When you were a beginner what methods worked best for you for learning Ancient Greek vocabulary and grammar with any given method book? Did you make flashcards before starting a reading unit and then once you learned the words moved on to reading it? Same for grammar, did you pre learn the unit’s grammar before reading the unit or try and learn what you could from context first?
I am a beginner and just got the Athenaze UK and Italian versions, teachers manual and workbook. When I learned Latin with LLPSI I learned what I could just by reading it before looking anything up, but I realize Familia Romana is easier to use than Athenaze for that method.
I am sure there are many ways to approach this. These are just some thoughts which you can ignore or adapt as you like.
The Vocabulary to be learned appears in a list before each passage of Greek. Below the passage you will see certain words or expressions glossed in bold. You do not need to learn these as they are repeated in later passages. Indeed rather like LLSPI much of the vocabulary is frequently repeated. A good strategy is to try to work out what any word you cannot remember means from context rather than immediately looking it up.
First read through the vocabulary out loud. Then read a passage with the vocabulary in front of you and work out how the Greek fits together without translating. Write down any word that you had to look up in the list. Repeating this at intervals a few times, the number of words you cant remember (and have to write down) will (hopefully) reduce. In between rereading the text study the grammar, word study and tackle the exercises. Exercises are not tests of what you have learned but a means for you to engage more with the text.
Don’t go onto the next section until you have understood the one you are currently studying. The final stage could be translating the Greek even though it’s not really necessary. If you concentrate on understanding rather than memorisation you will build sounder foundations. Thats not to say that memorisation is not important it is very important but I think that understanding the context is important too.
Try as many ways as you want and see what works best for you. I am not so sure that you cant use the method you used with LLSPI. I know from teaching it that students cannot understand everything without some prompts or looking at a vocabulary list. It’s quite easy to get the wrong end of the stick or to understand things at a superficial level. For example students often confuse listen/hear look/see etc.
My best method is this. I used it in the beginning, as a beginner, and even today I learn this way or read books:
First, I read the vocabulary for the chapter in the textbook or the text I am reading. Only if I have them. I try to think about them to see if I already know them or if there are similar words in my native language or in English - that’s about 20% of the words. These words are easy to remember. The other words I also try to remember, but I don’t dwell on it too much.
I read the text - when reading, I try to understand the text directly in Greek. What I don’t understand, I read again slowly. If I don’t get it, I underline the unknown word with a straight line and the incomprehensible parts of sentences with a wavy line. And I read on in the same way until the end.
Then I write the words I didn’t know in my textbook and try to translate and understand the parts underlined with a wavy line.
The next day I read the text again.
Then I listen to the audio-recording of the text several times. About 5 to 10 times. I do this for example when I go shopping, when I clean, etc. This way I acquire the grammar from the text very well and learn most of the vocabulary well.
I usually don’t do the exercises from the textbooks. I only do ones that are entirely in Greek - that is, the question and answer are in Greek.
paveln’s method seems like a good one and quite similar to what I suggested. Indeed in Athenaze the word study section is designed to make students think about the words they already know in their native language. It reduces the burden of memorisation.
I do not agree with this however:
I usually don’t do the exercises from the textbooks. I only do ones that are entirely in Greek - that is, the question and answer are in Greek.
English to greek exercises teach the skill of turning an idea expressed in English into an idea expressed in Greek. it underlines the different way the two languages work and discourages word for translation.
I don’t think it’s necessary to translate the sentences into Greek. It doesn’t help to acquire the language. It’s better to learn to think directly in Greek and make up the sentences directly in Greek, without translating, which is why I do the following instead of translating:
I talk to myself, for example in the shower, what I’m doing, what I’m seeing, what I’ve been doing, etc. Or maybe about what I read, the content of the text.
When I’m learning words, I say some easy sentences and texts with them. I learn grammar the same way.
