New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

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jaihare
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New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by jaihare »

http://www.amazon.com/Athenaze-Book-Int ... 0199363242

I just noticed on Amazon.com that Athenaze (Ἀθήναζε) is about to be re-released next month. Did anyone else notice this? Do you think the new Athenaze will be much different from the current edition?

(Of course, I found this because I was looking up Athenaze in order to buy a new copy since my copy was lost this past week.)

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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by jaihare »

They mention nothing on Amazon regarding changes or improvements to the text. Why is this new edition necessary? Anyone know?

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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by jeidsath »

To keep us updated on all the new Greek forms that have been discovered in the last few years? Because the old version was riddled with errors? Or, to be the most charitable, simply to bilk poor students out of their money by making the former edition (available on the used market) useless for their required courses.

The above is possibly too caustic. But I am no fan of this sort of thing. Academic publishers make a lot of money off of the new edition scam. And in Classics, the institutions are already making enough money at the game of failing to teach their students Greek for several years.
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by Scribo »

Morwood - of the Oxford Greek grammar fame - is the main guy behind the project. Basically they're modernising it a bit with regards to cleaning up the layout, adding more charts and tables etc. I don't know how much adaptation is happening throughout the books themselves but I DO know that they're being paired with a new, fairly substantial, beginner-intermediate reader.

Make of that what you will.
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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by jeidsath »

Maybe those are the "additional readings" for the student workbooks? I will remain resolutely unimpressed until I see them.
New to this Edition
A sharper, more engaging design and additional illustrations, including color spreads in each volume highlighting Greek art and culture
Streamlined and improved grammatical explanations
A more user-friendly approach, more easily adaptable to a number of teaching and learning styles
Updated historical-context sections with increased support in the revised Instructor's Resource Manual
New Student Workbooks for Books I and II that include self-correcting exercises, cumulative vocabulary lists, periodic grammatical reviews, and additional readings
An Ancillary Resource Center that contains Instructor's Resource Manuals and Power Point slides
A Companion Website that provides students with additional exercises and grammar review
A supplement with cases laid out in the UK and Australian order to facilitate use in those countries
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by jaihare »

Scribo wrote:Morwood - of the Oxford Greek grammar fame - is the main guy behind the project. Basically they're modernising it a bit with regards to cleaning up the layout, adding more charts and tables etc. I don't know how much adaptation is happening throughout the books themselves but I DO know that they're being paired with a new, fairly substantial, beginner-intermediate reader.

Make of that what you will.
I have both of the workbooks that accompany the text, and I like them a lot. I don't know that I see the need for adding more material for memorization, though more readings and texts could only help. The more you read, the better your retention, no? If a new reader comes out, I'll buy it, too. And if I don't get my old copy back (what was lost/stolen), then I'll also be buying the new edition of the textbook. I don't mind giving money to these types of things. I believe in funding those who are putting these things together for us. No reason to complain about it. :shrug:

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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by Scribo »

Well said, though these things don't really make money so it's a bit moot. I'm sorry to hear about the loss/theft, that sucks. Otherwise I'd say not to worry too much about upgrading since it shouldn't make too much of a difference. I actually think there's an unhealthy fixation on textbooks and beginner materials in general. You could pickup the new Morwood reader regardless of whether you get the books since it's just a grammatically organised one. There's also the new "Attica" reader and the Cambridge one on Hellenistic Greek too.

It's interesting you like Athenaze, I've been trying to collect opinions on textbooks here for a while now though I think so far only David and Qimmik have been forthcoming. :lol:
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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by klewlis »

Scribo wrote:It's interesting you like Athenaze, I've been trying to collect opinions on textbooks here for a while now though I think so far only David and Qimmik have been forthcoming. :lol:
I like Athenaze too, though I haven't used any other textbooks for Attic. There is lots of assisted reading and a good progression (so far). I think it could use better vocab and I'm not a fan of how they do the charts in the back, but otherwise I like it.

It just occurred to me that for simple reading I can consult other textbooks for their progression of readings. I have a few on pdf that I haven't investigated yet.
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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

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Scribo wrote:Well said, though these things don't really make money so it's a bit moot. I'm sorry to hear about the loss/theft, that sucks. Otherwise I'd say not to worry too much about upgrading since it shouldn't make too much of a difference. I actually think there's an unhealthy fixation on textbooks and beginner materials in general. You could pickup the new Morwood reader regardless of whether you get the books since it's just a grammatically organised one. There's also the new "Attica" reader and the Cambridge one on Hellenistic Greek too.

It's interesting you like Athenaze, I've been trying to collect opinions on textbooks here for a while now though I think so far only David and Qimmik have been forthcoming. :lol:
Well, this should be placed in context, too. For Attic, I have only ever used Athenaze and Greek to GCSE. As much as I think John Taylor is a swell fellow (really!), I'm not drawn to read the texts that he provides and the drills are kinda dry. I like the layout and feel of Athenaze as far as independent learning is concerned.

It has been my experience that I just don't progress into the second level of any Attic program. I always feel at the end of the first level (both at the end of Greek to GCSE and at the end of Athenaze the first time I worked through it) a sense of accomplishment for having finished the first level and also frustration that I am still lacking some level of confidence with the specific grammatical forms that were covered. As if it just wasn't repeated enough and I need to review - and then I never get to the review that I want to do before progressing into the second level.

I'm hoping that this time around in Athenaze (since we're studying it together here on the forum), I will find the motivation to continue into the second level at last.

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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by CanadianGirl »

As far as I know Athenaze is the best general, 'First' Greek grammar. I grew up on Payne's Intro. Greek, which is very complete (I'd recommend it as a sort of grammar) but also uninspiring, to put it mildly. What I wonder is why is Athenaze so expensive! No other Greek grammar that I've looked (inc. new copies) costs anything near as much.

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Re: New Athenaze Texts (Nov 2014)

Post by jaihare »

CanadianGirl wrote:As far as I know Athenaze is the best general, 'First' Greek grammar. I grew up on Payne's Intro. Greek, which is very complete (I'd recommend it as a sort of grammar) but also uninspiring, to put it mildly. What I wonder is why is Athenaze so expensive! No other Greek grammar that I've looked (inc. new copies) costs anything near as much.
Well, it's comparable to the Reading Greek text from JACT, but for that program you need to purchase three different books together: grammar and exercises, text and vocabulary, and the study guide. So, in the end, you need to buy three separate books that go together in order to do their program - which costs considerably more than Athenaze. There are also accompanying CDs, which jacks the price up even further!

As it is, I bought Athenaze levels 1 and 2 along with the student workbooks for both levels and the teacher's manual for level 1, and I think it was a good investment. I'm not disappointed by the Athenaze program at all. In the end, I will milk it for every penny. :)

But, as we speak I am working through Athenaze with our group and also Greek: An Intensive Course (Hansen & Quinn) now on my own. I love the intensity of the grammar exercises in the latter, and the reading provided in Athenaze is really fun. I'm reading the stories from the workbook as we go through the textbook for Athenaze.

I'm hoping that the combination will lead me to a better active grasp of Attic - for the purposes of basic composition. By the end, I want to be able to work through a composition textbook, such as the one by Sidgwick or the one by North and Hillard, both hosted on Textkit.

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