Audio recordings are available here for two of the Latin stories in each chapter. Each of these stories has a comprehension to accompany it, and these are available on the comprehensions page of this website. Teachers might like to use these audio files as a starter activity before beginning the comprehension.
Notes on Latin pronunciation are printed on pp x-xi of Book 1.
For clarity, in these audio recordings, each Latin word has been read separately, but it is important to note that in performed Latin, it is often the case that one Latin word combines with the next.
If a word ending in a vowel is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, these vowels are typically slurred so closely together that the first of them disappears. For example, Minerva est dea would be pronounced as Minerv'est dea. This also happens with words ending in -am, -em, -im, -um etc, because the m is sounded only very slightly. This means that patrem audivit would be pronounced as patr' audivit. The first vowel is said to be elided against the second, and thus this practice is known as elision.
A variant of this occurs when the second of the vowels is the e of est. Then it is the e of est which disappears. For example, regina est would be pronounced regina'st. This is known as prodelision.
This practice has not been followed in the readings which accompany the text here, but students should be aware of it, especially if they go on to read Latin verse, where elision and prodelision are an important part of the poetry's rhythm.
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