[B-Greek] Should someone learning ancient Greek do Rosetta StoneModern?

Mark Lightman lightmanmark at yahoo.com
Mon Sep 20 19:58:16 EDT 2010


Barry wrote

<I'll be interested to hear Randall's take on it...>

I suppose I should let Randall speak for himself, but he is on record as saying 
that if you want to improve your ability to read New Testament Greek, you are 
better off learning Modern Hebrew than Modern Greek.

Which does not EXACTLY answer Louis' question...



 Mark L



FWSFOROS MARKOS




________________________________
From: Barry H. <nebarry at verizon.net>
To: B-Greek List mail to all <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sun, September 19, 2010 8:27:36 PM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Should someone learning ancient Greek do Rosetta 
StoneModern?


----- Original Message ----- From: "Louis Sorenson" <llsorenson at hotmail.com>
To: "B-Greek List mail to all" <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2010 9:04 PM
Subject: [B-Greek] Should someone learning ancient Greek do Rosetta StoneModern?


> 
> Hello all,
> 
> Someone in my class today asked me a question. "Should I go through Rosetta 
>Stone's modern Greek program at the same time I am learning Koine Greek?"  I've 
>read that about 60% of NT words occur in modern Greek. So would doing Rosetta 
>Stone concurrently hurt/help. Would it confuse?
> 
> I've read statements that say there was more change from Homeric Greek to Attic 
>than there is from Koine to Modern Demotic. Do we tell people learn either Attic 
>| Koine | Homeric then learn the other dialects? (That seems to me the best 
>approach. I know of no book that teaches different dialects side-by-side for the 
>beginner - but it also seems to me that there is a lot in Modern Greek which can 
>be used by the Koine student. There is no Koine version of Rosetta Stone. So 
>what should I say / have said?

Greetings, Louis, not sure about the change from Homeric to Attic, etc.  I have 
little problem reading any ancient Greek.  With a little work, I can get 
Katharevousa pretty well, but Demotike gives me fits and starts.  If your 
students are learning a synchronic dialect (i.e., Koine) let them concentrate on 
that.  My experience with modern Greek speakers who try to read ancient Greek is 
that they often have problems.  They may have a head start when they study the 
language, but they still have to learn at least as another dialect (much as you 
would have a learning curve with Old and Middle English), and semantic shift is 
murder.  So I think it would be less than helpful to your students, at least at 
the beginning level.

I'll be interested to hear Randall's take on it, and Carl's, though.

N.E. Barry Hofstetter, semper melius Latine sonat...
Classics and Bible Instructor, TAA
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
(2010 Savatori Excellence in Education Winner)
V-P of Academic Affairs, TNARS
bhofstetter at tnars.net
http://www.tnars.net

http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog
http://mysite.verizon.net/nebarry

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