textbook for ancient Greek

[tico]

Have you tried Athenaze (Oxford UP)? I thinks this could be a good start for you.

[aloimonon]

@tico

Have you tried Athenaze (Oxford UP)? I thinks this could be a good start for you.

Personally, I have never cared for it, though I admit that I only have an older edition from the nineties. But to repeat what others have said, I guess it comes down to personal taste, and how one learns.

[Bert]

@Helma

I would just like to say that if you can, you should stay away from books written by people who don’t know the language really well, or who don’t have a clue about pedagogy. With me, the first factor weighs more heavily, so I would discard Athenaze out of hand.

I have heard of some who didn’t like Athenaze but this is the first time I heard that it is written by someone who doesn’t know the language really well. (Not that I am questioning your judgement.)

[Helma]

@Bert

@Helma

I would just like to say that if you can, you should stay away from books written by people who don’t know the language really well, or who don’t have a clue about pedagogy. With me, the first factor weighs more heavily, so I would discard Athenaze out of hand.

I have heard of some who didn’t like Athenaze but this is the first time I heard that it is written by someone who doesn’t know the language really well. (Not that I am questioning your judgement.)

Well, look at it. The latest edition I’ve seen explains accents with reference to syllable length (that works for scansion, not accentuation); and - as I found out when I opened the book at random last month - does not know about ordering of postpositives. Theseus to his father: pempe me oun. Arrgh. If you can write that or read that without flinching, you are not yet at the level where you should write a textbook.

Other things: Neuter pronouns referring to things that have masculine or feminine gender. Prepositional problems. Usage that is restricted to poetry in prose. Etc. It is just not up to the level of JACT’s Reading Greek or Mastronarde.

[Stoic]

Thanks to all of you, and especially Helma, for your help and advice here. I seem to be back on track, with Mastronarde, for which the web site is an invaluable aid – as is this forum.

[Helma]

@Stoic

Thanks to all of you, and especially Helma, for your help and advice here. I seem to be back on track, with Mastronarde, for which the web site is an invaluable aid – as is this forum.

Keep it up Stoic:-) I’m playing with the notion of maybe asking if I can open a Mastronarde forum here - starting 101 again at the end of next month, and that would be a nice opportunity to do it. Post little chapter guidelines, answer any questions..

[perispomenon]

@Helma

I’m playing with the notion of maybe asking if I can open a Mastronarde forum here - starting 101 again at the end of next month

Sounds good!

[Stoic]

Sounds great to me, Helma. I’m sure you’ll be a great help to those of us just starting off with Mastronarde. I’m al for it.

[HelenB]

Hi,
excuse me for jumping in on this string, (I’m a newbie, so excuse me if this is wrong) but my question kind of relates to this topic as I am currently trying to learn Ancient Greek with the Reading Greek series (inc. the independent study guide). I also have the Thrasymachus book, which I quite like, but cannot really check if I have translated things correctly.

Am I right in thinking that the Thrasymachus book does not have a “key” available? I know the VROMA web site supplementing it, but cannot locate anything to check my work against…

I have to admit curiosity about Mastronarde and Athenaze, both of which I have never heard of before reading these posts. I am now going off to investigate, so thanks guys & gals!