New Members Introduction Thread (New Users Post Here!)

by **malbonheur** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:55 am

Hi!
I've always been interested in learning languages and the Ancient World. I've learned French and Italian, my mother tongue being Spanish, but not knowing the etymological origin of a word always bugged me, now I intend to remedy that situation by learning Latin, and I hope someday Classic Greek too.
This seems a great forum with nice people willing to help you out; I will eventually try to give back to the community, so till then have a bit of patience with me.

Hasta la próxima.

by **nansilafu** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:39 am

hi,i'm learning plant latin as a beginner.
Thanks.

by **AndrewI** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 3:12 am

Hello,

I'm a first year university student. I speak and write fluent Spanish and have become enthralled with the Classics and the ancient world.

by **stspitz** » Sun Dec 19, 2010 10:49 pm

I'm Steve. I've taken a very limited amount of greek, but I'm working through it on my own. I'd like to be able to read attic and homeric with a fair degree of ease.

by **terangprime** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:12 pm

Greetings to all. I am wanting to learn Koine Greek to understand the Bible better. I want to get a fuller understanding of what is being said.

by **Leam** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:23 am

Morning all!

This is the "hey I'm new and not a spammer" post. Though given my poor spelling, my posts might be more like spam than wisdom.

I've tried to learn Latin and Greek in years gone by, as well we a few other languages. None of them seem to come naturally, even native English seems tough some times. However, it's always been a dream and I'm fond of relaxing and dreaming at the moment.

Not sure which of three languages I'd rather learn first, Latin, Koine Greek, or modern Italian. Each one has it's appeal and ideally I'll get conversational in all three.

Leam

by **MatthaeusDeNEburici** » Wed Dec 29, 2010 5:55 am

Salvete!
Hoping to rejuvenate my Latin and learn some classical Greek, as Greek culture, language and thought so influenced the Roman Empire.
Gratias et valete.

by **algeo** » Fri Dec 31, 2010 1:11 am

I would like edification/discussion on some of the vocabulary in the NT texts. Thanks.

by **AstrologyNut** » Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:32 pm

I took a semester of Latin in college. I'm looking to refresh that and also learn ancient Greek so that I can translate astrology and philosophy texts.

by **helios** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:30 pm

Hello, I'm helios.

Anyhow, I am not a spammer and I look forward to asking my oddball questions about Attic Greek.

Thanks!
helios

by **ivanus** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:04 pm

Hello. I've been been studying Latin in a rather desultory fashion over the last year or so, but my progress has been painfully slow. This has been more to do with lack of effort rather than lack of resource. I've been truly amazed at what is available from resources like Textkit, Latinum and Google Books.

I'm currently learning on my own. I've been using Latin Unleashed for a grammar and Lingua Latina as a reader. One of the challenges in working on my own is that I never know if I've got it right or not, so I've signed up in hopes that I can get feedback and contact with other learners.

Regards,

Jack

by **SeanL** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:51 pm

Hello, all. I am Sean, new (again) to this forum. My interest is in Greek, primarily for New Testament reading. However, I refuse to "learn NT Greek" in terms of decoding one document. I want to learn the language, and, within that context, to be able to read the NT and other early Christian writings. I had started originally with Dobson, but got to the dreaded chapter 19 and became frustrated. Now I am using White's First Greek Book. I'm on lesson 7 now and loving it. Fortunately, it provides me an opportunity to expand my Greek context beyond the Bible, right from the start.

by **Sempernunc** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:34 am

Hello all,

I'm a college freshman, actually majoring in Physics or Comp Sci, but also very interested (More, perhaps?) in history and philosophy. The fact is that the latter two are too relative for my liking; they contain too many possible truths and no way of objective evaluation - and so I don't see them as a career, more as an enlightening hobby.

by **cscase** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:12 pm

Hi all,
I've recently developed a determined interest in learning Koine Greek.
I work at a university that offers NT Greek as a 4-semester course, so my first thought was to take the class, but upon investigating I learned that it goes in cycles, the start of which I just missed, so I'd have had to wait another year and a half to get on board. So, I decided to just learn on my own and ended up with Mounce's BBG and David Alan Black's book as well. I've been working on BBG primarily, while doing some side-reading in the Black book when it seems appropriate. So far I think I have only seen the tip of the iceberg, having just completed chapter 9, but I've been enjoying myself.

My primary interest is in learning to read from the Greek New Testament, but ultimately I'd like to read other things as well, both for enjoyment's sake and also to give my understanding of the language more depth and breadth.

