Introduction

Please introduce yourself here, if you haven't already.
John Wright
Posts: 15
Joined: December 13th, 2015, 10:12 pm

Introduction

Post by John Wright »

This looks like an amazing forum.

My name's John, and I would like to learn Koine Greek. I made an abortive attempt with a pastor about 20 years ago -- I have no Greek now but the alphabet and part of a declension or two. Know the verbal system not at all. I know a modern heavily inflected language well, so I'm not worried about being able to handle (in theory) declensions and participles, but I know Greek will offer plenty of difficulty. Maybe someone would be willing to offer advice about how best to get started in this situation -- an NT and a grammar and lexicon, a specific textbook, something like that. Ideally, someday I'll get to non-NT texts, but that's a very long way off.

Thanks for reading!
RandallButh
Posts: 1105
Joined: May 13th, 2011, 4:01 am

Re: Introduction

Post by RandallButh »

Welcome to the Forum, John.
χαίρε (χαίρε 'be happy!' = ancient Greek greeting, especially in oral settings)
χαίρειν ('to be happy' = '[we greet you with a wish for you] to be happy' = ancient Greek greeting, especially written)

Some of your path for learning Greek may depend on what you mean by "I know a modern heavily inflected language well." If it means that you can spend an evening in that language, going to a lecture and chatting, then you will need to take special measures if you want to go down a similar road and to approach such skill/knowledge in ancient/Koine Greek. As a start, I would recommend Living Koine Greek, Introduction Part One (www.bibilcallanguagecenter.com). It has 1000 pictures and audio descriptions that lead a person into thinking in the language itself rather than in translation. It prepares your brain to treat Greek as a language rather than an artificial matrix of information modulated by English.

(Disclaimer: I was the author of the series Living Koine Greek 1, 2a, 2b, but it provides a service and introduction that is not available in a "grammar book" approach, even when the said book has a(n) audio CD/files.)
Barry Hofstetter
Posts: 2159
Joined: May 6th, 2011, 1:48 pm

Re: Introduction

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Welcome aboard, John, and feel free to ask questions any time. I'm not the best for self-learning questions, having learned and mostly teaching in very traditional classroom settings, but there are plenty of people here who can help you with this. I do hear that many people are excited about Rodney Decker's beginning text...
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Wes Wood
Posts: 692
Joined: September 20th, 2013, 8:18 pm

Re: Introduction

Post by Wes Wood »

I had the joy of learning Greek without the aid of classroom instruction, and I started with Mounce. My initial goal was to learn to read the New Testament, but I have since found that I greatly enjoy all Greek literature. If I had it to do over again, I would have learned Classical Greek first. I am convinced it is easier to move from Koine Greek to Classical than the other way around. As for recommendations, my favorite introductory grammar by far has been the JACT Reading Greek series. I must also admit that I have not tried any of the Living Language materials that are out there due to the scarcity of such resources and my unconfirmed doubts about their comprehensiveness. Again, these are my suspicions; I very well may be wrong.

For my part, I have been most curious about Christophe Rico's Polis-Speaking Ancient Greek as a Living Language. Maybe in another week or two Louis Sorenson will be able to write his review. :lol:

-Louis, if you read this I am just joking. I know how life goes. :)
Ἀσπάζομαι μὲν καὶ φιλῶ, πείσομαι δὲ μᾶλλον τῷ θεῷ ἢ ὑμῖν.-Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους 29δ
John Wright
Posts: 15
Joined: December 13th, 2015, 10:12 pm

Re: Introduction

Post by John Wright »

Thank you all for the welcome.

I went ahead and ordered Mounce with the workbook before seeing that anyone had replied on this thread, so I'll see how I do with them.

My experience with a modern Indo-European inflected language is probably almost perfectly irrelevant; I don't know why I mentioned it.

Wes, I didn't understand part of your post -- you said you wished you had started with Classical, but then that you were convinced it was easier to go from Koine to Classical? Did I miss something or did those items just end up switched?

I see that even the threads on the beginners' forum are way over my head for now. I'm looking forward to moving ahead enough that I can at least formulate a beginner's question.

And thank you, Randall, for my first official Greek learned from this forum.
Wes Wood
Posts: 692
Joined: September 20th, 2013, 8:18 pm

Re: Introduction

Post by Wes Wood »

You were right to be confused. I butchered that phrase. I meant to say I am convinced that it is easier to move to Koine from Classical. Regardless, if you are motivated, you can learn them both easily enough.
Ἀσπάζομαι μὲν καὶ φιλῶ, πείσομαι δὲ μᾶλλον τῷ θεῷ ἢ ὑμῖν.-Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους 29δ
Shirley Rollinson
Posts: 415
Joined: June 4th, 2011, 6:19 pm
Location: New Mexico
Contact:

Re: Introduction

Post by Shirley Rollinson »

John Wright wrote:Thank you all for the welcome.

I went ahead and ordered Mounce with the workbook before seeing that anyone had replied on this thread, so I'll see how I do with them.

My experience with a modern Indo-European inflected language is probably almost perfectly irrelevant; I don't know why I mentioned it.

Wes, I didn't understand part of your post -- you said you wished you had started with Classical, but then that you were convinced it was easier to go from Koine to Classical? Did I miss something or did those items just end up switched?

I see that even the threads on the beginners' forum are way over my head for now. I'm looking forward to moving ahead enough that I can at least formulate a beginner's question.

And thank you, Randall, for my first official Greek learned from this forum.
Welcome to B-Greek, John -
If Mounce doesn't work for you, you are welcome to try the (free) online Greek Textbook, at
http://www.drshirley.org/greek/textbook02/index.html

Happy learning,
Shirley Rollinson
John Wright
Posts: 15
Joined: December 13th, 2015, 10:12 pm

Re: Introduction

Post by John Wright »

This looks really cool. Thank you very much.
Paul-Nitz
Posts: 497
Joined: June 1st, 2011, 4:19 am
Location: Sussex, Wisconsin

Re: Introduction

Post by Paul-Nitz »

Since someone might doubt an author's own recommendation, I'll add an outside recommendation.

Shirley's book is very good and I think a much better starting text than Mounce.
Randall's book is an almost ideal way to start.

Shirley's is free and Randall's is a download away at a fair price (MP4).
Paul D. Nitz - Lilongwe Malawi
John Wright
Posts: 15
Joined: December 13th, 2015, 10:12 pm

Re: Introduction

Post by John Wright »

I had already guessed that (that Shirley's book was good, not that it was better than a book I haven't seen), and have started working with it. Once I get a few more lessons into it, I'm sure I'll be back with questions. This place has already had great advice for a rank beginner.
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