[B-Greek] Learning an ancient language
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Oct 23 06:23:44 EDT 2007
John Hobbins’ “Ancient Hebrew Poetry” blog has again struck “paydirt”
— or should I say rather, regular readers of it have once again
struck paydirt. Yesterday’s entry (http://tinyurl.com/3bzzvw) is
entitled, “Innovative Ways of Teaching Ancient Hebrew: Part One.” I
can’t see one thing in it that lacks relevance to learning Ancient
Greek, and I’ll bet that Randall Buth is in agreement. I cite the
opening paragraphs:
“According to Howard Gardener's theory of multiple intelligences,
human beings process information in seven different ways. A well-
designed language class will exploit all seven ways of learning for
the sake of enhancing and reinforcing learning on the verbal or
linguistic level.
“Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence
“Verbal/linguistic intelligence involves thinking in words; learning
by listening, reading, and verbalizing. It involves learning by
writing out what one hears and reads. It includes the skills of
translating from source to target language and back again.
Ultimately, it involves the skill of composition, of creating poetry
and prose in the language that is being learned. Competence in a
language is enhanced by committing to memory aphorisms, verse,
lyrics, and trivia, and the oral and written recitation of same. ... “
That’s a far cry, it seems to me, from the interlinear approach that
is perhaps more akin to using one’s mind as a soggy paper towel to
soak up what one can of a spilled liquid ...
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Ret)
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list