[B-Greek] light reading?

Randall Buth randallbuth at gmail.com
Fri Jul 24 18:03:02 EDT 2009


Noel egrapsen
> Second, I would like to
do a lot of reading.  This, I feel, will help me progress towards
fluency best. >

Georgos proseQhken
>> I'm sure Randall would recommend Epictetus (and why not?).

So how does one develop fluency?
Reading is good and ultimately indispensible. But if you only
read texts (and/or grammars) you will never be fluent.
("Twenty years of schoolin' and they put on the day shift" S.H.B.-Dylan)

You need some kind of material that will provide fast, rapid interaction
and use of the language. Normally, the only medium that provides
that kind of speed is speech. And it needs to be in bite-sized,
understandable contexts.

People sometimes accept questionable advice as if a language
learning "fact". For example,  if someone were to say
"If you want to write, then write alot, you do not need to read."
what would you say? Good advice?! It isn't. Good writers are avid
readers.

What about the following:
"If you only want to read a language, then only read, you do not need to speak".
Actually, in modern literature programs students are always expected
to learn to speak. High level reading skills are developed on a basis
of being able to speak and think with the language.

I would get material that gives you lots and lots of rapid listening practice
and a chance to interact orally with the material. That listening interaction
is golden and can't be replaced by something written in either Greek or
English.

Since you've already done Machen on your own, you are already going
down a road that desperately needs to be supplemented with
aural-oral interaction. I would run, not walk, to get such practice.

Following that, and parallel to that, you can read the good suggestion in
this thread of Apollodoros' The Library, and perhaps followed by such
things as the Life of Aesop, or Chariton. Also enjoyable are some works
like The Shepherd of Hermas, or Josef and Aseneth and Tobit.
(Jos and Asen. and Tobit are not in a fully Greek style but are useful
for slow introduction of new vocab.) For something really short, there
are always Aesop's fables. But you should start listening, thinking, and
talking in the language, EXQES.

ERRWSO
Randall Buth


--
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
randallbuth at gmail.com
Biblical Language Center
Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life



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