How many hours to teach Greek as a Living Language?

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Louis L Sorenson
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How many hours to teach Greek as a Living Language?

Post by Louis L Sorenson »

It takes 300-500 hours for a student to learn a full 1st year of a language. I think those numbers are fairly solid for any language. I once asked Blaine Ray, the father of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Storytelling) how many hours it took his students to learn a language, thinking that that traditional method would be on the 500 hour end and the TPRS approach would be on the 300 hour side. His answer stunned me - he said that it takes about the same - even the CIA has to have their language students have about 1500 hours of instruction before they are fairly competent. I think Blaine Ray also would say that by using TPRS methods, the student learns how to use and understand a language quicker - but it still takes a ton of time to get all the forms down so that one is not parsing/declining when reading.

I wonder, from those who have taught Greek class in the traditional method, how many hours of class instruction do you have? 1,2,3,4,5 days a week? How many and how long? How much time does the student need to spend outside of classroom by the student doing schoolwork in preparation for the class? I wonder if the same amount is asked/required by teachers using the TPRS method?

Sebastianos Carnazzo wrote:
I was asked to comment on this discussion so here is what I have to say. I had used Buth's materials to teach Greek in to different settings. Both attempts were agatha, compared to the years of teaching Greek using the 'traditional method.' However, the Fresno seminar changed everything. I walked away with the confidence to dive into the this method headfirst. I am now teaching Greek using a combination of Buth volume one as outside of class homework, and in class I simply teach Greek in Greek telling stories and giving commands (TPRS). The other day we went for a walk outside and I was able to add a massive amount of outdoor vocabulary to their toolbox. For example, after we encountered a pile of sand and talked about it for a while, I then walked them over to a large boulder and talked about how different it was from sand. I then told the the parable about the man who built his house on sand/rock. Not only did they understand what I told them, but they answered questions all in Greek. You have to see it to believe it. I have and I believe.
Since the conversation method is based upon interaction, and of course is best taught in an immersive environment, how does pulling it out of the immersive environment affect teaching? What types of writing/reading/speaking/audio (γαλα) activities provide the best bang for the buck? I assume that the homework has to mimic the content and structures spoken in the class. Do those who do this method make their students do any writing in class? If so, in what manner? Blaine Ray said that for his TPRS students (ages 13-18), the only writing homework he had was to have the students write a small story about themselves - what they did, etc. I think for Koine, we would want more than that. There is the swapping out form exercies and translation into Greek that the traditional approach has used. Is that a part of people's curriculum who teach via living language?

So again I ask from those who have taught a dead language by using living language methods (the communicative approach, TPR, TPRS, etc.), How many hours to teach Greek in this manner?
Stephen Carlson
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Re: How many hours to teach Greek as a Living Language?

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Louis L Sorenson wrote:I wonder, from those who have taught Greek class in the traditional method, how many hours of class instruction do you have? 1,2,3,4,5 days a week? How many and how long? How much time does the student need to spend outside of classroom by the student doing schoolwork in preparation for the class? I wonder if the same amount is asked/required by teachers using the TPRS method?
At Duke Divinity, there is class 3 days a week, 14 weeks a term, and 2 terms a year. With 2 hours outside of class for every class hour, this works out to about 250 hours a year, a third of which is classroom time and assessment.

Stephen
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
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