[B-Greek] Greek study aids
Amos Bender
bendersa at earthlink.net
Wed Apr 13 10:54:33 EDT 2005
Amos Bender
bendersa at earthlink.net
Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.
Dear Friends at BGreek,
I have been working on some Greek study aids which I felt would be very nice for myself and others who are trying to learn Greek. The one thing I have always dreamed of is, if one would sing very well known English songs, but with matching and appropriate Greek words inserted rather than the English, so the one who is very familiar with these songs in hearing them being sung could significantly know what the Greek words are simply because of the melody which accompanies them. As of late I tried to do just that with the first verse of the well known song "Joy to the world". Thus in this song I replaced the English words with corresponding Greek words and than sung them. I then recorded this music together with videoing my interlinear translation of the song with a curser pointing at each word as it is being sung, so one can easily see the translation and see what words are being sung. Although the visual part obviously is helpful, yet the music alone should significantly tell one what the words are. I pasted this audio video file (.wmv file) at http://www.amosfiles.net/ for access for those who might be interested in seeing and hearing it. To access it I think all you will need to do is click on this web link and then double click on the file named Greek Song Sample and it should automatically open and play on your computer (anyway that works for me). If you don't have high speed access it will take some time to load as the file is 377 KB. It plays good on Widows Media Player and WinDVD 4.
Note, my translation of "Joy to the World" might not be totally accurate, yet I simply tried to replace the English with Greek, in sort of a word for word manner and also tried to pick Greek words that are more vital to learn. To choose the correct form of each Greek word is the challenge for me. If someone is able and willing to do this with other songs please let me know, or if anyone knows where word for word translations of songs as this might be found please let me know. I wish someone would do this with many songs!
On the web page mentioned above I have also posted files of another Greek study aid I am working on. This consists of wmv files of the Greek Bible being read by Marilyn Phemister, together with showing three different pages or versions of the text that she is reading. The first page is the actual Greek text she is reading and large enough that you can see if from a distance and with a curser pointing at the words being read. The second page consists of the KJV translation of what she is reading, while the last page is an interlinear copy of what is being read. Thus if you don't know a Greek word you can pause the video and can likely find what the word means in the interlinear text window. You can also compare the Received and Critical Greek texts, since they are both given on the different windows. It would be very nice if while the Greek is being read, the related English phrases and words would automatically be highlighted. Although I couldn't do that, yet as each Greek verse is being read the verse number is clearly marked so one can easily look in the other windows to see the same verse in English or interlinear form.
I would like to get the whole New Testament recorded as this and also transferred to DVD so I could listen to it and watch it while working in my small business, which work often does not take much thought. Note, to see a sample of this Greek study video simply go to the web link given above and double click on the short John 3:16 file, or longer John 2 file. Note, to create these videos I used some software that allows you to record any thing you can create on your computer screen and allows you to add any audio with it. Also note, with regards to the different Greek Bible readings I have listened to, Marilyn Phemister's reading seems by far the best to me, as she reads with such clarity and good expression.
If anyone has any further thoughts or suggestions how to create these study aids let me know. I am having difficulty trying to get things done. I am having difficulty getting the videos I create from .wmv format into dvd format and with numerous things. Although on my computer the recorded copy plays back very clear, yet in various situations the smaller text is hard for some to read. My Libronix Logos Bible pages which I am using to create my text video do not want to scroll properly. Hopefully I can get things working properly sometime. My email address is bendersa at earthlink.net. Your help and suggestions are very appreciated.
God bless you
Amos Bender
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