Self-Educating--When to start Greek

[Critterfixer]

I just finished reading Climbing Parnassus for the first time, and although I still have a second reading to do, I am already inspired to learn Latin and Greek.

 

I'm teaching Latin this year with my third graders, and I also got a vintage Latin text to work through on my own. Latin strikes me as the easier of the two languages just from what I've seen. But I wonder, how far do I need to be, how comfortable with Latin, before undertaking Greek? And what book would be best for an adult starting to learn Greek to begin with? I prefer to keep the cost low, preferably less than 50$. Free would be ideal. I'm pretty comfortable using vintage texts, but I don't know what to look for when it comes to Greek.

[lotsofpumpkins]

As for when to start, I don't know. :) As for me, I'm going to take a look at CLE's Greek course for myself. I love the setup of the Light Units (my dc use it for math), and I figure a high school level course would be a good introduction to Greek. I started off trying to learn Greek using my dh's Greek textbook from seminary, but I didn't get very far. I'm thinking that the LU format will be more motivating for me. The price is good too. (clp.org in case you need a link)

[profmom]

I didn't know that CLE had Greek! That could be a good option!

 

I started with Elementary Greek and included my dc. This program is easy to implement, with daily lessons clearly marked, and comes with a pronunciation CD and flash cards. I found it easy to use and easy to understand, at least through the middle of volume 3, which is, unfortunately, when we stopped using it as a family. (We were unable to continue both Latin and Greek, along with the rest of our schedule, and the kids chose Latin.)

 

After that, I chose to continue with Greek on my own, but I knew I'd need accountability. I tried Mounce, which has some good online helps and a good CD with the book. But, as you know, life is busy for a homeschooling mom, and it wasn't getting done. Then, I "sat in" on a college classical Greek class for a semester -- great class, but hard work! Next, I chose to stay home and take the online Greek I & II with The Potter's School. It's focused on Koine Greek, which most interests me, and I enjoyed reading/translating through the Gospel of John last school year in Greek II! If you like the idea of an online class, many will allow adults, along with the homeschooled high school students. The pace of the high school classes is much easier to maintain than the college class, which flew through the same material in one semester that a high school student covers in 9 months. (High school pace is still plenty fast and challenging for a homeschooling mom!)

 

The college class used a text called From Alpha to Omega, which would be difficult to handle without an expert teacher. The Koine class at TPS uses Machen's text (updated). When I was taking the classes, I was grateful to have used Elementary Greek first -- the pace allowed me to memorize declensions, conjugations, and vocabulary much more thoroughly and made it easier to focus on the unusual grammar aspects later.

[profmom]

As to timing, Latin isn't required first before learning Greek. Learning Greek first would help with Latin too -- learning the grammar of an inflected language makes learning another inflected language easier.

[Critterfixer]

I had thought about doing Latin first because I will be teaching it first and I have some familiarity with it. I've had less exposure to Greek.

I too, would likely want to start with Greek that is aimed at high-school age students.

I don't really care for online lessons. For one thing, I'm on satellite and that goes out at the slightest breath of wind, lots of sun or lots of clouds. I might get only twenty or thirty minutes of online access a day on a cloudy day, and none at all if it rains.

I like the idea of audio help, though, so I would want a CD to listen too. CLE Elementary Greek sounds like it might be a good option.

[profmom]

The Elementary Greek program I used with the kids (suitable for elementary-age kids, but I learned along with them) is the one by Open Texture. I haven't compared it to CLE's program.

[Alphabetika]

The Elementary Greek program I used with the kids (suitable for elementary-age kids, but I learned along with them) is the one by Open Texture. I haven't compared it to CLE's program.

 

 

:iagree:My dd is in her third year of EG, and she loves it. She wants to take high school Greek at Lukeion.org, but she didn't want to wait until high school, so she's been working through EG mostly on her own for the last couple of years. I started working through it last year with the first book and admittedly I haven't gotten very far, but that's not because of the program. :tongue_smilie: The format is very easy to use, and the amount of information in each lesson is very manageable.

[Zoo Keeper]

EG is great for a beginner of just about any age. The lessons are very clear and manageable, and easy to speed up or slow down as needed.

[Amy Jo]

If you want Homeric Greek I like Beetham's text. It includes the answers, which is vital. (Full disclosure: I've only done the first few lessons, I decided to wait on Greek until I'm doing better at Latin.)