Re: 1st year Greek grammars & workbooks

From: Paul Dixon - Ladd Hill Bible Church (pauld@iclnet.org)
Date: Sun Feb 16 1997 - 19:06:50 EST


Eric et al:

Thanks for your response. Yes, I keep hearing about GREEK TO ME. Sounds
intriguing. I'll look some more into it.

Paul S. Dixon, pastor
Ladd Hill Bible Church
Wilsonville, Oregon

On Sun, 16 Feb 1997, Eric Weiss wrote:

> So ... maybe I should add Wenham to my collection of 1st-year
> grammars....
>
> I learned from Mounce, and taught a class at church using Mounce (it
> went from 16-18 students to 2-1/2 by years' end! - no reflection on
> Mounce, it's just that it required more dedication than most were
> willing to give it). If I do it again, I'm thinking of using GREEK TO ME
> by Story, based on Dale Wheeler's (?) exceptional success with it at
> Multnomah - i.e., in the first year alone, students do the whole book,
> covering all essentials of NT Greek grammar, plus read and translate
> with near-complete understanding the entire Gospel of Mark - the GREEK
> TO ME vocab cards alone bring the students up to knowing every word that
> occurs 25x or more (600+ words - Mounce only does 300+, i.e., every word
> that occurs 50x or more). [Or else I'll use another grammar, but still
> use the GREEK TO ME flashcards.]
>
> My personal experience (but I've only had 2 years of Greek) is that
> exposure to large sections of the NT text is very valuable to students
> (it was to me), even if they may (as I still do) draw hasty conclusions
> at times - I try to check things with Dan Wallace's book, Winbery &
> Brooks, Robertson's New Short Grammar, BAGD, Abbott-Smith, NIDNTT,
> Zerwick and Smyth. If I ever take the time to really read Wallace, I
> think it will fill a lot of gaps in my knowledge of Greek grammar.
>
> So whatever grammar most quickly gets the students reading the text with
> comprehension would, to me, be a high priority in choosing grammars. The
> "big Greeks" on this list might cringe at having students like me plunge
> into the text too much without having a better understanding of grammar,
> syntax, Greek clause structure, conditional sentences, etc. - if I
> pursue Greek to a higher level, I, too, might change my thoughts on how
> best to teach and learn first-year Greek. I know what I know, and don't
> know what I don't know but should know - so my comments/perspective
> reflect a little of my knowledge and a lot of my ignorance.
> --
> "Eric S. Weiss"
> http://home1.gte.net/eweiss/index.htm
>



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