[B-Greek] Interlinear Greek-English NT
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at juno.com
Tue Dec 27 15:50:47 EST 2005
On Tue, 27 Dec 2005 15:08:06 -0500 "Terry and Gail Cook"
<cookie99 at fuse.net> writes:
> My guess is the drop out rate was extraordinary in Robertson's class!
> In my
> tiny little school we started with 15 Greek students on two nights
> and by
> the end of the 3rd qtr of the 1st year we had two! Are students
> really well
> served by such tactics?
> Additionally, I doubt whether those students, by virtue of their
> study
> methods, will "know" the Greek better; they will "know" it faster
> but not
> necessarily better.
> Terry Cook
> sDg
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim West" <jwest at highland.net>
> To: "Terry and Gail Cook" <cookie99 at fuse.net>;
> <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 3:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Interlinear Greek-English NT
>
> > My Greek teacher took greek with A.T. Robertson. He (my teacher)
> told me
> > that when you went to Robertson's class the only thing you better
> have in
> > hand was your GNT. He would make students stand up, recite
> paradigms, and
> > if they missed any portion they were scolded and rebuked,
> publicly.
> >
> > Such methods may not work today of course- but I would venture
> dimes to
> > donuts that such stringent requirements made better Greek scholars
> than
> > the use of crutches make.
> >
> > That's not to demean those who choose to use such materials. It
> only
> > means to suggest that in the long run such students don't know the
>
> > language as well as those who study, and study, and study some
> more.
> >
> > Best
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > Terry and Gail Cook wrote:
> >> Jim West said: "Don't get an interlinear- it will only cripple
> you. Do
> >> the hard work,
> >> memorize the words that occur more than 100 times, memorize
> paradigms,
> >> and learn the grammar."
> >>
> > --
> > D. Jim West
> > Biblical Studies Resources - http://web.infoave.net/~jwest
> > Biblical Theology Weblog - http://biblical-studies.blogspot.com
___________
I seem to have failed to receive Jim's post to which you are replying.
While I don't particularly approve of public humiliation of students, I
do think that a student who is called upon to recite and is unprepared to
do so will tend to chastize himself without the necessity that the
professor do so. I have been thus embarassed once or twice myself
(without further embarassment from the professor) and determined to avoid
a repetition. I recall that I spent many hours -- frequently until 3:00
A.M. or later -- pouring through Smyth so that I would feel adequately
prepared for class. The drop-out rate in these Greek classes was
negligible, but I think the situation then and there was somewhat
different from what one encounters today. Dropping-out was not an option
since entrance to the seminary required a Greek major. One could not
drop out of most Greek classes and still meet the requirements so
dropping out also meant forgoing attaining your professional goal. The
problem today is that Greek is not usually a requirement for most
seminaries. If little is expected of a student, little will be
accomplished. I therefore place the blame on those who determine the
seminary's curriculum for not requiring more from the student. I don't
blame the student so much since a student will generally attempt to
follow the path of least resistance.
george
gfsomsel
___________
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