[B-Greek] Death by categories
Randall Buth
randallbuth at gmail.com
Thu Mar 5 16:04:48 EST 2009
ring egrapse
> It is a delicate balance, isn't it? Without some understanding of the
grammar your understanding of the language is always going to be
limited, but at what point does attention to grammar become so
intense that it becomes a hinderance?
> I had two professors for Hebrew, one who had us identifying every
form of every verb and took great delight in discovering and pointing
out weak forms. It was like examining every tree in the forest, but
his love for the language and the OT showed through and we learned
our grammar and how to translate. The other one had us doing a lot of
reading and translating, and was constantly having us step back and
look at the forest. His love for the language and the OT also showed
through, and we learned to read and how to translate.
>
RB:
I understand and appreciate both of the above professors, though I
wish to mention that there may be a third point on a triangle:
language internalization takes place thru listening with comprehension
and thru use of the language. (NB: I was worried by the word 'translate'
above. the anicent Hebrew speakers learned the language without
English, and without even knowing of the root system of the language!)
I always breathe easier when the teacher and students can
communicate with each other in the language. It is then that I know
that something real is being built.
I always evaluate claims by imaging how the proposal, whatever it be,
would sound around an ancient campfire.
Languages are not imppossible or out of reach of the common person,
they are part of the image of God, part of being a human being.
If we want to learn Greek, then we need to do what people do, to
successfully learn a human language, all the way.
ERRWSO
IWANHS
--
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
randallbuth at gmail.com
Biblical Language Center
Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life
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