[B-Greek] English translation as best goal for learning Greek?

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Aug 23 07:03:22 EDT 2007


On Aug 22, 2007, at 7:18 PM, David McCoy wrote:

> John,
>
> My own goal, which I think is a good one for the serious study of any
> language, is to learn to think in the language, to be able to  
> understand
> it on its own terms without having to pass through the step of  
> putting it
> into my own language.
>
> This is a superior way, I think, because, not matter how good the
> translation, it is never more than an approximation to the original
> meaning, and something is always lost.  Not that we, so far removed  
> from
> the original, can regain it all even if we can think in it, but my  
> feeling
> is that we lose less if we can do that than if we have to translate  
> it.
>
> I guess I never saw the recommendations from Carl you mentioned.   
> Please
> put me on the track of those, as I would very much like to pursue  
> Attic.

This is, of course, PRECISELY what I meant to imply and in fact I  
have repeatedly stated this view explicitly in the past. The real  
goal of learning Biblical Greek (or any other language!) is to grasp  
what is spoken or written in it directly; if there is any "proof of  
the pudding" in terms of a second language, it isn't translating the  
Greek into English but expressing oneself, orally or in writing, in  
Biblical Greek. The real goal really is THINKING in Biblical Greek.

I do not believe that one working with a Biblical Greek text can  
produce a really useful English (or "X") version without a real grasp  
of what the Biblical Greek says, and that's not just a matter of  
words from one language converted into words in another. This is,  
ultimately, the basis of my objection to any extended reliance upon  
interlinear translations: the word-for-word or even phrase-for-word  
approach MAY JUST POSSIBLY encourage a few to research lexical,  
syntactic, and discourse aspects of the text more profoundly, but I  
think it will deter most from any sense that one need go any further  
with the text now that one has before one's eyes an acceptably  
intelligible English version of it. Insofar as Biblical Greek  
pedagogy encourages students to produce such versions of phrases,  
sentences, or verses -- especially in discrete units of isolated  
sense --, it promotes reliance upon dictionaries that are searchable  
glossaries rather than upon lexica that explore word-usage in varying  
context with significant examples and it promotes reliance upon  
analytical grammars (or digital resources!) that tend to describe  
Biblical Greek grammatical usage in terms of translation strategies  
for (English/X-speakers) rather than in terms of how Biblical Greek  
itself "thinks." It promotes an experience of Biblical Greek that  
might be characterized as "acquaintance" rather than "intimate  
familiarity."

I have the sense that I've said this before, over and over, ad  
nauseam ...

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Ret)

> On Wed, 22 Aug 2007, John M. Linebarger wrote:
>
>> Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:02:03 +0000
>> From: John M. Linebarger <jmlineb at comcast.net>
>> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>> Subject: [B-Greek] English translation as best goal for learning  
>> Greek?
>>
>> Carl has made statements in passing several times that open with  
>> the condition, "If producing an English translation is your goal  
>> for learning Greek ..."  At the risk of appearing naive, what  
>> other goals for learning Greek should be put ahead of the ability  
>> to produce an English translation?  In priority order, what are  
>> the "best" goals for learning Greek, in the opinion of the group?
>>
>> Blessings!
>>
>> John M. Linebarger
>> Albuquerque, NM
>>
>> (P.S. I remain grateful to Carl for his recommendations about how  
>> to learn Attic Greek.  My Mastronarde book arrived in the mail  
>> yesterday [it seemed to correspond best to my particular language  
>> learning style, and an answer key is available for it] and I've  
>> devoured two chapters already.)



More information about the B-Greek mailing list