NT greek reading groups?

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Ιακοβ
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NT greek reading groups?

Post by Ιακοβ »

I've been looking around a bit for an NT greek reading group, they are all for the most part quite inconvenient. (Im keen, but not 3:30am-4:30am keen).

Is there a group of Australians that might be interested in starting a Google Hangout, it would probably work for anyone closer to the +1100 timezone (Australia, China, New Zealand, PNG, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, etc...)?

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jaihare
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by jaihare »

I'm in GMT+02:00 (Jerusalem). If we did my morning, it would be your afternoon. I'm available many mornings of the week, though I have a hectic work schedule. I'd join you for reading. Got a preference for a book?

By the way, I have Skype on all of my machines (Windows 8.1 laptop, Windows 8.1 RT tablet and Android cellphone). I cannot use Hangouts on my tablet, however. Skype would certainly work better for me - if that's an option.

Yours,
Jason

Ιακοβ
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Ιακοβ »

Awesome, Im planning to get something started in about a month or so.

The only reason I suggest Google Hangouts is it is free to use. Im not sure about Skype, I heard that you had to pay if you wanted to do group video calls. (The Skype web site is not clear. I could be wrong on this one)

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by jaihare »

Ιακοβ wrote:Awesome, Im planning to get something started in about a month or so.

The only reason I suggest Google Hangouts is it is free to use. Im not sure about Skype, I heard that you had to pay if you wanted to do group video calls. (The Skype web site is not clear. I could be wrong on this one)
The newest version of Skype has free group video calls. They stopped requiring premium about a year ago.

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by jlovelo »

Ιακοβ wrote:I've been looking around a bit for an NT greek reading group, they are all for the most part quite inconvenient. (Im keen, but not 3:30am-4:30am keen).

Is there a group of Australians that might be interested in starting a Google Hangout, it would probably work for anyone closer to the +1100 timezone (Australia, China, New Zealand, PNG, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, etc...)?
Definitely interested Ιακοβ if you are still keen? - I am on the Gold Coast. I am very much a beginner so my reading will be rough and slow.

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jaihare
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

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I guess this went nowhere?

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jaihare
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

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If we were to start a new reading group for some book in the GNT, what book would you there be interest in?

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

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I personally love reading Galatians.

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by jaihare »

:taps fingers on tab impatiently:

Really? No one is interested in reading together?

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

jaihare wrote::taps fingers on tab impatiently:

Really? No one is interested in reading together?
Sure, I'm in. My favorite book of the GNT? The one I'm currently reading... :roll:
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

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Barry Hofstetter wrote:
jaihare wrote::taps fingers on tab impatiently:

Really? No one is interested in reading together?
Sure, I'm in. My favorite book of the GNT? The one I'm currently reading... :roll:
How shall we manage this?

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

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jaihare wrote:How shall we manage this?
Google hangout? And it would be nice to drum up a few other people to join. We also have to figure out the time difference...
N.E. Barry Hofstetter

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Altair »

What exactly would such a group reading entail? I might be an occasional participant, but am more interested in the linguistic aspects of the NT text than in the theological. I am currently reading Acts for my Bible Study group with great interest, but am not sure I would find a book like Galatians quite as interesting.

I also recently enjoyed comparing various Greek and Latin translations of Genesis, and so might be interested in parts of the Septuagint.

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Altair wrote:What exactly would such a group reading entail? I might be an occasional participant, but am more interested in the linguistic aspects of the NT text than in the theological. I am currently reading Acts for my Bible Study group with great interest, but am not sure I would find a book like Galatians quite as interesting.

I also recently enjoyed comparing various Greek and Latin translations of Genesis, and so might be interested in parts of the Septuagint.
In general reading groups, well, they read. The focus is on understanding the Greek. Beyond that what we wish to discuss depends on us.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter

Cuncta mortalia incerta...

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

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Barry Hofstetter wrote:
jaihare wrote:How shall we manage this?
Google hangout? And it would be nice to drum up a few other people to join. We also have to figure out the time difference...
Google hangout, Skype... it's all the same to me.

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jaihare
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

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Altair wrote:What exactly would such a group reading entail? I might be an occasional participant, but am more interested in the linguistic aspects of the NT text than in the theological. I am currently reading Acts for my Bible Study group with great interest, but am not sure I would find a book like Galatians quite as interesting.

I also recently enjoyed comparing various Greek and Latin translations of Genesis, and so might be interested in parts of the Septuagint.
The good thing about Galatians or something similar is that it's short. We can make it through a book quickly and then move on to another. Finishing anything (even a small thing) encourages you to go on to something heavier.

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

jaihare wrote: The good thing about Galatians or something similar is that it's short. We can make it through a book quickly and then move on to another. Finishing anything (even a small thing) encourages you to go on to something heavier.
I'm up for anything.
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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

jeidsath wrote:
opoudjis wrote: Did you guys work out a schedule for your group?
Not yet. But maybe we could?
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jaihare
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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by jaihare »

Barry Hofstetter wrote:Not yet. But maybe we could?
Just be aware... I'm in the UTC+3 timezone right now (for the winter), which becomes UTC+2 in the spring. That is, in Israel. I'm gonna be on a different day/night schedule from everyone else. Shall we make up a scheduling option page (like Doodle.com) so that everyone can choose their best hours?

