[B-Greek] new student question

Granby at SAFe-mail.net Granby at SAFe-mail.net
Wed May 21 12:26:57 EDT 2003


-------- Original Message --------
From: Jay Austin <jayaustin at charter.net>
Apparently from: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
To: b-greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [B-Greek] new student question
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 13:48:57 -0400

> I am new to this list and am also new to the study of greek. I am 
> working on learning the basics of biblical greek on my own by using 
> Parson's Greek Tutor cd-rom. I know that an organized class would be 
> more beneficial, but one is not offered in my area at this time. I am 
> also exploring the call into ministry and seminary is in my future. I 
> know that I will get a better understanding of greek and hebrew there, 
> but I am just doing this for my own knowledge now. I am looking for any 
> advice and resource recommendations that you might have for a beginner. 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> Jay Austin

I'm teaching myself greek as well. It is a difficult task but well worth the effort.

I would advise the following two books.
Basics of Biblical Greek, by William D. Mounce
It is the best textbook I've encountered.
and after you've gone through that one..
Beginning Greek by Stephen Paine
(No longer published but you can find used copies on Amazon.)
The second book in particular has been enormously helpful to me. The first half goes through parts of the gospel of John and the second half of the book dives into classical greek covering the first chapters of Xenophon's anabasis. Diving into the classical greek I noticed a huge jump in my ability to read biblical greek almost immediately. The Anabasis is also a great read and it is fun to be able to try and read greek without the burden of possibly mishandling the word of God.
Another great resource which is free can be found at www.TextKit.com. They have downloads for a book called 'Greek Prose Composition' with an answer key. You are supposed to take english sentences and write them into greek, but that is over my head and I'm working through it in reverse, going from the answer key to english. This is great resource, it helps build vocabulary and you get tons of reading practice.

The most important thing is to keep working at it everday and not get discouraged. My most discouraging moment came when I ran into a book filled with hellenist greek texts at a used bookstore and discovered I could read nothing besides the new testament.( I found out I only partially knew my greek, and that combined with familiarity of the text gave me the false impression I knew what I was doing.)
 I kept working and was able to progress though. Perserverance pays off, and I think at least working with classical greek will pay a lot of dividends which is why I recommended the sources I did. Try to read a lot, when you get frustrated switch to a different aspect of learning. The grammar system can be quite complicated and frustrating, learn it in steps, and keep reading even at the risk of reading something wrong. 

Good Luck,
Charles Granby



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