Re: Why not start with modern Greek?
Posted: June 28th, 2019, 11:36 pm
Jumping in here with hopes of rekindling this noteworthy conversation. I am new to B-Greek and just joined when I saw this thread.
First, a little bit about the angle I am coming from. I spent several years hard nose GT until I discovered some of Buth's stuff. That was revolutionary for me, so ευχαριστώ πολύ, Dr. Buth. After exhausting BLC's Greek materials (though I hear exciting things are coming soon), I began seriously thinking about this topic of MG fluency as a means to KG acquisition. At a plain jane common sense level, it made perfect sense to me that a Chinese man, desiring to read Shakespeare, would have a much easier time doing so if he first became fluent in contemporary English. Similar to this thread, some said the gap was too great to really be worth the time, others said it seemed like a good idea. I could find no one who actually went out and learned MG with the goal of *actually* learning KG.
So after a semester of consistent plodding and weekly meeting with a native speaker via Italki, I took an immersion course in Athens. I am a total convert. My time in Athens was too short, and the immersion course was a bit too focused on grammar. I hope to return for a couple of years and apply Greg Thomson's GPA after finishing my M.Div. Πρώτα ο Θεός. But I have converted for the following reasons:
First, a little bit about the angle I am coming from. I spent several years hard nose GT until I discovered some of Buth's stuff. That was revolutionary for me, so ευχαριστώ πολύ, Dr. Buth. After exhausting BLC's Greek materials (though I hear exciting things are coming soon), I began seriously thinking about this topic of MG fluency as a means to KG acquisition. At a plain jane common sense level, it made perfect sense to me that a Chinese man, desiring to read Shakespeare, would have a much easier time doing so if he first became fluent in contemporary English. Similar to this thread, some said the gap was too great to really be worth the time, others said it seemed like a good idea. I could find no one who actually went out and learned MG with the goal of *actually* learning KG.
So after a semester of consistent plodding and weekly meeting with a native speaker via Italki, I took an immersion course in Athens. I am a total convert. My time in Athens was too short, and the immersion course was a bit too focused on grammar. I hope to return for a couple of years and apply Greg Thomson's GPA after finishing my M.Div. Πρώτα ο Θεός. But I have converted for the following reasons:
1. It has already helped my KG dramatically. I just spoke with a KG speaker today and I could understand 95% of what he was saying, that 5% is probably owing to pronunciation.
2. After learning a couple of basic rules (like the infinitive has been subsumed under the subjunctive and αυ- drops from αυτός-ή-ό), it really mitigates the appearance of being different. I think the appearance is what throws many people off after a short amount of studying MG.
3. I met too many natives, both young and old, educated and not, who could read and discuss much of what I put before them from the GNT.
4. One of my language teachers called Hebrews MG after I had her read a portion... <<Τι είναι το πρόβλημα, παιδί μου;; Αυτό είναι νέα ελληνικά!>>
5. I met a native evangelical pastor who was trained at Gordon-Conwell (he tested out of their Greek courses... φυσικά). After a service one evening he told me that only 95 words in the GNT are not in use in some way today. Look, "in some way" can mean a lot, but that is significant. Unfortunately, he could not produce a list of these words or tell me a written source for this figure. But he preaches expositional sermons twice a week, so I have a hunch that his sniffer for shenanigans is better than mine. By the way at about 5,400 distinct words that means over 98% are still somehow in use, albeit with some different morphology and semantic ranges.
6. Buth is right about those Mediterranean breezes and the Greek cuisine...
Would love informed feedback.2. After learning a couple of basic rules (like the infinitive has been subsumed under the subjunctive and αυ- drops from αυτός-ή-ό), it really mitigates the appearance of being different. I think the appearance is what throws many people off after a short amount of studying MG.
3. I met too many natives, both young and old, educated and not, who could read and discuss much of what I put before them from the GNT.
4. One of my language teachers called Hebrews MG after I had her read a portion... <<Τι είναι το πρόβλημα, παιδί μου;; Αυτό είναι νέα ελληνικά!>>
5. I met a native evangelical pastor who was trained at Gordon-Conwell (he tested out of their Greek courses... φυσικά). After a service one evening he told me that only 95 words in the GNT are not in use in some way today. Look, "in some way" can mean a lot, but that is significant. Unfortunately, he could not produce a list of these words or tell me a written source for this figure. But he preaches expositional sermons twice a week, so I have a hunch that his sniffer for shenanigans is better than mine. By the way at about 5,400 distinct words that means over 98% are still somehow in use, albeit with some different morphology and semantic ranges.
6. Buth is right about those Mediterranean breezes and the Greek cuisine...