[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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