First Steps in Old English: An easy to follow language course for the beginner

I have this and Teach yourself Complete Old English. Whilst they are both good First Steps in Old English seems more complete.Stephen Pollington has written a book for those “who have been defeated or deterred by the available guides and grammars (which) traditional approach can be like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”This is much more like a modern language textbook.Short sections split into manageable parts with clear explanations and examples together with manageable exercises to reinforce learning. Most importantly it also has the answers to those exercises.Old English is not the same as New English dressed up in quaint spelling: this book provides an excellent introduction to the former. All language learning involves hard work and consistent effort: Old English is no exception but nor is it completely alien. This book and the aforementioned Teach Yourself are the best places to start

This book has become my go-to recommendation for new people trying to learn Old English. It has become awfully clear that most hobbyists online are not capable of engaging with difficult academic material contained in old and dusty grammar books, but Pollington never fails his audience. The book offers easy lessons in short bite-sized chunks that one can cover in less than 30 minutes each, easily. The exercises are useful and grammar explanations only kept to what you need at the moment. The Old English texts at the back are easy to follow for any beginner. I wish there were more texts that were highly annotated beyond the first 4, but students should have sufficient knowledge after finishing this book to move onto simple prose written by the likes of Ælfric or Wulfstan.The only complaint is that there isn't a part 2 for more advanced users wishing to enhance their own (neo-Old English) writing or to access harder texts such as poetry or highly flowery prose.

Plain well set out introductions. Would recommend