I know that I've just posted on this, but I suppose I want to post on it again. I am still...amazed at how genuinely excited I am to be learning Ancient(Koine) Greek. I bought the DVD lectures from William Mounce awhile ago back when I was stateside, and I finally started them last night. It was so good! I really like Mounce. he seems like not only does he know Greek and loves it, but is also passionate about teaching it to others. Each lecture goes through the chapters in the book, and I love that I can watch them as many times as I want. right now, the first lecture is on chapter 3: alphabet and pronounciation. that means of course that until I learn the alphabet and how to pronounce the letters, I cannot move on to chapter 4. but I was really excited as I was watching the lecture, with my textbook on my lap. I'm regretting not bringing my biblical greek flashcard set and the workbooks. but it's okay, I can start the workbooks when I get back stateside in late June. I am a tiny bit worried that not doing the exercises will somehow hinder my Ancient Greek learning, but I'm sure it will be okay. Mounce said in his lecture and in the textbook that being consistent is very important, because your brain does "trash cleaning" every night, sorting everything into short terms, long term, or back of the head, and so if you study Greek every day, it will go in the long term. so, because i have tons and tons of free time, I made myself a Greek Schedule: monday-friday, from 5 to 6pm, and saturday and sunday from 1-2pm. and whenever I go to a McDonalds by myself, I am going to bring my Greek Notebook and practive writing the letters. I am so...excited. someday, I am going to be able to read the NT in its original language. I'll be able to read the words and phrases that the writers and prophets that wrote the NT actually used....so amazing! so much gets lost in translation. it's more like...transliteration than translation in my opinion because some things are so hard to translate, so you "translate" by finding an equvilant in the other language. I know that from Spanish. there are some phrases and words, that I struggle translating because it's hard to make the phrase and its meaning work in English. I want to read the NT in the original language, and not have to rely on someone else's interpretation of what the writers wrote. it's funny. Brent used to write stuff like this in his blog and talk like this when he first started Greek freshman year, and I never really...got it. and now, I think I do. scarily, I think I'm starting to act the same way he does around Greek: excited and a little geeky. but oh well. I am genuinely excited about Greek. I look forward to studying it and practicing writing the letters in my notebook!
it's not stressful for me, because I am doing this independently, therefore I can take my time. I do not have deadlines to learn the alphabet and the sounds, etc. like the bible majors who take Greek are. I can do this on my own time, at my own speed, my own way. and I find that it's...fun. sure, there are some cons of not having a professor teaching me Greek, or a professor to go to for questions, but for me personally, the cons are far far outweighted by the pros, and anyway, that's what Brent is for right? he's like my built in go-to person for questions on Greek.
so far, I know Alpha and Beta in writing and in pronounciation. yay! and I can say the alphabet Alpha-Theta.
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