Learning Greek on one's own

Gary
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own

Post by Gary »

Answer keys
By Gary

Susan wrote:
I'm confused - does Greek Tutor come with a workbook now? If not, for which workbook are you seeking an answer book? In my opinion, answer keys are VERY important for the self-taught, to make sure you're at least in the ballpark and not missing something obvious. Equally important is being able to ask someone about alternative translations, of which there are almost always MANY.


The Greek Tutor software, (by Parsons Technology) that I am using is a multimedia CD-Rom consisting of 28 chapters, drills, vocabulary etc.

The “author” of the Greek Tutor multimedia is Dr. Ted Hildebrandt, and I noticed on the website http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/
Under the tab: Mastering New Testament Greek, - that the Textbook, Workbook, brief answer book, animated videos and Greek audio, which is freely available for download, is the same as the Greek Tutor software by Parsons Tech that I am using.

It is this work book that I am working through as I following the same chapter in Greek Tutor Cd-rom. The answer book provided on the above web site does have some answers here and there; the problem is when it is silent.
Thanks for your advice
Gary
RandallButh
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own

Post by RandallButh »

I suppose this is why they say, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
The audio is "ta" "i.e., τά plural when intending τό, singular",
tan thean" "female goddess [for τον θεον]" type of Erasmian.
See the thread on Pronunciation: types of Erasmian.
Devenios Doulenios
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own: Answer Keys

Post by Devenios Doulenios »

Speaking of answer keys, does anybody know if there is an answer key for the Greek composition exercises in the back of Dana and Mantey's intermediate NT Greek grammar?

Devenios Doulenios

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Dewayne Dulaney
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SusanJeffers
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own

Post by SusanJeffers »

The “author” of the Greek Tutor multimedia is Dr. Ted Hildebrandt, and I noticed on the website http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/
Under the tab: Mastering New Testament Greek, - that the Textbook, Workbook, brief answer book, animated videos and Greek audio, which is freely available for download, is the same as the Greek Tutor software by Parsons Tech that I am using.

It is this work book that I am working through as I following the same chapter in Greek Tutor Cd-rom. The answer book provided on the above web site does have some answers here and there; the problem is when it is silent.
Ah! Well isn't that nice! Any beginner using Erasmian pronunciation should definitely check out Ted Hildebrandt's audio files -- alongside Marilyn Phemister's, and the Pennington ones from Zondervan and whatever else you can find. Listen to many different speakers, get the Greek SOUND going in your head. Who knows, eventually it might even displace some advertising jingles and golden oldie music... :-)

Here's some audio of me reading in Erasmian; you'll either have to look up the text or have the bwgrkl (BibleWorks) font installed to see it on the page with the audio:
http://legacy.earlham.edu/~jeffesu/NTGreek1/longer.htm

Anyway, viz. answer keys, if there are particular sentences you want to understand or aren't sure of, you could post them in either the "What Does This Text Mean?" or (if you're relating the exercise to the corresponding grammar explanation) the "Textbooks" topic, both here in the Beginners Forum...
RandallButh
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own

Post by RandallButh »

Any beginner using Erasmian pronunciation should definitely . . .
Let's fill out that sentence a little differently:
any beginner using Erasmian pronunciation should definitely ...
--- reconsider if that is the way that they want to end up talking Greek.

The beginning stages are the best times for making choices and normally students learning a foreign language make some attempt to approach the sound system of the new language. If they do not consider the pros and cons of their system at that stage, they may end up stuck with something not very nice, pretty, or desirable, had they been aware of other choices.

For an overview of four different pronunciation systems, see:
http://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/w ... n_2008.pdf
And reading first century papyri can be very instructive. A few examples are quoted in the linked paper.
SusanJeffers
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own

Post by SusanJeffers »

any beginner using Erasmian pronunciation should definitely ...
--- reconsider if that is the way that they want to end up talking Greek.
No doubt. I'm certainly proof that old dogs have a VERY tough time learning new tricks, especially if they're not in a position to completely abandon the old pronunciation and embrace the new...

One consideration: If you're learning Greek on your own and think you might someday want to get into a Greek class at a local seminary or elsewhere, or even just join a local reading and discussion group, check out which pronunciation they use. It's my understanding that the vast majority of seminaries in the US still use Erasmian, even as modern and reconstructed slowly gain adherents. Lotsa old dogs out there barking in Erasmian...

I post audio of both modern & Erasmian for my online classes, and let students choose, based on their home institution requirements and/or personal preference.
RandallButh
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own

Post by RandallButh »

One consideration: If you're learning Greek on your own and think you might someday want to get into a Greek class at a local seminary or elsewhere, or even just join a local reading and discussion group, check out which pronunciation they use.


Yes, that would be one consideration, among many (though they may not care and may not really listen to any reading/pronunciation). Others may want to focus on Homer and epic poetry without a "strong American filter" (for that there is Allen-Daitz). Others may have learned modern Greek. And --
a person may also meet Greeks, visit Greece, read old papyri, read inscriptions and papyri from Israel in the original spelling, read NT manuscripts, consider the rhetorical features of a text, read the WestcottHort text (HLEIAS and PEILATOS), consider exegesis among the audio options of a 1st century audience (what sounded same/different, cf. Rom 5.1), and feel well-rounded in the acquiring of another language. There are many considerations for choices. A person can even speak with one set and occasionally read with another, like some Anglophones who speak their own dialect but may adopt a "Chaucerian" when reading Chaucer.
RandallButh
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Re: Learning Greek on one's own

Post by RandallButh »

PS:
As an example for some of the points just mentioned, see the nice synagogue inscription of Hammat-Tiberia on the shores of the Sea of Galilee:
http://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/l ... -tiberias/
The comments may clarify some things, too.
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