Reading Old English: A Primer and First Reader - Tapa blanda

"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

This book has many virtues, but its most innovative feature is the amount of pedagogy written into its pages. Traditionally, Old English grammars have merely presented the grammatical information, and teachers have been left to organize it and communicate it to students. This grammar, 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 by another seemingly illogical construction. The explanations are clear, and the exercises are well conceived and admirably plentiful. The authors 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.