Hello,
I’m supposed to create a topic here, yeah? I was going to post one in the learning Greek forum, but since I’m supposed to post here first, I’ll just post here and copy paste later (if necessary.)
I’ve been studying Greek recently. Even more recently, I’ve been studying how to study Greek. The basic battleplan is looking like this, so far, not necessarily in chronological order:
- Grammar rules/terms
- Index cards (organizing vocabulary and terms by type. Nouns, verbs, and so on.)
- Gather non-biblical, non-philosophical, non-fictional reference texts for reading (This is to learn how to read/interpret without a denominational bias, while minimizing absorption of Greek philosophy. I can’t currently prove it, but I wonder if Bible colleges teach a biased version of Greek. This is also why I’d prefer to learn Attic Greek before Koine.)
- Build a pronunciation rubric! I’m currently looking at modern or reconstructed. Found out a local pastor knows Greek, going to find out what he uses since I think speaking and hearing is especially useful for learning a new language.
- Find more learned people to talk/write to.
- Find music for rules/pronunciations? I get songs stuck in my head really easily, so replacing all the garbage I used to listen to with songs about declensions sounds absolutely ideal. Plus, in the long term, I want to be able to teach children and draw them away from televisions. Direct engagement and music seems to help.
- By singing and pronouncing Greek, I hope to be able to think in Greek.
I’m also looking into classical Hebrew, possibly Latin and a living language (further down the road.) For now, Attic Greek and Classical Hebrew are my goals, but I want to learn them apart from the Bible, so I can read theBible with less bias and greater understanding.
Disadvantages I currently face:
Using a tablet, so many Greek characters do not display. I counter this by watching YT lectures and downloading .PDFs of older books.
No job, so no money, so no physical books. Tablets seem to cause eye fatigue more than books. Going from a backlit screen to a book is like going from a desert to an oasis.
Advantages:
Currently, no job and no close friends, so a tooooon of free time
Obsessive nature. When I get into something, it’s not unusual for me to spend 4+ hours reading about/practicing it. And words (vocab, mainly,) are an ollllld obsession.
I’ve also made a list of .PDFs I’ve downloaded. Once I have a job, I’d like to print a few of them up for easier reading. However, I think I need to stick to one or three of them sooner, rather than later. Optimization of time is something I’d like to make use of, as I’ve essentially wasted the last 14 years of my life drinking, doing drugs, and generally doing nothing good.
Here’s the book list, please feel free to give suggestions on which books to read. Listed also is the cost to print at 10 cents/page, in USD values:
HWS Greek Grammar - 79.9
JWW 1st Greek Book - 36.2
LG Kelly 25 Centuries of Language Teaching - 49.2
Ted Hildebrandt Mastering NT Greek - 52.1 (Ehhh, only because of the workbook existing. Hesitant because it’s “NT Greek” and not Attic.)
Mastering NT Greek Workbook - 42.2
NT in Original Greek (Byzantine textform, 2005) - 61.9
Samuel Green Intro to NT Greek - 12.8 (tempted by this just because it’s short so I can get started quicker, but I’ve also learned quicker isn’t always better. And again, “NT Greek” suggests to me that I’ll be learning a biased version of Koine.)
Gesenius Hebrew Grammar - 48.6
Dead Sea Scrolls - English : 80.4
If anyone can help me (especially if you have spare textbooks you can send for free, or you have a decade+and spare time,) it would be greatly appreciated. Especially especially if you are very familiar with Attic Greek.
Also, if anyone here can recommend a similar forum for Hebrew, that would be wonderful. Super long-term goals are to be able to read DSS and various codices in their original language.