Showing posts with label general. Show all posts
Showing posts with label general. Show all posts
Sunday, August 5, 2007
John Rylands Papyrus 470
Read my post about John Rylands Papyrus 470, our oldest copy of a still-used prayer to the Theotokos.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Doing the Exercises
As I mentioned at our last class (July 21), the most important thing in this course is for you to do all the Exercises for each Lesson (after first learning the vocabulary and grammar for the Lesson).
Attending all the classes won't ultimately benefit you if you aren't doing the work. Conversely, if you read all the Lessons and do all the Exercises, you can largely master the material without attending the classes.*
I know it can seem like a bit of drudgery at times, but be faithful in doing all the Exercises and coming to the classes and you will be pleased a few weeks from now with what you have learned and how far you have come since the course began. Once we learn a few more verb tenses, and especially when we begin studying participles, you will begin to see how understanding New Testament Greek can enhance your Scripture studies in ways that no amount of reading English translations can do.
* Someone may ask: "Well, then, why should we come to the classes, since the Answers to the Exercises are on the class Blog?"
Attending all the classes won't ultimately benefit you if you aren't doing the work. Conversely, if you read all the Lessons and do all the Exercises, you can largely master the material without attending the classes.*
I know it can seem like a bit of drudgery at times, but be faithful in doing all the Exercises and coming to the classes and you will be pleased a few weeks from now with what you have learned and how far you have come since the course began. Once we learn a few more verb tenses, and especially when we begin studying participles, you will begin to see how understanding New Testament Greek can enhance your Scripture studies in ways that no amount of reading English translations can do.
* Someone may ask: "Well, then, why should we come to the classes, since the Answers to the Exercises are on the class Blog?"
- For one, you won't know what you might be doing wrong if don't have me to ask.
- For another, while you will know what you know by working on your own, you won't know what you don't know. Croy's book gives the basic and most important information, but sometimes the topics need a bit more explanation, and I'll try to give you that when it seems necessary. I'll also tell you what I think is of greater or lesser importance, as well as occasionally give you tips on how best to learn the material.
- For a third, you won't get the class interaction and reading and pronunciation practice if you simply do this on your own. Being able to read the Greek text by sight and out loud is an important part of learning the language and becoming comfortable with it. The links in the Blog Sidebar as well as the Greek Pronunciation CD will help you with pronunciation - if you have not already done so, listen to all the lessons on the CD so you'll know how all the letters and letter combinations are to be pronounced. (If you're opting for the Phonemic Koinê Pronunciation, pronounce η as the "ay" in "say," and both υ and οι as a French "u"; on the CD these are all pronounced as "ee.")
- And finally, if no one comes to the classes, then I'll stop teaching the course, including posting on the Blog, and you really will be on your own!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
How NOT To Learn Biblical Greek
The following blog post (from Withering Fig) has some interesting comments.
Re: (3) Skip to Koinê: Even though you are first learning New Testament Greek (which is also what I did), it's probably a good idea at some point to take a class in Attic Greek or work through an Attic Greek textbook on your own (which is what I am slowly doing as I teach this course), so you'll have a better understanding of the language and also be better able to read and understand the Church Fathers and early Christian liturgical texts and prayers.
In a recent article I alluded to some issues with language study in modern theological training (though, for more on this, you should hop over to Ancient Hebrew Poetry and the conversations going on in and around there). So, I thought I’d just list out some of the major problems that I saw amongst my fellow students at the University of Texas and Harvard.
(1) "Reading" Through Perseus
By far, the most egregious error that students make is the extensive use of sites like Perseus, or software like Logos or Accordance.
DISCLAIMER: I am not at all saying that these are useless tools or that they shouldn’t be used.
What tends to happen is this. New students of these languages stumble upon these tools and realize that they have a cheat-sheet at their disposal. Rather than taking the time to properly learn the language, they run rough shod through conjugations and declensions and end up in the world of the text without anything firm to latch on to. Essentially, they fake their way through class, which leads them to fake their way through interpretation in "the real world."
I have seen this from just about every level of student: total newbies all the way up to folks working on their dissertations (and, to be honest, even professors at major universities).
(2) Study for the Exam
When studying a language like ancient Greek it is totally possible to study just before a quiz or exam, and then faithfully reproduce all of the appropriate endings of such-and-such declension, resulting in a fat 'A' on the ol' report card. I know this because I did it for my entire first year of Greek! Man, that was a mistake...
The reality is that if I had studied correctly the first time, I would not have had to go back and relearn so much in my second year. When I crammed for the test, I came out of the test with a great result on paper, but I immediately lost whatever it was I had "learned."
We’ve heard it a million times, but it’s true: you retain so much more information when you study it several times over a long period of time. Set aside time each day to study. Drill grammar and vocabulary into your brain everyday—not just for the test.
(3) Skip to Koinê
Now, there are some different schools of thought on this issue, but this is mine: the best place to start your study of ancient Greek is with the Attic dialect.
