New Member, Introduction

[Aletheia]

I am a PhD candidate in philosophy (at least for the moment) who is also the mother to two small boys (3 and 1). I am struggling to pass my required ancient Greek translation exam and so am looking for more resources!

I study by myself, usually between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am when the house is quiet. I am using Mastronarde's "Introduction to Attic Greek" right now, though I have used two other texts in the past (my first foray into Greek was a semester-long class at the graduate institute of St. John's College in Annapolis... in 2001.) The exam I need to pass is a two-hour session between me and any random passage of (most likely) the Nicomachean Ethics. Thankfully, I will also have the middle Liddle with me. I can schedule it at any time, but the clock is ticking and I'd like to get on with the rest of my degree already! I hope to use ancient phil as my specialty, so it's not that I'm not interested in greek! I just so struggle to retain vocabulary. The grammar is usually not a problem.

I welcome any advice on how best to get ahold of this language, but I'm really just here to have access to folks when I need to ask a question... and to get a little moral support too!

Thanks for reading.

[modus.irrealis]

Hi and welcome. Since chances are you'll be given a passage from a specific text, you might want to check out the vocabulary tool at the Perseus site, if you haven't already. It lets you list the words from a text in order of frequency so it might be helpful in focusing your efforts. But really, I'd recommend reading as much of it as you can, both because there are all sorts of things that can trip you up even if you know the meaning of all the words individually, and, at least for me, it's easier to pick up vocab through reading (especially the inflected forms) than, say, flashcards or whatnot.

And ask as many questions as you'd like. The Greek forums here are a little quiet lately but there are a bunch of people here that would love the chance to answer questions.

[Jeff Tirey]

Welcome Aletheia! I'm glad you joined us. I know what you mean about the 'quite time' as I see that you mentioned you have 2 young children. You'll find there are many adult learners here like yourself

Jeff

[Aletheia]

Thank you for the warm welcomes! I did not know perseus could do that... I am glad to know!

[Jeff Tirey]

you weren't kidding about the 10 -2am quite time. It's almost 3am eastern right now.

[Aletheia]

But you were awake too, Jeff? You have 1 little one, I take it?

[Jeff Tirey]

yes, i have been drinking Monster and I really haven't moved from my machine for 3 days. I'm trying to get all of this done before I have to leave on a business trip. I have 2 children. They are growing up fast. 7 and soon to be 5.

Jeff