[B-Greek] grammar-translation
Richard Ghilardi
qodeshlayhvh at juno.com
Tue Aug 4 13:50:22 EDT 2009
Hello Folks,
One of my favorite texts for learning Greek is Teach Yourself Ancient
Greek, a Complete Course, by Gavin Betts and Alan Henry. It uses what I
suppose is the grammar-translation method. Here is a practical (as
opposed to a theoretical) statement of that method from the Introduction:
<< It is only by analysing the forms of words and patiently working out
the construction of clauses and sentences that you will make progress. A
full translation of an exercise should be written out and then compared
with the Key. When you discover you have made a mistake, you must
meticulously hunt out the point of grammar concerned and see how you came
to be wrong. To help you do this many cross-references have been supplied
in all parts of the book. Your final step should be to read through the
Greek aloud until you are able to translate it without reference to your
own version or the Key. >>
This statement ought to form a PART of the SINE QUA NON for language
study. Nothing in it should be discarded. One important element of the
last sentence needs to be modified:
<< Your final step should be to read through the Greek aloud until you
are able to UNDERSTAND it without reference to your own version or the
Key. >>
All this is necessary but not sufficient. A set of questions in Greek and
to be answered in Greek should be appended to every reading. A lot of
interactive oral/aural exercises are also necessary. Which should come
first, the oral/aural or the translation/analysis? Why not integrate
them?
One more point. Translation into the mother tongue is merely a
stepping-stone. It is necessary to both step onto the stepping-stone AND
then to step off of it in order to arrive at the desired goal of
comprehenisive language acquisition.
Yours in His grace,
Richard Ghilardi - qodeshlayhvh at juno.com
West Haven, Connecticut USA
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