Here’s the thing, the New Testament was mostly written in a type of Greek known as "Koinê." This is an "easy" Greek (for the most part), a low style. So many students go straight to Biblical Greek, bypassing Attic (the Greek dialect prevalent in and around Athens during the time of Aristotle, Plato, and the like). The result is that when they are faced with a difficult Greek passage, they don’t know what to do ("what the heck is an optative?!?").
When I was learning guitar, I very much wanted to learn on an acoustic guitar before moving to an electric guitar. Why? Well, the strings on an acoustic guitar are heavier and more difficult to push down against the fretboard. Consequently, I was really building the little muscles in my fingers. When it came time to wail on the electric axe—no problems. If I had learned first on an electric, then moving to the acoustic might be difficult because my fingers might not have been strong enough to play the notes.
Likewise, we should build our Greek muscles by learning a more difficult form of the language and then moving to the easier form.
"But, Stephen," you might say, "I am interested only in Christianity. Why do I need that Attic stuff?" Well, that's a great question. In the 2nd century AD (CE for my PC friends), a movement began in various parts of the Roman Empire to revive the style of the hallowed Greeks. This is a period commonly referred to as "The Second Sophistic." What does this have to do with Christianity? Quite a lot! Many important church fathers write in a high "atticized" style. If you want to learn anything about them or what they thought about a particular text, you’ll need to have some Greek skills.
Conclusion
No matter what you do, practice is essential. I strongly suggest using flash cards and daily schedules. Treat it like exercise. Heck, get religious and fanatical about it. Do it with friends if that motivates you. Just find some way that keeps you doing it day in and day out.
Now that I am out of school, this is the hardest part for me. So, what did I do? I started blogging!
Re: (3) Skip to Koinê: Even though you are first learning New Testament Greek (which is also what I did), it's probably a good idea at some point to take a class in Attic Greek or work through an Attic Greek textbook on your own (which is what I am slowly doing as I teach this course), so you'll have a better understanding of the language and also be better able to read and understand the Church Fathers and early Christian liturgical texts and prayers.
In a recent article I alluded to some issues with language study in modern theological training (though, for more on this, you should hop over to Ancient Hebrew Poetry and the conversations going on in and around there). So, I thought I’d just list out some of the major problems that I saw amongst my fellow students at the University of Texas and Harvard.
(1) "Reading" Through Perseus
By far, the most egregious error that students make is the extensive use of sites like Perseus, or software like Logos or Accordance.
DISCLAIMER: I am not at all saying that these are useless tools or that they shouldn’t be used.
What tends to happen is this. New students of these languages stumble upon these tools and realize that they have a cheat-sheet at their disposal. Rather than taking the time to properly learn the language, they run rough shod through conjugations and declensions and end up in the world of the text without anything firm to latch on to. Essentially, they fake their way through class, which leads them to fake their way through interpretation in "the real world."
I have seen this from just about every level of student: total newbies all the way up to folks working on their dissertations (and, to be honest, even professors at major universities).
(2) Study for the Exam
When studying a language like ancient Greek it is totally possible to study just before a quiz or exam, and then faithfully reproduce all of the appropriate endings of such-and-such declension, resulting in a fat 'A' on the ol' report card. I know this because I did it for my entire first year of Greek! Man, that was a mistake...
The reality is that if I had studied correctly the first time, I would not have had to go back and relearn so much in my second year. When I crammed for the test, I came out of the test with a great result on paper, but I immediately lost whatever it was I had "learned."
We’ve heard it a million times, but it’s true: you retain so much more information when you study it several times over a long period of time. Set aside time each day to study. Drill grammar and vocabulary into your brain everyday—not just for the test.
(3) Skip to Koinê
Now, there are some different schools of thought on this issue, but this is mine: the best place to start your study of ancient Greek is with the Attic dialect.
Here’s the thing, the New Testament was mostly written in a type of Greek known as "Koinê." This is an "easy" Greek (for the most part), a low style. So many students go straight to Biblical Greek, bypassing Attic (the Greek dialect prevalent in and around Athens during the time of Aristotle, Plato, and the like). The result is that when they are faced with a difficult Greek passage, they don’t know what to do ("what the heck is an optative?!?").
When I was learning guitar, I very much wanted to learn on an acoustic guitar before moving to an electric guitar. Why? Well, the strings on an acoustic guitar are heavier and more difficult to push down against the fretboard. Consequently, I was really building the little muscles in my fingers. When it came time to wail on the electric axe—no problems. If I had learned first on an electric, then moving to the acoustic might be difficult because my fingers might not have been strong enough to play the notes.
Likewise, we should build our Greek muscles by learning a more difficult form of the language and then moving to the easier form.
"But, Stephen," you might say, "I am interested only in Christianity. Why do I need that Attic stuff?" Well, that's a great question. In the 2nd century AD (CE for my PC friends), a movement began in various parts of the Roman Empire to revive the style of the hallowed Greeks. This is a period commonly referred to as "The Second Sophistic." What does this have to do with Christianity? Quite a lot! Many important church fathers write in a high "atticized" style. If you want to learn anything about them or what they thought about a particular text, you’ll need to have some Greek skills.
