[B-Greek] you say "inefficient and ineffective" like it was a bad thing (was NT Greek Audio)

Mark Lightman lightmanmark at yahoo.com
Sun Oct 5 13:28:24 EDT 2008


 
All this enthusiasm for modern language methods that use hearing and
speaking instead of just reading, on the grounds that they are more
effective and efficient, obscures a fact that is so obvious that
maybe I need to state it here.  The reason why many of us enjoy learning 
to read Ancient Greek by only reading Ancient Greek is precisely
BECAUSE it is so inefficient, BECAUSE it takes so long, BECAUSE
it only uses one part of our brain, a part that we do NOT normally use
to learn a language.  Why do we want to learn Ancient Greek in the 
first place?  I suggest it is because we do not have to.  I was struck by
what Buth said recently, that when learning to speak his native language,
a little kid does not give a crap about the English language.  He just wants to
get his apple sauce, and he HAS to learn English to be understood.  But
we do not have to learn Greek to be understood, nor even to understand.
I used to think that I enjoy learning Greek so much because it helps me
understand God's word.  But that isn't even true.  If you want to understand
the Bible really well, I would suggest you read it in translation, since these
obscure the inherent ambiguities in the text.  The deeper you go into the
Greek you realize that most Greek cruxes have several possible solutions,
The MODERN Greek translations, for heaven's sake, are usually clearer!
We enjoy reading Ancient Greek for the same reason we climb a mountain,
because it is there and because, if we put in enough time and effort, we CAN,
even without, especially without, hearing or speaking or writing a word of
it.  I am struck by this quite often, that God has left behind this wonderful
language in all these wonderful texts, and if we read them enough and read enough 
of them, somehow we do get it, we do learn this language.  It's hard work, but
at the same time it is relaxing.  Mike said he learned more Russian in
three months using modern methods than he did Greek in two years just
reading it.  I will give an even more dramatic example.  I recently took an
8 week course in American Sign Language (and I missed a few of the weeks)
and in that course I became more proficient at Sign Language than I am in
Greek after twenty years.  I can now say "I have to go to the bathroom" in 
Sign Language, which I still cannot do in Ancient Greek.  ( I know the word 
for latrine is in Mark and Matthew but I can only fuzzily recall what it is;
I would recognize it if I read it.)  The reason I learned Sign Language so
well and so quickly is that the teacher forces you to use it in class; he 
asks you questions in Sign Language and if you don't answer in Sign 
Language he makes you look like an idiot.  It is very efficient and effective
and I hated every minute of it.  This method uses all sorts of parts of your 
brain and lots of stress.  Why do you think kids cry so much when they
are learning how to talk?  But learning NT Greek by re-reading Ephesians or  
by reading Epictetus is deeply satisfying on another level.  It is quiet, you
can crawl into bed and there is just you and the text.  Whitehead or somebody
said that Religion is what one does with one's solitude.  I think learning to
read Ancient Greek by only reading Ancient Greek is fun because it is a highly
specialized skill.  It is this incredible challenge and you are on your own, no
other people, no audio helps, but it DOES work.  I don't think we want to 
mislead beginners.  If you work your way through several grammars and then
read and re-read the Greek NT and read some other Greek, you WILL learn
koine Greek after about two years.  Put in another twenty years and your
Greek will get just a tiny bit better each year, without any audio learning.  It is
NOT very efficient, but lots of things we do are not every efficent.  Painting your
bathroom with a roller is more efficient and useful and effective than painting a 
picture with oils.  Drving on the freeway is more efficient and effective than riding
the Bumper Cars. But how do you want to spend your time?  I actually do a 
little bit of audio learning.  I read the Greek prayers out loud, I pray to God in
Greek and write some koine Greek in my journal and I try to speak a little
koine Greek with my Greek study group.  I don't think any of this does much
to really improve my Greek reading; more Greek reading does this.  But that's
beside the point.  I think for many of us, in the beginning was the word, a word
printed on a page that we love looking at, surrounded by other Greek words that we
CAN read and understand even if we never hear them or speak them.  Maybe
that's just "decoding."  Maybe that's an inefficent and ineffective way to learn a
language.  But you say that like it was a bad thing. 
 
Mark L. 


      


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