plukidis wrote:In my previous post I had forgotten to mention another book which you may be interested in. You may also want to check out _Greek: An Intensive Course_ by Hansen and Quinn (H&Q). At least from my beginner's perspective, this is even more of a challenge than Mastronarde's book, as all the principle parts and moods are introduced very, very early on. You may want to check it out in a library before considering it for purchase.
From my very limited perspective, it seems to be a great book for those who have some prior knowledge of Attic Greek, rather than pure beginners, as quite a few concepts are introduced to the student quite quickly at the beginning. Mastronarde's book seems, at least to me, to be a happy compromise between Athenaze and H&Q, and it has the additional advantage of having an answer key.
But perhaps people with more experience than I could chime in with a more precise comparison of each book's approach.
Stoic wrote:Thanks for your response, Helma. I've continued to use the Mastronarde website, which is enormously helpful, and I feel like I'm making a bit of progress.
I've also noticed that students here at UIUC are using Groton's From Alpha to Omega, which is a bit more like Wheelock in its structure. I wonder if anyone here has had any experience with this.
But everyone in classics with whom I speak has great things to say about Mastronarde.
megas_yiannakis wrote:check this out:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltgu ... 61-7792600
it was brought up in a recent forum topic and is a good 'guide' to learning greek. The main word in there is 'guide'... you dont have to follow it exactly but it sets learning greek up in a logical order.
As a beginer myself, i definatelty agree that homeric greek is the best place to start, since youve done latin you should be perfectly comfortable working with 'Homeric Greek: a book for beginners - Clyde Pharr' its the book im curently using and would definately recomend it... it is available free on this site aswell...
hope that helps
-Yiannis
Stoic wrote:By "Reading Greek," I assume you mean the JACT texts...right?
Stoic wrote:This is new information, and very useful. But I gather that you still think Mastronarde is the best introductory text, and that the JACT volumes (not just the Texts, but also the Guide and the Grammar, Vocabulary and Exercises) are more problematic.
I'm sorry to keep bothering you with these questions, but I really am a beginner, and groping about a bit at present.
Thanks
Helma wrote:plukidis wrote:In my previous post I had forgotten to mention another book which you may be interested in. You may also want to check out _Greek: An Intensive Course_ by Hansen and Quinn (H&Q). At least from my beginner's perspective, this is even more of a challenge than Mastronarde's book, as all the principle parts and moods are introduced very, very early on. You may want to check it out in a library before considering it for purchase.
From my very limited perspective, it seems to be a great book for those who have some prior knowledge of Attic Greek, rather than pure beginners, as quite a few concepts are introduced to the student quite quickly at the beginning. Mastronarde's book seems, at least to me, to be a happy compromise between Athenaze and H&Q, and it has the additional advantage of having an answer key.
But perhaps people with more experience than I could chime in with a more precise comparison of each book's approach.
I would just like to say that if you can, you should stay away from books written by people who don't know the language really well, or who don't have a clue about pedagogy. With me, the first factor weighs more heavily, so I would discard Athenaze out of hand. I know Mastronarde is heavy going in the beginning, but I have seen people work through it with self-study. If you already know Latin, you know the drill: memorize, memorize, memorize these paradigms. First real sentences only show up in 7 (nominal) and 8 (first verbs). If you can stick it out, you'll learn real Greek, though. Use the web tutorials until you can do them in your sleep!
Re: principal parts and their introduction in Mastronarde and Hansen & Quinn: Mastronarde suggests starting the first three as of unit 8 (with the first verbs). That makes by far the most sense (pp-s 4 thru 6 represent less than ten percent of what you'll see in texts, and are much more regular than present and aorist). H&Q introduce principal parts, sure, but only of regular verbs, so you're mostly screwed, because all the important verbs (legw, to say; mi verbs) only show up when you're three quarters of the way through the book. NOT a good idea.
plukidis wrote:Wow Helma, those are a nice series of guides and handouts to Attic Greek grammar in your user information (and my description does not do it justice). They're sure to be useful to me, and I have already bookmarked them. I'm looking forward to your next piece entitled "Coming Soon: Uses of the infinitive and participle, or..-Ing Is For Wimps.". Looks interesting!
Didymus wrote:Helma, I also should like to thank you for making your paper on localization of word shapes in Sophocles' trimeters available online. I have consulted it with interest and profit when writing my own Greek trimeters. Your work is most appreciated.
Helma wrote:Didymus wrote:Helma, I also should like to thank you for making your paper on localization of word shapes in Sophocles' trimeters available online. I have consulted it with interest and profit when writing my own Greek trimeters. Your work is most appreciated.
The tragedy book comes out in October in the US -- for a mere $100
Didymus wrote:Helma wrote:
The tragedy book comes out in October in the US -- for a mere $100
Out of my price range, I fear, but with some luck I shall find a copy through interlibrary loan. (Which I suppose profits you rather little financially, but doubtless shall profit me a great deal. And perhaps it may give you some small satisfaction.)
Helma wrote:Hmm, I suppose I should really get down to doing that one
tico wrote:Have you tried Athenaze (Oxford UP)? I thinks this could be a good start for you.
Helma wrote: I would just like to say that if you can, you should stay away from books written by people who don't know the language really well, or who don't have a clue about pedagogy. With me, the first factor weighs more heavily, so I would discard Athenaze out of hand.
Bert wrote:Helma wrote: I would just like to say that if you can, you should stay away from books written by people who don't know the language really well, or who don't have a clue about pedagogy. With me, the first factor weighs more heavily, so I would discard Athenaze out of hand.
I have heard of some who didn't like Athenaze but this is the first time I heard that it is written by someone who doesn't know the language really well. (Not that I am questioning your judgement.)
Stoic wrote:Thanks to all of you, and especially Helma, for your help and advice here. I seem to be back on track, with Mastronarde, for which the web site is an invaluable aid -- as is this forum.
Helma wrote:I'm playing with the notion of maybe asking if I can open a Mastronarde forum here - starting 101 again at the end of next month
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