English is my native language, and I haven't really studied another language before, aside from briefly attaining cave man level proficiency in Spanish (me llamo Scott), in high school. Grammatical concepts seem to come fairly easy to me, though, and I have always been an avid reader.

Anyway, greetings all and thanks for having me around!

Scott

by **Endeka** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 12:01 am

XAIPE

I am a Th.M. student in New Testament. I also hold an M.Div degree. I have made application to Ph.D./Th.D. programs in New Testament, so we'll see what happens. I am also certified for Ordination in the Presbyterian Church, although I have not sought a call yet because of the pending Ph.D. applications.

I love the Greek language. Although I was introduced to it because of the Bible, I have since spread my wings more broadly, into Homer, Demosthenes, Aristotle and Aeschylus. My primary interest is in the Septuagint and it's oft unappreciated influence on the New Testament. I will fight my way through any text written in the Hellinistic Glossa.

My interests in Greek are not just research oriented; I'm also interested in the teaching of the Greek language at seminaries. It's terrible, and I'm convinced we can do better. I've been exploring Randall Buth's Living Koine Greek and Christophe Rico's Polis Koine as alternatives, as well as writing software which will try to introduce vocabulary and paradigms through a different method than the ubiquitous flash cards and wrote memorization.

Anticipating acceptance into a Ph.D. program, I have had the blissful opportunity to begin learning Latin just a few months ago. I may eventually be able to read my favorite writer of all time, St. Augustine. The other languages may fall by the wayside, but I hope to stick with Latin and Greek. My hope is to be able to read widely in these languages without much lexical interference in a decade or two. I wish I had majored in classics in undergrad.

by **masuro** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:22 am

salve,

I am coming back to Latin after a failed attempt at Wheelock's Latin several years ago. The problem was motivation. I was studying by myself and didn't have the necessary pressure to get the words memorised, etc. A couple of months ago I paid some money and started the excellent Cambridge Latin Course. I have a tutor now and a motivation to get assignments done. To further motivate myself, I am going to use these forums again to be with like-minded people.

by **jer_ome** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:37 am

Hello, salve, and xaire!

I've been working on Attic Greek for the last year and a half, using mainly Mastronarde's textbook, although I've had some exposure to H&Q as well. Once I was finished with the textbook, I read Lysias I (On the Murder of Eratosthenes) and I'm now working on Plato's Ion. My goal is to be able to read the Iliad and the Odyssey, but so far every time I've tackled them it has been beyond me. I'd love to find a group interested in Homer and maybe do some readings together.

by **France** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:55 am

Salvete, I am a public school librarian from North Carolina. My undergraduate degree was in Chinese. More recently, I taught myself Italian and have become smitten with Roman history. I would like to learn Latin. I'm not in a mad rush. Simply would like to make a good job of it. I have Wheelock's 6th edition, but spend more time in Yale's Learn to Read Latin and Orberg's Lingua Latina. I am enjoying my initial efforts so much and want to have fellow students with whom to share the experience. My local used bookstore has yielded Aeneas to Augustus: Beginning Latin Reader, 4 Ecce Romani, Sharpley's Beginner's Latin(a hoot), and Latin: Our Living Heritage. I cycle through them, doing a couple of chapters at a time in each. My main textbooks of choice, though, are Orberg and Yale's. Don't plan to buy one yet, but would you recommend Lewis' Elementary Latin Dictionary when I do? How delightful to find your forum.....many years to study Latin, and then I'm sure I'll want to study Greek.

Ciao, France

by **dorobo** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 5:56 pm

Hi,

I'm not really a student of Latin or Greek. I was searching for information on the lack of written vowels in the Semitic languages and found this site. I wanted to comment on a post but am required to do this first. As a young man I studied French and German, intending to travel through Europe when I graduated High School. Unfortunately, the Korean war got in the way. I found myself wounded in North Korea and was evacuated to and reassigned to Japan in 1951. There I studied Japanese and became fluent in th spoken language. Briefly, I lived back in Korea and studied the grammar similarities between Korean and Japanese with influences from their contact with China before either country had a written language. Now, fast forward to my interest in studying the Bible and the Quran. I'm not really trained in either Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek or Arabic but am stumbling my way through improving my understanding of the original meanings of the words used in the Tanakh, the New Testament and the Quran. Thanks for you indulgence.

by **Keykavus** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:18 pm

Hi. I am Keykavus. I am trying to learn Latin and very pleased to discover this forum.

