How do i begin?

[Diane]

This post was deleted by Diane.

[mingshey]

Hi, welcome!
There's a site precisely designed for your need: http://www.du.edu/~etuttle/classics/nug ... ntents.htm

But you could start from any primer for Attic Greek. Pharr is specially aimed at Homeric Greek, and more specifically for reading Illiad from scratch. I also started - or restarted Greek to read Euclid, editing figures into the text of Elements myself: http://blogfile.paran.com/BLOG_17207/20 ... 3_elem.pdf
But I got hooked up by the language itself and currently following up the Pharr study group, and reading Illiad line by line.

Anyway, this far for my comment, for there are much more knowledgeable members here than myself. Good luck!

[Diane]

This post was deleted by Diane.

[Bardo de Saldo]

"Would appreciate suggestions on how to study Pharr by myself. How do I start? What is the first thing I should do?" (Diane)

1. Get the book.
2. Follow instructions.
3. Give up.
4. Join a Pharr group in textkit.



Pharr's book is a bit dense. If you have a good bookstore at hand, you might want to peruse other titles, like Athenaze, and decide which teaching method suits you best.

[Yhevhe]

"I would make them all learn English; and then I would let the clever
ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat"
--Sir Winston Churchill

Wow, that sounds... well, it puts greek into another level Anyone knows when did he say that, and why?

[GlottalGreekGeek]

Pharr's book is a bit dense.

I agree, but if you have learned another language (I understand from another post that you know some Latin) I do not think the density is a problem. I do think getting exposed to "wild Greek", as annis puts it, is important, which Pharr does better than anyone else I know. I would not put "give up" in your agenda - start Pharr as if you are going to finish, and only change if it is truly unsuitable after a month or so.

[Diane]

This post was deleted by Diane.

[Bert]

"I would make them all learn English; and then I would let the clever
ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat"
--Sir Winston Churchill

Wow, that sounds... well, it puts greek into another level Anyone knows when did he say that, and why?

In his memoirs he was explaining how he was introduced into Latin.
He had to learn the first declension by heart . After asking many questions about what all these words meant, the exasperated teacher said that he was being disrespectful and he was going to get punished and punished severly.
So... he was taught English instead. And English he learnt well.
Latin and Greek are good but English is what I need to make a living.

Naturally I am biassed in favour of boys learning English. I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat. But the only thing I would whip them for is not knowing English. I would whip them hard for that.

Churchill had a way with words. When one of his notes was edited with the comment that a sentence should not end with a preposition he said something like; A rule like that is something up with I can not put.

Slightly(?) intoxicated at a party, a lady came up to him and severly said: "Sir, you are drunk." He replied: "Yes, I know. You are ugly but I'll be sober in the morning."
(Enough of Churchill highjacking this thread)

[Diane]

This thread is about how to begin learning. I will take all the help i can get. Churchill certainly succeeded in learning.

[Bardo de Saldo]

"[...] don't expect me to read literature [...]" (Diane)

I got the language for you: Desesperanto. (Just like Esperanto, but with very hard grammar.)

The Eagles have a song in Desesperanto:

Desesperantoak, ? sensesu yourv to comeg yous don'ttt whyyyaaa