears frequently in Latin literature, but also words that have been adopted as technical terms in various scientific disciplines (especially biology). A student who has mastered the material in The Natural World will have also built up basic English and Latin vocabulary in anatomy, botany, and zoology, and will be much better prepared to read classical Roman literature.