Fletcher's introduction

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Fletcher
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Fletcher's introduction

Post by Fletcher »

Hello everyone, I’m learning Greek so I am here to find a community of people with the same goal. I’m aware that learning Greek will entail a lifetime of study, so I figured it’s better to start now rather than later. This also influenced my decision to study Greek before Latin, as it seems like it takes more time to “master” Greek; also, I am more interested in reading the many renowned Attic authors, as well as Homer, rather than the Roman Latin authors (although I intend on studying Latin after a couple of years of Greek, and I assume it will be somewhat easy in comparison to Greek at that point). Also, I am a student of Philosophy and would like to engage with the texts of Plato, Aristotle (yikes), and the “Neoplatonists” in their original language.

I only started studying a month ago, and the first texts I’m using are the JACT "Reading Greek" books (currently on the “Grammar and Exercises” volume, and soon stepping up to the “Text and Vocabulary” volume). I am studying them with the guidance of an online course,. Although it's somewhat overwhelming to start learning a language by memorizing paradigms and declension, I've accepted that this is an unavoidable aspect of learning Ancient Greek, no matter which text one starts with.

My previous language-learning experience includes French (mostly forgotten by now), Arabic (I can read it with diacritical marks but haven’t developed much of a vocabulary), and Bahasa Indonesia (currently I speak like a toddler). So I’m not fluent in any foreign languages yet, although that’s my goal for the next few years (I have my eye on Italian as well).

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the forums!

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bedwere
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

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Welcome to Textkit!

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Fletcher
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

Post by Fletcher »

bedwere wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 6:47 pm Welcome to Textkit!
Thanks Bedwere! I plan on utilizing some of your great audio recordings along the way
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."

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bedwere
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

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Glad that you find them useful!

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varnenas
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

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Hi Fletcher, nice to meet you. Being new to this forum I was reading some previous intros before writing mine and came across your thread. I was so happy to meet a colleague from philosophy, even more, someone interested in Neoplatonism, that I couldn't help writing to you. Are you continuing to study with JACT Reading greek? What is your impression? I read just the very first chapters and found it rather nice.

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Fletcher
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

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varnenas wrote: Wed Apr 12, 2023 2:38 pm Are you continuing to study with JACT Reading greek? What is your impression?
Hi! Nice to meet you.

Unfortunately I put my studies on pause for the last couple of months, partly due to that JACT course falling apart. Not enough people signed up for the third term I believe, so it was discontinued. I think the reason was not due to any problems with the text itself but rather because of the slow pace set by the teacher: by the end of the second term we were only just beginning to touch upon the dialogues in the book.

The book(s) do seem like a very nice introduction to Ancient Greek, and from my perspective I think it would be better to jump into the dialogues as soon as possible, explaining the grammar along the way. Our teacher was very highly qualified, but it was hard to "see the forest for the trees" as we spent too much time focusing simply on abstract grammar analysis without context.

I think the benefit of the JACT books (and Athenaze) is that they present engaging narratives to the students, which should make the learning process more fun. I am hoping to pick up the books again soon, studying them over the summer, and then joining another online class in the Autumn, most likely using Athenaze, simply because most online courses seem to use that.

Seumus recommends completing the Athenaze books before going on to JACT. I may follow his advice, but I may also do them together side by side.
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."

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varnenas
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

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Thank you for your reply and for the link! I will look for other books mentioned on the site. With the group I used to study with, we were doing grammatical exercises along with extensive reading of easy texts. I liked how it worked a lot. It seems that reading helped to consolidate vocabulary and make me feel more at ease with the text. Plus, reading aloud helped me memorise the accentuation. Of course, as we were doing it with the teacher, he was helping if there was some grammar we hadn't studied yet. In such a manner, we were simultaneously reading Alexandros and Athenaze. Alexandros didn't seem much harder, but it was more fun to follow the story in Athenaze. We tackled the JACT textbook after having finished Alexandros, and the first chapters didn't appear too difficult, while the story was amusing. So, overall, I had a good impression, and I completely agree with your point about the good narrative. Now that the course has ended, I'm continuing on my own. I would like to keep on practising reading and would be happy to make company for another beginner learner of Greek.

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NolanusTrismegistus
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

Post by NolanusTrismegistus »

Welcome Fletcher.

What are your philosophical interests? How far along are you in your studies of the Neoplatonists?

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Fletcher
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Re: Fletcher's introduction

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NolanusTrismegistus wrote: Fri May 12, 2023 3:36 pm What are your philosophical interests? How far along are you in your studies of the Neoplatonists?
I'm interested in doing a sustained deep dive into the works of both Plato and Aristotle for the next couple of years at least, so Neoplatonism is more of an afterthought really. I plan on studying Porphyry's isagoge when I am ready to get into Aristotle's Organon, as the isagoge is a more concise introduction from what I've read.

I'm also interested in how Neoplatonism influenced the mystical traditions within the three "Abrahamic" faiths during the middle ages, particularly within Sufism. The whole subject of how Greek philosophy was transmitted back to Western Europe via medieval Islamic scholars is very interesting to me.
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."

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