[B-Greek] Ad nauseam: Biblical Greek CAN be learned
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Sat Jul 4 06:14:07 EDT 2009
Since Independence Day is likely to be a light-traffic day on B-Greek,
I thought I would note a little anecdote that Rod Decker has called
attention to. It's from Dr. Mark McGinnis' blog, entitled, "Outside My
Door," and the entry in question is accessible at:
http://outsidemydoor.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/%E2%80%9Cif-you-admire-the-violin/
"The students I encounter at seminary admire the skills of their few
classmates who are able to utilize the biblical languages (especially
Hebrew). Sometimes the student who acquires the needed tools is
looked upon by his fellows as a special someone, especially gifted in
language acquisition. Language teachers on the other hand know that
there are few, truly gifted students. Those who are successful (i.e.
actually use the biblical languages) are those who diligently labor at
building those skills. While these students are not more gifted in
learning the language, they are more willing to work through the
frustrations that come with studying any non-native tongue."
This reminds me of an admonition that I read when I first started grad
school in the "Confy Guide for New Grad Students at Harvard." It went
something like this: "You may have imagined that most graduate
students at Harvard are geniuses. In fact only a tiny percentage are
geniuses; most are students of somewhat better than average
intelligence who work hard and maximize the opportunities which they
encounter."
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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