[B-Greek] Do-it-Yourself Greek Readers

spencerj76 at aol.com spencerj76 at aol.com
Tue Mar 1 13:44:33 EST 2011



1 Mar 2011

Friends:

It's been fun to follow the thread of this discussion on Greek "readers." Here's a do-it-yourself
method for creating your own NT Greek Reader: 

If I'm really bearing down on a Greek text, I like to type the entire text in Greek into a word processor. 
Then, at points where I want to record word definitions (from multiple dictionaries), grammatical information, and even comments
on the Greek that I discover in sources like the New International Greek
Testament Commentary and so forth, I use the "reference" part of my word processor to add in-text
footnotes at the bottom of the page. Or if there's an illustrative Greek text elsewhere in the NT, or, for that matter,
anywhere else, I'll add that to a footnote as well. Printing all that out for further study, sermon preparation (in my line of work), and so forth, 
I've created a personalized reader of sorts. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll add an attempted translation, too.
All this (and more) goes into a three-ring notebook which becomes, over time, 
a resource for fairly large chunks of the NT. The same process can be used for non-biblical Greek texts as well, though I've done
only a bit of that to date. (What I have on non-biblical Greek texts are mostly word lists and reference numbers.)

What I'm starting to do with non-biblical Greek texts is this: I'll read an English translation and then identify the parts I might like
to try to attempt in Greek, then maybe go back and work on just those selections. It helps to maintain my motivation if I'm already interested in the selection.

Someday, maybe I'll hope to have retained enough vocabulary to "take and read," as Augustine famously did. Until then, I work away at it....but at the
same time, it's fun.

Best wishes,
Jeremy Spencer






-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Lightman <lightmanmark at yahoo.com>
To: James Spinti <JSpinti at Eisenbrauns.com>; B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tue, Mar 1, 2011 12:28 pm
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Graded Greek Readers (List)


James S. wrote:
<... but it isn't really a graded reader...>
The term "reader" or "graded reader" seems to have been used in a number of 
ifferent ways on this thread.  In the most general sense, a reader is an 
dition where something is added to or done to the Greek text in order to make 
t easier to read.  Not everyone needs a reader, let me say that right at the 
utset.  The only people who need readers are mortals who do not hold broad 
eaven.
There are three things you can add to or do to a text to make it into a reader.
1.  You can add vocab and/or grammatical helps, at the bottom of the page or 
cross from the text or in the back of the book.  In my opinion, WHERE the helps 
are is as important as WHAT they are.  The helps are always there, in other 
ooks.  All a reader does is to condense them and put them where you  can see  
hem quickly and get back to reading Greek as soon as possible. Since a facing 
ranslation is certainly a help, a diglot is technically a reader too.
2.  You can choose selections from real Greek that are particularly easy. This 
s tough to do, because there is very little real Greek that is easy. Mounce did 
this in his reader because, by the grace of God, the Greek NT is easier than 
ust about any other Greek.  Decker and Whitacre have found some easy stuff from 
the LXX and the Fathers.  I once saw something on Google Books called "Easy 
elections from Plato."  I remember thinking, if this is easy, I'd hate to see 
he hard stuff.  I also once read through a reader which was just a bunch of 
andom, easy sentences from Xenophon.  Now, reading Xenophon is boring enough, 
ut reading isolated sentences from Xenophon is intolerable, though helpful, as 
ar as it goes.  The most successful application of this principle  is in the 
ACT Reading Greek Text, where they somehow found a short passage  from Plato's 
rotagoras which actually is  easy to read.
3.  You can make up easy Greek or you can adapt real Greek to make it easier.  
gain, JACT Reading Greek is first rate here, as is another classic reader that 
'm not sure I saw mentioned, Rouse's Greek Boy at Home.  He adapts stuff like 
he Symposium and Daphnis and Chloe into passages that are easier than the 
riginals.  There is a great new Anne Mahoney reprint with a nice large font, 
nd our own Seumas Macdonald has produced some fine audio of the first few 
eadings. 

