On teaching yourself Ancient Greek

Greek Learning Greek
1

Hello everyone,

I’ve just embarked on learning Greek. What are the most effective methods for someone learning Greek on their own?

Is it better to practice translating simple sentence into ancient greek (greek composition) and then translating them back into English? I find the placements of the accents in greek particulary difficult.

Any help would be gratefully accepted.

Regards,

John Dill

2

I started learning Greek with the following:

Reading Greek - Text and Vocabulary ISBN 9780521698511

Reading Greek - Grammar and Exercises ISBN 9780521698528

An Independent Study Guide to Reading Greek ISBN 9780521698504

I did all the exercises, both from Greek to English and from English to Greek. This can be applied to other textbooks. Be sure you have the key (but look at it only afterwards :wink: ). Accents are tricky, but eventually you’ll learn them, if you are serious about it. Of course, you are welcome to ask questions here.

3

Hi John, welcome to Textkit! Stick at Greek, it’s worth it. You’ll get 20 different answers from 20 different people about the most effective method, but I would say almost everyone 1) works through part or all of a textbook with exercises then 2) takes the training wheels off and starts reading real texts (slowly) with a dictionary and commentary (including notes on difficult points of grammar).

You might find it useful to read these old threads:

Starting Greek - http://discourse.textkit.com/t/starting-greek/16731/1

Recently Started, Many Questions - http://discourse.textkit.com/t/recently-started-many-questions/14342/1

Favourite Textbooks? - http://discourse.textkit.com/t/favourite-textbooks/12334/1

Attic or Homeric First - http://discourse.textkit.com/t/attic-or-homeric-first/11251/1

Then to get an idea what you do after a textbook:

Any tips for self-study? - http://discourse.textkit.com/t/any-tips-for-self-study/11854/1

After Mastronarde - http://discourse.textkit.com/t/after-mastronarde/16653/1

4

John said,

I’ve just embarked on learning Greek. What are the most effective methods for someone learning Greek on their own?

Outside of picking a textbook and doing the exercises, you will need to be obsessed about it. Why do I say that? Because most begin learning Greek and for many reasons, they give up. I only say this because you are learning Greek on your own. The best way is to take a class or attend a group study. Then you have to be accountable to do the work. The advantage in this forum is you have many who can answer your questions and guide you. But you have to be disciplined to do the work. And it does become work but a labor of love. Hang in there and keep at it. You will be tempted at times to give up but reward comes from diligence. Personally imho, I go with whatever Bedwere recommends.

5

Thanks, for your reply and advice. Will keep what you said in mind.

Regards,


John.

6

One thing I discovered over the last year is that it is better to do one hour a day as many days a week, than to do 4 or 5 hours on one day once a week.

Either way, it will take discipline and dedication, so I would suggest putting aside a time when you ‘do Greek’ and getting into the habit doing it regularly and consistently.

7

Excellent advice which everyone should take to heart.