Teaching Declensions and Paradigms

[Alan Patterson]

In the section on case endings, Mounce on page 33 suggested you learn the paradigms left to right. I learned my paradigms top to bottom. Which method did you use and why?

[Stephen Hughes]

Mounce ... suggested you learn the paradigms left to right. I learned my paradigms top to bottom. Which method did you use and why?

Both.

Top to bottom (all the singulars, then the duals, followed by the plurals) because that's the way all my early teachers presented them - in three ways, viz. sometimes ignoring the vocative, sometimes with the vocative second, sometimes with the genitive second and sometimes with the accusative second.

Left to right (nominative singular compared to nominative plural, etc.) in the context of understanding the historical linguistic changes behind the current forms more readily.

[Shirley Rollinson]

In the section on case endings, Mounce on page 33 suggested you learn the paradigms left to right. I learned my paradigms top to bottom. Which method did you use and why?

By left to right, does Mounce mean
Nom (sing - Plural), Voc. (sing - Plural), Acc (sing - plural) etc. ???? or Masc-Fem-Neuter ??

I generally teach top to bottom - but when it comes to ἀγαθος I also teach it left to right (M-F-N) - one can work up speed like a train
Shirley Rollinson

[Barry Hofstetter]

Verbs and nouns (anything that can be two columns singular and plural), get the top down treatment.

Adjectives and pronouns which have three genders (and hence three columns), get the left to right according to gender and move down according to case. That way when you memorize them you keep the genders distinct while grouping the cases together.

This has ancient precedent, It's canonical, and any other way of doing it is heresy punishable by flogging with nerf bats.

[Stephen Carlson]

In the section on case endings, Mounce on page 33 suggested you learn the paradigms left to right. I learned my paradigms top to bottom. Which method did you use and why?

This question is incomprehensible to those who don't have Mounce in front of them. That said, all my teachers did the singular cases, then the plurals.

[Shirley Rollinson]

. . . and any other way of doing it is heresy punishable by flogging with nerf bats.

Ouch - I prefer 40 lashes with a wet noodle