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

jaihare wrote:
Barry Hofstetter wrote:Not yet. But maybe we could?
Just be aware... I'm in the UTC+3 timezone right now (for the winter), which becomes UTC+2 in the spring. That is, in Israel. I'm gonna be on a different day/night schedule from everyone else. Shall we make up a scheduling option page (like Doodle.com) so that everyone can choose their best hours?
You would be the difficult child... :D

But sure, go ahead. We can't figure it out until we have something to figure out.
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Mindy

Re: NT greek reading groups?

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by ἑκηβόλος »

Hi Mindy (and anyone else),
If you define NT Greek as the type of Greek that the New Testament was written in, then I have a suggestion.

I remember the happy times 30 years ago, when I used to read Greek in regular face-to-face groups outside class time to supplement the texts that were prescribed for classwork and assessment as part of the formal course of study. Now-a-days my life is a little busy, so I don't want to join a long-term or heavy commitment reading group, but if you'd like to read a couple of thousand words of Greek together, then I'd be happy to.

To assess the feasibility of the idea, perhaps we could consider the following:
  • What is your time-zone? What times do you prefer? Would you prefer synchronous or asynchronous communication? [Mine: UTC+8, Prefer noontime, (UTC 2am to UTC 6am). I prefer asynchronous communication, so we don't have to co-ordinate times to less than within a day or two.]
  • Which pronunciation system do you use? Would you like to discuss by writing or speaking? [For authours of this period, I use Buthian (without the diphthongonal concession for eta). I prefer integrated text and speech if our pronunciation systems are similar, or text-only if they are markedly different]
  • Would you prefer to work with the Greek texts if the original authours:
    • in and of itself analytically in terms of grammatical description,
    • by working closely with a translation - your own or an existing one, or
    • by paraphrasing into your own Greek?


If we were each to propose about 1,000 words to be read, then that might not be too Herculean a labour. My prescriptions would all be from from the late antique authours that I'm currently interested in: Polybius (Roman history), Philostratus the Lemnian (Descriptions of paintings that were hanging in a gallery during the Roman imperial period), and Strabo (Greek geographer, writing in the early Roman Imperial period).

The references for those texts are:
Polybius, Histories 3.55, A description of a campaign in winter. (c. 260 words).
Philostratus Major, Images, 1,17 A description of a painting of the Bacchae. (c. 360 words).
Strabo, Geography, 11.6, A description of somewhere near the Caspian Sea. (c. 430 words)

What would your prescriptions be? Where are you in the range of beginners? Would you be up for a couple of (or three) hundred words a week?

If you are interested, perhaps we could start soon.
τί δὲ ἀγαθὸν τῇ πομφόλυγι συνεστώσῃ ἢ κακὸν διαλυθείσῃ;

Mindy

Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Mindy »

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by ἑκηβόλος »

Mindy wrote:I wonder how you have learned Greek.
A number of years of formal study and some private reading for consolidation and extension. Formal study is good because experienced readers arrange an order of text that we can deal with. I don't think that people can go very far in Greek by watching others, or refering to the reference works that others wrote based on their interaction with the Greek. We stand on the shoulders of giants so thay we can look up. Learning is different to being taught.
Mindy wrote:I am only a beginner and not at your level.

There is only one level. The texts are the level playing ground we all meet on. Less experienced or less trained readers see small obstacles, more experienced readers, who have outgrown their training grapple with more complex issues. The idea that language learners need to master the basics before moving on tp the next level has been debunked since the 1970's. As an adult learner, you have so many resources to bring to bear pn the learning experience. Everybody comes to language learning as an experienced language learner and language user. Nobody is a beginner in the sense that they are approaching something new.

In approaching the texts we find ourselves - discovering our personal challenges and overcoming them.
Mindy wrote:I won't be able to follow your reading.
My reading is mine, and yours is yours and somebody else's is their own too. An unregulated group is always a potentially mixed group. You may learn a few points from the attempts of others, that will be incidental. So long as you learn something from your own reading, you will have achieved something from your reading. Discussions about the Greek of the text, or its general content is a great feature of reading together with others. A shared experience can be mutually beneficial.
Last edited by ἑκηβόλος on Sun Feb 25, 2018 9:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
τί δὲ ἀγαθὸν τῇ πομφόλυγι συνεστώσῃ ἢ κακὸν διαλυθείσῃ;

Mindy

Re: NT greek reading groups?

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Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by ἑκηβόλος »

Mindy wrote:I have listened to some Greek grammar lessons given by a Chinese teacher by Ximalaya. But I only grasped the teaching about Greek-English words.
Have you seen 古希腊语(新约)教程, 华东师范大学出版社。 ISBN 978-7-5617-5834-2. RRP 198元。 That work is in 3 volumes. The second volume is a comprehensive Greek-Chinese vocabulary. You might pick it up for 120 元 online.
τί δὲ ἀγαθὸν τῇ πομφόλυγι συνεστώσῃ ἢ κακὸν διαλυθείσῃ;

Mindy

Re: NT greek reading groups?

Post by Mindy »

Thanks.

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