An Introduction To Greek, Crosby and Schaeffer

Greek Learning Greek
1

I am curious to learn if anyone is using the Crosby & Schaeffer text (available on this site) and how is it rated. I do not see many references to it in the Learning Greek discussions. I suppose the apparent lack of an answer key is one strike against it. If you are using it or have used it, I would be interested to know how you work around this. Otherwise, the text strikes me as being a useful self-teaching tool.
All comments welcome
Michael

2

We used this book in my first year of high school Greek in 1960-61. I think it gave us a solid foundation in Greek. One of my classmates was David Kovacs, the editor/translator of the new Loeb Euripides. But of course we had a teacher, so that an answer key was unnecessary.

3

There’s a teacher’s manual floating around with a partial answer key. https://archive.org/details/CrosbyTeachersManual

I think Crosby and Schaeffer is quite similar to White’s First Greek Book, but White got a head start in popularity from its textkit community.

4

I have been studying out of this text. It is what I used in college in the 90s, though I only took one semester. It’s been over 25 years and I’m back to studying Greek and I’ve made it through most of the book. There is a teacher’s manual and you can get it from the internet archive. It’s not that useful, however. It only provides answers to the translations into Greek. I have only made it through with a lot of help and correction from that same professor that I had in college. I have tried a few other texts and I like Corsby and Schaeffer. I like that the chapters are short with limited vocabulary words. I tried Athenaze a few times and even when I was halfway through Crosby and Schaeffer, I simply felt overwhelmed with it. It introduces huge amounts of vocabulary and phrases and long passages from the beginning. I’ve used Machen’s New Testament Greek and it moves at an overwhelmingly fast rate. I’ve also been tagging along in a class that is using Logos and while it is much more digestible than the previous two that I mentioned, I think it is extra slow and introduces too much vocabulary. Anyway, since I am most of the way through Crosby and Schaeffer and have saved everything, I would be willing to help you or anyone else - as long as you’re in the parts that I understand. I’m in chapter 68.

5

Thanks, christineka, for your help offer. My inquiry in the original post was out of curiosity as I was puzzled why so many poeople slog away at Athenaze when the Cosby & Schaeffer seems much more user friendly and the grammar is simply and succinctly explained. I assumed the lack of an answer key (other than what is given in the teacher’s manual) must be the off-putting factor. For my own Greek study I use mostly French materials, as they are more modern and come complete with keys and commentaries.
Good luck with your studies
Michael

6

I used Crosby & Schaeffer to teach myself Greek over the summer of 1973. It must have worked, as I took another 6+ years of Greek in the years that followed. I turned the exercises in to my adviser, who would let me know of any issues, so the lack of an answer key was not a problem.