Thanks.

by **Wayne Gebert** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 9:56 am

Hi Everyone,
I am a Curation Officer at the National Herbarium of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.
I have been learning Latin for the last three years at the Council of Adult Education in Melbourne.
I am hoping to build a knowledge of Latin, both classical and Botanical, so I can help Botanists write Latin diagnoses and descriptions for publications, translate old publications from the 16th century onward and help colleagues with Latin queries.

by **mimajor** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 11:37 am

Hi I'm Miriam and I've wanted to learn New Testament Greek for a long time so I can read the book in the original. So glad I've found a place where I can do it for free!

Many thanks

by **Rowenaf** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 6:22 pm

salvete, I am trying to improve in Latin composition and conversation. I am a middle- and high-school- Latin teacher. Any suggestions for a methodical approach? omnibus gratias!

by **Bontree** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:12 pm

Hello. My user name is Bontree.
I learned Koine Greek at my church around 1982 to 1992.
I left that church with the intention of keeping up with my studies, but I didn't.
My parents became elderly and needed my attention, my life became hectic with starting a holistic practice and getting a divorce, then moving to another apart of California before moving to Oregon.
I carried my Greek books with me from place to place, but never returned to my studies.
Two years ago I overheard a conversation about a beginning Koine class and interrupted to find out more about it.
The teacher, a chaplain of a campus ministry, and his class welcomed me and I happily delved back into what I think is an interesting language.
Last year I was sick the whole time and mostly stopped going to class.
The class is now reviewing what they learned from Elements of NT Greek by Duff with the exercises in Elements of NT Greek by Wenham.
My health has [partially] returned so that I have rejoined the class during this review stage.
My memory of the rules of Greek and the experience I gained from translating all the NT except for Revelation has become faulty and dim.
I was searching a question I had about Koine when I stumbled onto this forum which seems to be a great thing for students to access.
I have been a member here for less than an hour and I have (with apology) already broken a rule of this forum by posting before giving my introduction.
I hope my question is not lost in Textkit cyberspace because it is gnawing at me. It is about the grammatical structure of interrogative sentences in Koine.
I don't know what else to say. This is who I am: A Greek student who is returning to study and glad to find this resource.

by **phil96** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:46 am

Wayne Gebert wrote:Hi Everyone,
I am a Curation Officer at the National Herbarium of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia.

How good is that! As a (former) botanist also from Melbourne I must welcome you to the Forum. There can't be many Latin-learning-botanists in Melbourne!

Phil Smith

by **Joanne** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:15 am

Hi I am Joanne and I have wanted to learn Latin for a couple of years now but have always said I was too busy or had other excuses. I currently work full time and I am studying a Business degree specialising in Human Resources but I really feel now is a great time to start learning Latin like I have been wanting to.
I am not looking to take it on heavily but would like to work on it when I have spare time.
I have attempted to learn a second language before and have found it incredibly difficult so I would be greatful for any help that could be offered by this site.
I am not sure how exactly how to go about learning the language so any suggestions there would be very much appreciated.
I think this is a great site and the effort and support tools offered are incredible.
I hope to make some new friends along the way and get to the stage where I am confident with the language and can then pass on the help I received to new learners futher down the track.
Look forward to learning and studying with you all
Joanne

by **rexmons** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:50 pm

Salve! This is my first post. I am an American but please don't hold that against me. My goals are to learn latin. To Read and write it with a measure of skill. To do my part to preserve this tradition. I embarked on my studies aproximatly 1 year ago, in my part time, and realized that I need help to make any meaningful progress. Your patience and help willl be appreciated. Thank you.

by **thesaurus** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:22 pm

Joanne wrote:Hi I am Joanne and I have wanted to learn Latin for a couple of years now but have always said I was too busy or had other excuses. I currently work full time and I am studying a Business degree specialising in Human Resources but I really feel now is a great time to start learning Latin like I have been wanting to.
I am not looking to take it on heavily but would like to work on it when I have spare time.
I have attempted to learn a second language before and have found it incredibly difficult so I would be greatful for any help that could be offered by this site.
I am not sure how exactly how to go about learning the language so any suggestions there would be very much appreciated.
I think this is a great site and the effort and support tools offered are incredible.
I hope to make some new friends along the way and get to the stage where I am confident with the language and can then pass on the help I received to new learners futher down the track.
Look forward to learning and studying with you all
Joanne

Learning a language takes a sustained commitment. You'll find that it's more effective to devote even a little time on a regular basis to your studies than to cram in a longer session once a week or so.

