[B-Greek] Memorizing definitions
George F. Somsel
gfsomsel at juno.com
Wed Jun 23 00:14:09 EDT 2004
On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 23:00:33 -0400 "Terry and Gail Cook"
<cookie99 at fuse.net> writes:
> Michael wrote: "With most words I would suggest that you memorize the
> most
> common definitions. After that put most of your effort into reading
> the
> Greek New Testament."
> Forgive my ignorance, how does one read the GNT if one cannot define
> the
> words? I ask this question as one who has just finished my 1st year
> of Koine
> and am preparing to take a second year. I have a vocabulary of about
> 400
> words, 100 of which are "loosey-goosey" (I cautiously recognize them
> in
> their most common form).
> I am passionate about the New Testament and the Christ presented
> there and
> desperately want to understand the language in which it was written,
> but
> when I read almost any passage of the GNT I quickly come to words I
> don't
> recognize. If I have to stop and look every one of them up it sorta
> ruins
> the experience, not to mention the huge investment in time. I don't
> mind the
> time investment as it is a labor of love, but seeing as everyone has
> time
> demands, I try to use it wisely!
> So, I have a huge stack of flashcards which I go through everyday. I
> have a
> summer workbook to practice translating and I do "read" the GNT, and
> that is
> both frustrating and enjoyable, which brings me back to the
> question, how
> does one read the GNT if one cannot define the words?
> Terry Cook
> sDg
>
______________
It sounds like a Catch-22 situation: You can't read the literature
unless you understand the words, and you can't understand the words if
you don't read the literature. That's the nature of the beast. Once you
have a knowledge of a basic set of the vocabulary, you begin reading.
Gradually, with diligence, you gain a knowledge of more vocabulary and
what you already knew becomes more surely known. Yes, it can be
frustrating to have to look up many words, but read, read, read.
gfsomsel
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