by jeffreyrequadt » September 7th, 2011, 8:28 pm
Hi jtsmythe,
It is disappointing that you have had such a trying experience so far. Of course I don't know any of your professors or practically anyone in NC, but what often goes under the misnomer of "rigor" is simply bad instructional practices and/or bad language learning practices. Fortunately, you have on this list a plethora of teachers and professors and learners who actually do know how to teach and what works better than what doesn't. I don't actually teach Greek, and I got out of academia with my B.A. 6 years ago, and I had a fantastic Greek teacher, and there are people on this list who will give you fantastic advice as well. My 2 bits (as a third grade public school teacher) would be to NOT memorize things meaninglessly; to try to see lots of words in a context rather than isolation--even if you don't know what they mean yet; to find some connection between what you're learning and what you already know; to talk to someone else about and even in Greek if possible; to use different senses--sight, sound, etc., rather than just one at a time; to involve music; to involve acting; to act out a vocabulary word/phrase while saying it; trying turning a passage into a script for 2 or more people and reading the different parts in different voices; find archaeological inscriptions and look for the endings and/or vocab that you see in your textbook; in other words, use as much of your mind and brain as you can. Be creative! Get ideas from the people on this list. In fact, you might look on the introductions page, or the profiles of different users, and track down the teachers and pick their brain. But don't give up! I don't even know that much Greek and I love it! And of course, practice makes permanent (not perfect), so that's why it's important that as you hammer something into your brain, you understand it and you know it's right.
Okay, enthusiastic teacher signing out.
Jeffrey T. Requadt
Tucson, AZ