Reading and Vocabulary

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KramerKram
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Reading and Vocabulary

Post by KramerKram »

I am a fan of the idea of gaining proficiency in vocabulary through comprehended text (a la Krashen). And I think that Orberg does this the best right now through Lingua Latina and his Orbergized texts (for Latin).

So, if the best form of vocabulary acquisition is through context-based learning in a primarily comprehended text (my assumption), then to move forward towards fluency would require knowledge of the difficulty of the text one is currently working. This is accomplished often through the use of a graded reader. But...

Here is the question for you well-read Classicists:
If you were to try to put together a curriculum for a person leading from the end of an introductory textbook, to practical fluency, what would it look like? (Both Greek and Latin)

Please provide texts not authors alone.

For example: (This is not for real, just off the top of my head

(Assuming Lingua Latina is finished)
1. Orberg - Roma Aeterna
2. Orberg's - Gallic War
3. Orberg's - Aeneid
4. Augustine's Confessions, book 1
5. Cicero, Epistulae Number ...
and so on...

Or Greek (More Hellenistic focused)
(Assuming Athenaze is finished)
1. Gospel of John
2. Xenophon, Anabasis - Books 1-2
3. Chrysostom - On the Priesthood
4. Papyri (Loeb)
and so on...

I know this is a hard question, but hopefully valuable answers will be provided that will help people overcome the hump from helpless-beginners to motivated-intermediate, especially for the autodidacts.

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Scribo
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Location: Between Ilias and Odysseia (ok sometimes Athens).

Re: Reading and Vocabulary

Post by Scribo »

Add some Plato and Xenophon Anabasis of Cyrus bk4
(Occasionally) Working on the following tutorials:

(P)Aristotle, Theophrastus and Peripatetic Greek
Intro Greek Poetry
Latin Historical Prose

vir litterarum
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Re: Reading and Vocabulary

Post by vir litterarum »

Pharr's Aeneid, Cicero's Pro Caelio

For Greek I would not recommend the Gospel of John: it's too different from classical or pre-classical Greek and too simple to be of any use. I would recommend Helm's edition of Plato's Apology, Benner's Selections from Homer's Iliad, and Barbour's Selections from Herodotus

KramerKram
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Re: Reading and Vocabulary

Post by KramerKram »

vir litterarum wrote:Pharr's Aeneid, Cicero's Pro Caelio

For Greek I would not recommend the Gospel of John: it's too different from classical or pre-classical Greek and too simple to be of any use. I would recommend Helm's edition of Plato's Apology, Benner's Selections from Homer's Iliad, and Barbour's Selections from Herodotus
Thanks for the response.

Would you mind clarifying what the two books listed first are for, or what order you were presenting? I'm going to check out Pro Caelio.

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