ttp://jeltzz.com/lingualatinaetgraeca.html
What is AXIOLOGOS about Rouse, of course, is that his glossary is mostly Greek 
o Greek.
What makes any reader a graded reader is either when the helps are faded and/or 
hen the selections/adaptations become progressively harder.  This makes sense 
f you work through your reader over several years during which your Greek is 
etting better, but this is not, I think, the way most  self-learners use  
eaders.
So, Nimis/Hayes' new Lucian text, which is what started this  thread, is a 
eader only in the first sense of the term. (Although they have done a great job 
of finding an easy text:  GRONT score: 24)  It really follows the format started 
by Clyde Pharr in his Anead.  Two other fine examples of this genre are Helm's 
pology and Byrne/Cueva's Longus:
http://www.amazon.com/Plato-Apology-Greek/dp/0865163480
http://www.amazon.com/Longus-Daphnis-Chloe-Greek-English/dp/0865165939/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298034058&sr=1-4

 Greek Reader on steroids is this edition, also from Balchazy-Carducci:
http://books.google.com/books?id=anRb2JDkoEsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Homer:+A+Transitional+Reader&hl=en&ei=euBoTYWrGpOosAOQ2NimBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=1&ved=0CD4QuwUwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

his book is a reader in all three senses of the term.  It finds easy passages 
f Homer, then it adapts  them, and then it provides plenty of helps, both 
efore and after you read the  text.  It's graded in that it ends each section 
ith the unadapted text.  It's a good way to read Homer, but then, there is no 
ay bad way to read Homer.
The ratio of Greek Readers to Greek readers now stands at 10 to 10.
What is the single best single best New Testament Greek Reader?  It hasn't been 
roduced yet, but in few years, when you can order books printed on demand 
nyway you want, one could put it together cafeteria style.  It would be the 
reek New Testament simplified and unadapted on facing pages.  Underneath you 
ould have the glosses from Zondervan's Reader's New Testament and underneath 
hat you would have Zerwick's grammatical commentary and underneath that you 
ould have the NET translation and underneath that you would have the NET 
otes.  After that, you are on your own. 

ot all your Greek should be read in readers, let me just say that in closing.  
 think it is George  S. who says that at least some of your Greek should be 
rom an unadapted text where you don't even look up any words, just struggle 
rom context to figure out generally what is being said.  And if you have not 
ead Greek by looking up words in the the big LSJ and checking out more detailed 
commentaries, and parsing the words yourself,  of course you need to spend some 
ime doing  that.  I'm more than capable of reading Greek without a reader.  The 
only advantage I see in readers is that they save me time.  And time is the only 
resource, Greek or otherwise, that cannot be replenished.

 Mark L
ωσφορος

WSFOROS MARKOS


_______________________________
rom: James Spinti <JSpinti at Eisenbrauns.com>
o: B-Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
ent: Thu, February 17, 2011 12:20:06 PM
ubject: Re: [B-Greek] Graded Greek Readers (List)
Rick,
I thought about Wikgren, but it isn't really a graded reader; it is more
 selection of Hellenistic texts with a vocabulary list in the back.
nd, as you noted, there are not notes--which to me is what makes a
eader helpful (of course, it could also make it a crutch...).
My $0.02,
ames
_______________________________
ames Spinti
arketing Director, Book Sales Division
isenbrauns, Good books for more than 35 years
pecializing in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Studies
spinti at eisenbrauns dot com
eb: http://www.eisenbrauns.com
hone: 574-269-2011 ext 226
ax: 574-269-6788 
-----Original Message-----
rom: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Rick Brannan
ent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 2:15 PM
o: spencerj76 at aol.com
c: B-Greek at lists.ibiblio.org
ubject: Re: [B-Greek] Graded Greek Readers (List)
Hi Folks.
I don't believe I saw either of these on lists to date. Note that both
f these have short glossaries in the back, but no notes/glosses on
he foot of the page.
Edgar J. Goodspeed and Ernest Cadman Colwell, "A Greek Papyrus Reader:
ith Vocabulary" (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1935). 108pp.
Allen Wikgren, with Ernest Cadman Colwell and Ralph Marcus,
Hellenistic Greek Texts" (Chicago: University of  Chicago Press,
947). 277pp.
Rick  Brannan
ttp://www.supakoo.com/rick/ricoblog
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