Conclusion
No matter what you do, practice is essential. I strongly suggest using flash cards and daily schedules. Treat it like exercise. Heck, get religious and fanatical about it. Do it with friends if that motivates you. Just find some way that keeps you doing it day in and day out.
Now that I am out of school, this is the hardest part for me. So, what did I do? I started blogging!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Announcement for June 30 Class
I. "GRACE WEEK"
With the amount of new material being introduced each week, the next couple weeks are going to be critical for people getting up to speed with the material so as to be able to keep pace for the rest of the course. We've also had a couple people recently join us who have to catch up with us, several people were gone 6/23, and some had not yet done the Lesson 3 Exercises for the last class. ;^( As I don't want to lose anyone at this date who may be temporarily overwhelmed or falling behind, this week will be a "grace week" to allow people to catch up. On June 30 we will again review Lesson 3 and preview Lesson 4, and spend time drilling on vocabulary and paradigms.
If you're behind, use this next week to:
a. (RE)LEARN the vocabulary (including the extra words) for Lessons 2 and 3. Also see this.
b. (RE)LEARN the verb conjugation and noun declension patterns for Lessons 2 and 3.
c. MEMORIZE the [definite] article pattern. See Lesson 5 Section 28 or the charts I've given you or that are on the blog here.
d. DO all the Exercises for Lessons 2 and 3 that you did not do.
e. PRACTICE your reading/pronunciation and writing.
f. LISTEN to the CD to help with your pronunciation.
II. "TWEAKING" THE CLASS FORMAT
While I have mentioned lengthening the class, there is only so much a person's mind can absorb at a time, so I'd prefer not to do that. In order to streamline things and focus on what's most important - and hence spend the most time on those things - I am proposing the following class format, or something very similar:
1. Quiz over vocabulary words and new paradigms (i.e., verb conjugation patterns/endings and noun/adjective declension patterns/endings) that were to have been learned the previous week. NO (or very few) TRANSLATION SENTENCES for now in the quizzes, as students will have done translations the week before as part of the Exercises homework, and this adds too much extra time to the quiz. (But see step 6 below.)I will try to avoid discussing extraneous or "nice to know but not need to know" subjects/examples, as the most important thing for you to be absorbing and learning and doing is the VOCABULARY and the verb/noun/adjective/etc. PARADIGMS. I'll try to focus on things that help you learn the subject at hand, while avoiding esoteric and interesting but non-essential things, unless time allows it or it seems germane to someone's question or understanding.
2. Go over the quiz just taken.
3. Review/answer a select number of the Exercises that were to have been done that week, e.g.:a. Three sentences each from the made-up sentences, the LXX translations, and the NT translations; andSTUDENTS ARE TO HAVE DONE ALL THE EXERCISES SENTENCES BEFORE CLASS, THOUGH, AND NOT JUST A FEW OF EACH. Answers to the Exercises will be posted ahead of time on the blog so students can check their translations after they do them and before coming to class. This, too, will help streamline the class time. (The answers to Lessons 2, 3, 4 and 5 have now been posted - see the links on the sidebar.) Feel free to email me or even post as blog comments questions you may have about any of your translations or about grammar subjects in the Lesson(s).
b. Two sentences from the English-to-Greek sentences.
4. Discuss any problems or questions students say they had with any of the translation Exercises/sentences that we don't go over in step 3. above, or about the grammar part of the Lesson.
5. Read/preview the new Lesson and additional vocabulary words. Students practice saying (and writing?) the words and the paradigms.
6. Do some of the Exercises for the new Lesson based on what we have just discussed in Step 5. This gives students the translation practice that is being reduced in the quizzes, and also gives everyone a chance to put into practice the new information.
7. Do picture-word listening/looking exercise, and do NT readings.
Learning Greek necessarily involves a lot of rote repetition, because the words and patterns are the building blocks of the language, and you must be able to recognize and understand them. Soon, though, we will be putting your newly-learned reading skills and knowledge to work and begin reading passages from the Greek New Testament in addition to the translations you are doing each week.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Pep Talk
For most of you, and for me as the teacher of this course, the goal is that you in a reasonably short period of time learn enough to be able to read and navigate with understanding a decent portion of the Greek New Testament. This requires mastering the basic grammar and a fairly large vocabulary, and spending some time in the Greek New Testament - all of which we will do in the course.My "1 hour a day, 5 days a week" guideline for what it takes to learn the material (esp. vocabulary memorization and review) is probably going to be kicking in for you soon, if it hasn't already. Make this course a priority for the next 8 months and you will achieve the above goal.
Get on top of the material now, be sure to do all the Exercises, and (most important of all) do the work daily and regularly - i.e., don't "cram" on Friday night! (As William Mounce writes in the Introduction to his Greek grammar: "Those who cram, perish.")
And remember: Don't let the fog and the slog overwhelm you!
If you're starting to think that learning Greek is hard work ... well, you're right! (But it needn't take 25 years; you can learn a lot in one year!)
Friday, June 1, 2007
I am teaching a New Testament Greek class
For the fourth or fifth or sixth or ... whatever ... time, I'll be teaching a first-year New Testament Greek class, starting Saturday, June 2, 2007. :^)
Pray for me!
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