[B-Greek] Proficiency Guidelines/just for the joy of it

TuNeCedeMalis67 at aol.com TuNeCedeMalis67 at aol.com
Sun Feb 13 09:23:52 EST 2005


This has got me really thinking! Many people study French or Spanish just for 
the joy of it. They do not have a long term goal of a certain book to read at 
the end of their studies. They wallow in the language using whatever 
materials seem fun or are working at the moment. 

Each small gain is considered an accomplishment. Being able to greet a waiter 
with a couple memorized phrases and being able to pick out a few food words 
is considered a MAJOR accomplishment, even if a person is incapable of making 
up even a single original sentence.

I'm just curious if there is a single school in this country that teaches 
Greek just for the pure joy of it. Not with the single mindedness of rushing full 
steam ahead to finish a grammar book, and measuring progress with chapters. 

Yes, reading the NT in Greek is an important goal, but should it be the ONLY 
goal or the PRIMARY goal for EVERYONE? 

What about the idea of studying Greek to just learn Greek? The only time I 
hear about anyone studying Koine for the fun of it is little children using "Hey 
Andrew..." They don't know anything other than it's fun.

College courses in Ancient Greek have the highest drop out rate of any 
language. What are we doing wrong? I don't think it's the language. I think it's how 
it is taught. 

How do we make our studies JOYFUL???

Kat Doe
homeschool mom


In a message dated 2/12/2005 9:30:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
himself at philthompson.net writes:
Dear Kat,

I don't think you're being unreasonable. I wouldn't expect the majority
native US high school graduates to be able to perform those tasks in
English. Give students highly characteristic examples of, say, Hemingway,
Kerouac and  e. e. cummings (to pick three highly-distinctive voices) and
after having been taught about those specific writers' styles an English
class could be expected to recognize them and perhaps attempt a pastiche in
their style. But your average American-on-the-street wouldn't be able to do
those things even though he's got a lifetime's familiarity with the language
and perhaps even with a good deal of its literature.

Philip Silouan Thompson
Walla Walla, Washington



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