Re: How Long to Learn K. Greek?

From: JPDow (mathetes@erols.com)
Date: Wed Apr 22 1998 - 12:45:11 EDT


clayton stirling bartholomew wrote:

> How long, does it take for some one who not a John Brown type to
> become more or less competent in NT Greek?
>
> If this is a silly question then just ignore it.

Not at all. On the contrary, I've been thinking about this question
lately myself. My reason for thinking about it is because I have
been quite frustrated with the way in which the university I attend
is teaching Attic Greek. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that (in
terms of semester hours) instruction in a language as rich and
complex as ancient Greek (whether Attic or Hellenistic) should be at
least two years (4 semesters) in duration.

I say this because the effect of the short duration/rapid pace of my
Greek course (only two semesters) has been demoralizing, at least
for me. Whereas for about the first two-thirds of the course I was
quite enthusiastic about learning Greek, now in my second and final
semester I am simply wanting to get it over with. (I am not giving up
on Koine Greek, though.)

It is noteworthy that even at the college level most foreign
languages (such as German, French, Spanish, etc.) are taught over a
period of two years, the first year being introductory and the second
being intermediate. IMO, ancient Greek should be no different,
especially considering the fact that it is so much more intricate
than those other languages. It is positively unrealistic to expect
beginning students to assimilate the bulk of Greek grammar and
morphology in just two semesters.

Well, that's my 2 cents (if it makes any sense). :-)

Jeremy
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