Whatever textbook/course you end up choosing, make time time regularly during the week to read the lessons, do the practice questions, and review vocabulary/grammar.

by **dowlingp** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 5:44 pm

I'm dowlingp and I studied Classical Greek and Latin years ago.
I am now more interested in New Testament Greek and read it.

by **Jeff Tirey** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:28 pm

Hi dowlingp - we're glad you joined us!

jeff

by **rhodian** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 2:03 am

hiya

just here introducin myselfs. done some greek and latin in the past, (hooray for the open university!) and was intending to go on with medieval latin but have gotten distracted by homer and have gone right back to basics, working through pharr from page one.

good-oh.

cheers

ian

by **Scyph** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:47 am

Hi!
I'm a university student studying biology and Greek/Latin. I'm mostly translating medieval Latin right now (for a history of medicine project), and I'm working through Pharr in my Greek classes. My Greek is pretty terrible, though, so I finally decided to get online and do something about it. I was pretty excited when I found this website, and I look forward to getting to know you guys as I work on Pharr

Thanks!

by **jswilkmd** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:41 pm

XAIPE,

I am a physician in Denver, Colorado. I am a former seminarian and have become quite good at biblical greek syntax over the years and I study it in depth often. I have been interested in Homeric Greek over the years and have worked through Pharr a couple of times as well as Perrin and Seymour's Odyssey.

I'm interested in discussing Greek syntax and lexicography with like-minded individuals.

James

by **thesaurus** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:01 pm

Xaire kai su! Good to see another Denverite around (although I'm not living there at the moment).

by **LucasTranscription** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 12:29 am

Hi! I'm a legal transcriber and would love to learn legal Latin. I'm studying for the AAERT (American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers) in April. I've ordered Latin for Dummies and hope it will help before the test.

I'm so glad there is a forum that I can ask questions when I'm dumber than a Dummy. Thank you! I hope I can make many friends and colleagues on here.

Patricia

by **caulis** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:50 am

Hi everybody. 42 year old German (caulis - Kraut :-)

) living and working in the US and recently decided to refresh my Latin. My goal is to get my Latin act back together and start to learn old Greek and old Hebrew. Looks like this is the right page with the right people. I look forward studying with you guys! Thank you! Michael "caulis"

by **Midddles** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 5:20 pm

Hi! I'm here for lots of help. I am returning to Uni to finish my English degree next semester and I need to complete my foreign language requirements. I took a full year of Latin nearly 6 years ago, but it took all my brain power to scrape up a B. I just found out I'll have to take 3rd level Latin to graduate, so I'm trying to relearn on my own. My goal is to fully understand it this time around. And, of course, to read Harrius Potter with no problems :wink:

by **Billbunter** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:43 pm

Salvete,

Hi. I'm from Scotland and need a bit of help with Latin. I tried to teach myself some years ago but found it difficult to motivate myself alone. I also tried with Greek. Same story. I'm reasonably well read in ancient Greek and Roman texts in translation but it would be nice to top that up

I'm here really to ask one specific question at the moment and would be very grateful if someone could translate this phrase for me.

'I believe you expressed a preference for (insert name)

This would be from a boy to master.

Hope you can help. Thanks.

by **MissMeep** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:57 pm

Hi everyone,

I just joined the forum not that long ago. I've only been learning Latin for about half a year but it's something I deeply love and I've been interested in the language since I was a small child so I'm very glad I finally have the chance to study it. I'm hoping by joining the forum I'll meet more people interested in classical languages and hopefully improve my Latin skills.

by **Fidicen** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:12 pm

Hello,

I am from Bulgaria and I study Greek and Latin at the University of Sofia. I've already studied these languages for 8 years (4 at the university and 4 at highschool), but in my opinion I have still much to learn. I want to achieve a high level of proficiency so that I can read and understand quickly, easily and without the constant need to the fall back upon dictionaries. My primary interests at the moment are in making some progress in composition for I'm concvinced that the linguistic competence in a foreign language can be measured only by the ability of the speaker (or writer) to express himself / herself as he / she were a native speaker (or writer). Unfortunately during the entire period of my study I have very rarely had the occasion to attempt to translate from my native language (or any other modern language) into Greek and Latin. So I hope to find here some adequate tools for exercising compositon. I'm also looking forward to discussing linguistic problems with other people, who have similar interests. My impression is that this site is the best place for such discussions. So thank you all for making it so great. :wink:

Hristo

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