Reading Old English
"Other introductory texts seem reluctant to abandon the 'serious' philological and historical background to Old English, a reluctance that can have serious consequences for the subject's appeal to today's students. By focusing on the main goal of learning to translate Old English texts, students gain access to this fascinating body of literature much more quickly. Their confidence is bolstered, and as my experience has shown, many of them go on to learn more about the language and culture...
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Traditionally, Old English grammars have merely presented grammatical information and teachers have been left to organize it and communicate it to students. Reading Old English, however, attempts to do quite a bit of the teaching, often warning students that one detail is particularly important to learn, or that they should not be discouraged upon encountering yet another seemingly illogical construction. The explanations are clear, and the exercises are well conceived and admirably plentiful. Furthermore, authors Robert Hasenfratz and Thomas Jambeck have been diligent in avoiding "dumbing-down" the material: students are expected to deal with most of the complexities demanded of them by more traditional grammars.
Ch. 1Old English alphabets and pronunciation1Ch. 2Getting started : nouns29Ch. 3"Weak" nouns and regular verbs59Ch. 4Weak verbs class III and irregular verbs89Ch. 5Learning how to translate115Ch. 6Adjectives and adverbs, prepositions167Ch. 7Personal pronouns, reflexives, relatives215Ch. 8Strong verbs I253Ch. 9Strong verbs II287Ch. 10Rarer noun forms309Ch. 11Contract verbs, impersonal constructions335App. 1A basic introduction to traditional grammar357App. 2Summary of sound changes397
\ From the Publisher"Other introductory texts seem reluctant to abandon the 'serious' philological and historical background to Old English, a reluctance that can have serious consequences for the subject's appeal to today's students. By focusing on the main goal of learning to translate Old English texts, students gain access to this fascinating body of literature much more quickly. Their confidence is bolstered, and as my experience has shown, many of them go on to learn more about the language and culture once they have mastered the basics. In short, this approach generates enthusiasm and a desire to learn, rather than stifling it." David F. Johnson, Florida State University\ \ \