I meet with my Greek teacher once a week and we talk only in Greek for two whole hours. We start by talking about how we are, what we did, what new things we read in Greek or saw, etc. I say at least 100 sentences in just the 10 minutes at the beginning. Then a few hundred more sentences during various exercises etc. We usually tell each other various jokes and funny things, so it’s much more fun than some boring translations from a book.
In the textbook, there are only 10 to 15 sentences per chapter to translate. I can say a few hundred sentences in Greek in a week by myself or with my teacher, I think it’s much better.
Sometimes I write some texts in Greek too. For example, I recently wrote three very funny books in the style of Herodotus, Lucian and Aristophanes. I composed them directly in Greek, without translating them. It’s about two evil teachers who tortured me with the grammar-translation method a few years ago. My current teacher liked it very much
In the textbook, there are only 10 to 15 sentences per chapter to translate. I can say a few hundred sentences in Greek in a week by myself or with my teacher, I think it’s much better.
There are extra exercises in a separate work book. One can always find extra exercises.
Not everyone has access to a teacher who can reliably speak Ancient Greek, in fact I imagine most don’t. You are very fortunate.
I don’t think it’s necessary to translate the sentences into Greek. It doesn’t help to acquire the language. It’s better to learn to think directly in Greek and make up the sentences directly in Greek, without translating, which is why I do the following instead of translating:
You are making this into an either/or choice for some reason. I think an appreciation of how the two languages work differently does help one’s understanding of Greek. I think what is unhelpful is translating from Greek into English, as opposed to reading Greek as Greek. Making up sentences directly in Greek is of course what one should aim to do when turning a passage in English into Greek. You are rather conflating two different processes.
It’s a pity that this becomes so doctrinaire. I am in favour of encouraging students to try many different approaches.
I don’t think it’s a problem to find people to speak Greek nowadays. Either at church or via the internet - I used to attend a chat room where they spoke ancient Greek. And I also found a person to talk to over the internet. There are also groups where they learn together in Greek, like Athenaze for example.
In my little country (Czech Republic) I found some Greek teachers who unfortunately didn’t speak Greek. They all tortured me with their tables and grammar-translation method and I couldn’t remember it at all in my almost 50 years. One teacher and I often talked about how to teach languages properly, even Greek. And when everything in our country closed down in March 2020 because of the coronavirus, my teacher and I started meeting in a park not far from his house. We first learned to speak together using the book Dialogos: https://www.culturaclasica.com/lingualatina/linguagraeca.htm
Then we went through the whole grammar of one textbook by speaking and using TPR. Today my teacher speaks Greek quite well I think he only speaks Greek with himself and me.
It’s a pity that this becomes so doctrinaire. I am in favour of encouraging students to try many different approaches. >
What I forgot to write about my learning method is that comprehensible input is important for me - I try to read and listen to easy texts that I understand 95-99%. I read about 10 pages of texts a day. In December I read almost nothing and listened to audios and watched videos, at least 1 - 1,5 hours a day. Those are huge amounts of words and texts.
I have tried many methods of learning and the best ones for me are these in this order:
TPR
Watching videos
Listening to audios
Talking to someone or myself
Reading lots of easy texts that I understand at least 95% - comprehensible input
I listen to videos and audios that I find interesting, entertaining and understand at least 90-95%. I prefer videos and audios that are fast enough without long gaps of silence. And it’s also important to me that the speaker has mastered the Greek well, so that they can express the emotional content of the text as well. Teaching videos in which the speaker shows what he or she is talking about are excellent. I have found a large number of audios and videos and I listen to what I enjoy or what I need to learn. I usually listen to a mixture of texts - a few texts to teach the grammar I need to learn, a few chapters of the New Testament, something from the textbooks I’m reading, and then various entertaining videos, stories, interviews, or movies. If I don’t understand something, I don’t stop the videos.
Here’s an example of what I listen to in 1.5 hours:
I think he only speaks Greek with himself and me.