Studying Greek + Latin Good Idea?

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trylikeafool
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Studying Greek + Latin Good Idea?

Post by trylikeafool »

Hi everyone,

I'd like opinions from those who have studied both languages:

I'm about to start learning classical Greek, which has been a goal of mine for a very long time. I've got 2 years of Latin under my belt - Wheelock self-study, and the Oxford Course in college. However, it's been 5-6 years since I've done any Latin, so I've forgotten a lot of it. My Latin study would just be a refresher, so it's not like I'd be learning two languages from scratch. Greek is completely new to me, so I didn't know if sticking to one language might be best, or if doing both simultaneously would be too difficult mentally?

Also, any opinions of the Great Courses Greek 101? I've got free access to it currently, and found the first lecture to be quite thorough in introducing the alphabet, pronunciation, etc. It was easier to understand than just reading the lesson from a book. However, I'm nervous about relying on it because the Latin course skips a lot of basic info in lecture 2 when introducing 3rd conjugation verbs. They left out explanations of the different conjugations, how to recognize a conjugation, and conjugation stems. It's like they expected the student to intuitively pick that up. I'm afraid the Greek course would do the same. Anyone ever used this resource?

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rmedinap
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Re: Studying Greek + Latin Good Idea?

Post by rmedinap »

trylikeafool wrote:I didn't know if sticking to one language might be best, or if doing both simultaneously would be too difficult mentally?


That's a very interesting question, in my experience it varies a lot from person to person but there's a constant to which I have seen no exception: the more languages you already know (as in, you can read and speak fluently), the easier it is to learn another one. If a part from your mother tongue you already know another language or two I'd say it's worth a shot to try both, if not I'd suggest to focus on one (specially if you're going to spend money on it).
trylikeafool wrote:any opinions of the Great Courses Greek 101?


I only saw the first five or so lessons and I can tell that it is very clear in grammatical explanations, and that's precisely the reason why I disliked it, it focuses too much on grammar rather than comprehension.
trylikeafool wrote:It's like they expected the student to intuitively pick that up.
If you care to read about the most recent discussions in this forum (like here or here) about methodology you'll probably notice that my position on language acquisition can be summarised by your statement. I deeply believe that it's better for the student to intuitively pick up the grammar, to induce the rules by himself and only later to see the arid grammatical explanation.

Anyway if you're interested in what I consider to be the very best Greek Course available with lots of minute and detailed explanations, I suggest Zuntz's Greek Course (my review here).

Or if you want to take a look at another type of pedagogy why don't you try Athenaze (there's also the original but not so good English version) or Reading Greek?

mwh
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Re: Studying Greek + Latin Good Idea?

Post by mwh »

I think studying Greek along with Latin is an excellent idea. Since you already have experience of Latin, you’ll be in a good position to compare and contrast Greek, and since they’re essentially the same, the differences will stand out. (And I don’t mean to minimize the differences!) It’s very illuminating to set the two languages side by side, and should help solidify your grasp of each, despite the risk of getting them confused in the early stages.
You may want to use a comparative grammar, which will enable you to see what they have in common and where they differ. (I know rmedinap would not approve.)

I have no experience of the Great Courses Greek 101, but I’ve read about it. As you say, you won’t want to rely on it exclusively, but I don’t see much harm in making use of it, and I expect it would be helpful.

I second the commendation of JACT’s Reading Greek.

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bedwere
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Re: Studying Greek + Latin Good Idea?

Post by bedwere »

Once you have proceded for some time through your studies and afterwards, you might find this book useful:

A Parallel of Greek and Latin Syntax: For Use in Schools

trylikeafool
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Re: Studying Greek + Latin Good Idea?

Post by trylikeafool »

Thanks, everyone. I think I'll dive into both languages since I've already got a foundation in Latin. From a brief look at Greek grammar, the two languages seem very similar. I'll also take a look at the Greek texts recommended here. However, I think I'll start off with the resources I already have. The Great Courses Greek 101 may provide a good intro to the language, and I'll probably use the Ann Grote text along with it - I paid something like $50 for it a couple years ago, so don't want the money to go to waste. I chose it because it's what the premiere classical school in my city used for their students.

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Studying Greek + Latin Good Idea?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

trylikeafool wrote:Thanks, everyone. I think I'll dive into both languages since I've already got a foundation in Latin. From a brief look at Greek grammar, the two languages seem very similar. I'll also take a look at the Greek texts recommended here. However, I think I'll start off with the resources I already have. The Great Courses Greek 101 may provide a good intro to the language, and I'll probably use the Ann Grote text along with it - I paid something like $50 for it a couple years ago, so don't want the money to go to waste. I chose it because it's what the premiere classical school in my city used for their students.
I think you're going to be fine. In my own experience, I had two years of Latin prior to starting Greek in college in my freshman year and continued Latin in the second semester and only occasionally got confused. Once I worked out a rather nice translation of a Greek exercise. The professor said "Barry, that would fine, if μᾶλλον were in fact the Latin malum... :)
N.E. Barry Hofstetter

Cuncta mortalia incerta...

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