Teaching aspect via English

Rob Matlack united_by_truth at myrealbox.com
Thu Dec 12 16:01:53 EST 2002


When I taught my kids Greek we used "English Grammar for Language Students" by Frank
Braun, University of Michigan distributed by Ulrich's Books, Inc. Ann Arbor, MI. When
my son was at Defense Language Institute he used "'Smart Start Handbook' a Crash
Course in English Grammar." and "DLI's English Grammar for Russian Students". I don't
know if any of their stuff would be available to the civilian world, but as he put it
in response to Carl's e-mail that I sent to him: "Yes Dad that is the way it was
taught in DLI. You have to remember that DLI wants to put out the best as fast as they
can, that is why they do it that way. You know sometimes the military is far better
than the civilian world and this is just an example."

-----Original Message-----
From: Carl W. Conrad [mailto:cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2002 6:48 AM
To: Biblical Greek
Cc: Biblical Greek
Subject: [b-greek] RE: Teaching aspect via English


At 2:06 AM -0500 12/10/02, Suedaleg at aol.com wrote:
>Hefin et al:
>
>I have been saying for many years, at least since I was in college in the
>late 70's, that English is being taught completely backwards in our schools.
>Our schools attempt to impose "correct grammar" without correctly teaching
>what grammar is truly about.  English grammar, or grammar in any language for
>that matter, should be tought so that the student should understand what is
>being said by the structure and syntax.  This is aspect.
>
>I had a roomate in college who was also a classmate in my Greek class.  He
>could not grasp the concepts of the Greek language beyond the vocabulary.
>The grammar would not come for him.  When I tried to help him with the
>concepts I found that he had no understanding of the meaning of English
>grammar.
>
>I think it would be a good idea for the colleges and seminaries to test and
>offer a "pre-language" English grammar class so that this lack could be
>addressed before frustrating the student in a foreign grammar.
>
>Just two cents from one who is trying to understand clearly.
>Dale Greenlee

This is an observation that must, I believe, be seconded by almost any
teacher of a foreign language (it's certainly been my experience in
teaching of Greek and Latin, and it was my experience also many years
earlier when I taught French and German. Considerable time must be spent
with a class or particularly with those students who don't know enough
about English grammar to appreciate critical differences between English
grammar and idiom and the grammar and idiom of the language being learned.
There used to be some excellent helps entitled "English Grammar for
Students of..." The only one I can readily find on the net now is
	_English Grammar for Students of Spanish: The Study Guide for Those
Learning Spanish_.
--

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/

Rob Matlack	     united_by_truth at myrealbox.com
Minneapolis, KS
"I can only say that I am nothing but a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone for
salvation"--R. E. Lee
"It is not our task to secure the triumph of truth, but merely to fight on its
behalf."--Blaise Pascal
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