[B-Greek] Casualties of the Beginning Greek class
John Barach
johnbarach at shaw.ca
Thu Feb 4 14:05:05 EST 2010
I taught Greek for 15 years and not one student dropped out.
If I may boast, the reason is that I made Greek a fun exercise.
In the first class where students come with apprehension, we learned the
alphabet. When we came to the 6th to 8th letters, I would say, "Explain
to me why zeta ate a theta?" The wise guys always came up with a reason,
and we all laughed. When asked to recite the alphabet, they never
stumbled at that point. Some would add, "Why? I don't know." and then go
on with the rest of the letters.
That first class set the mood for subsequent classes and dispelled the
anxiety of learning "dreaded Greek."
We made up rhymes and catch phases etc. to explain Greek rules.
We played a version of hangman to learn vocabulary.
Some of my students were also on the volleyball and/or basketball team
and they shouted out Greek words to indicate various plays.
In teaching them Greek, I taught them English. As you are aware, most
students don't know English grammar.
The words "predicate position" and "attributive position" convey no
meaning to students until English is first explained.
I even used English words with Greek endings like carOS, carOU, carW, carON.
I admit I butchered both Greek and English, but not a single student
ever failed.
My exams were comprehensive and considered tough.
Several students transferred to other colleges and went on for further
studies.
For example a 75% student transferred to a college that refused to grant
him credit for his Greek. He asked to write their final exam and passed
it with a 90% and was granted credit.
If a teacher is stilted and unable to create excitement in any class
(and I have had lots of them myself) he/she is a poor teacher who can
expect students to drop out.
I don't mean to imply that all drop-outs are a result of poor teachers,
but a poor teacher will certainly have a higher drop-out percentage than
one who makes the class exciting, interesting, and challenging.
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