Athenaze Level?

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ThatLanguageGuy
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Athenaze Level?

Post by ThatLanguageGuy »

Once I finish Athenaze (although I'm nowhere near the end), what level of Greek will I be at?

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swtwentyman
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Re: Athenaze Level?

Post by swtwentyman »

I think you may be getting ahead of yourself, but at least enough to read simpler prose with some assistance. Don't expect to be able to read Sophocles (or Tacitus, for that matter) right out of the box.

LeslieD
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Re: Athenaze Level?

Post by LeslieD »

ThatLanguageGuy wrote:Once I finish Athenaze (although I'm nowhere near the end), what level of Greek will I be at?
I suppose the primary purpose of a first course, even one which places some emphasis on reading, is to familiarise you with the grammar, and to give you enough vocabulary to start extending that vocabulary through reading. I imagine that the next stage would be to tackle some Greek readers designed for the purpose.

Manuel
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Re: Athenaze Level?

Post by Manuel »

I'd say you'll be at the level where you can read fairly simple prose in something like a Steadman or Nimis reader with relatively little pain. Graduating beyond the "reader" level will mean you will have to be hammering down grammatical forms with a book like Hansen & Quinn at your side as you read.

It will also mean getting used to using a lexicon pretty frequently, but how often you have to refer to the lexicon will depend on what text you're reading. To give a personal example, by the time I had gotten to the end of Medea I was only having to look in the LSJ once or twice per page, if that. But in Book V of the Iliad I'm still having to look in the Cunliffe lexicon for almost every line.

daivid
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Re: Athenaze Level?

Post by daivid »

ThatLanguageGuy wrote:Once I finish Athenaze (although I'm nowhere near the end), what level of Greek will I be at?
There is a big jump from Athenaze and actual Greek. Corelatives for instance are mentioned but Athenaze gives no explanation about how they ... well ... correlate. The first volume is excellent but the second really skimps.
Many people seem to manage that jump to actual Greek with the help of the commentaries others have mentioned but if (like me) the jump is too big you might try Learn to Read Greek by Keller and Russell. There is lots that I dislike about that textbook but it has one advantage that I have found in no other text book - it treats the advanced stuff in as much detail as the elementary stuff.
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ThatLanguageGuy
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Re: Athenaze Level?

Post by ThatLanguageGuy »

Is there any type of reader for Athenaze like there is for Wheelock?

daivid
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Re: Athenaze Level?

Post by daivid »

ThatLanguageGuy wrote:Is there any type of reader for Athenaze like there is for Wheelock?
You should check out Athenaze, an introduction to ancient Greek : workbook I Gilbert Lawall, James F. Johnson, Luigi Miraglia.
This contains readings and exercises. There are several editions but I am uncertain what the differences are.
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