Greek
I have experience in teaching Latin I-III, which experience should be transferable to a large degree to Greek. Further, I have tutored Greek at The College of New Jersey. Although I can teach from any beginner Greek text for Greek I and II, I am more familiar with some books than others. Below, I outline first my education in beginner Greek and the books that I used. Then, I evaluate the book Athenaze, which I have not studied from formally but have some acquaintance with. Next, I outline some of the books or plays that I have read in whole or in part later in the process.
I tutored a student in Greek in Summer 2012. He advanced to intermediate Greek in the Fall, having taken beginner's Greek the previous year. He needed to improve his Greek skills to do this, and I helped him in this endeavor. Aside from helping him review the basics, I guided him through excerpts of Greek texts. We tackled parts of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Plato's Republic. We also worked on Gorgias' Encomium of Helen, as abridged by Mollin and Williamson, the text-book used by his school.
Beginning Greek
An Introduction to Greek, Crosby and Schaeffer: Although this book is slowly approaching the century mark in its own circulation, it has been reprinted by Dover Publications as late as 2009. It is a proven method for learning Greek, although as my Greek I instructor apologetically pointed out, the vocabulary will serve one better for reading Xenophon than anything else. Still, it is a good introduction to classical Athenian Greek, and I would not hesitate to teach from it. It is broken down into 79 chapters, with the final 5 being a review of the whole book, and review chapters are also scattered throughout the text. Approaching the chapters at a clip of about 5 days per chapter, including quizzes and the like, it would be possible to get through the book in two years, and it would do little harm to leave off the last few chapters. The book is not perfect, but has the benefit of breaking the components of Greek into mostly manageable chunks. It also has chunks of of adapted Greek toward the end of the book, which is useful. Of course, the duration of each chapter will be adjusted as needed, but the 5 day chapter will be a good paradigm. Below is a downloadable copy of a potential lesson plan for Lesson VII of Crosby and Schaeffer. This lesson plan anticipates a 45 minute class period but timing can change if class length is different.
I tutored a student in Greek in Summer 2012. He advanced to intermediate Greek in the Fall, having taken beginner's Greek the previous year. He needed to improve his Greek skills to do this, and I helped him in this endeavor. Aside from helping him review the basics, I guided him through excerpts of Greek texts. We tackled parts of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Plato's Republic. We also worked on Gorgias' Encomium of Helen, as abridged by Mollin and Williamson, the text-book used by his school.
Beginning Greek
An Introduction to Greek, Crosby and Schaeffer: Although this book is slowly approaching the century mark in its own circulation, it has been reprinted by Dover Publications as late as 2009. It is a proven method for learning Greek, although as my Greek I instructor apologetically pointed out, the vocabulary will serve one better for reading Xenophon than anything else. Still, it is a good introduction to classical Athenian Greek, and I would not hesitate to teach from it. It is broken down into 79 chapters, with the final 5 being a review of the whole book, and review chapters are also scattered throughout the text. Approaching the chapters at a clip of about 5 days per chapter, including quizzes and the like, it would be possible to get through the book in two years, and it would do little harm to leave off the last few chapters. The book is not perfect, but has the benefit of breaking the components of Greek into mostly manageable chunks. It also has chunks of of adapted Greek toward the end of the book, which is useful. Of course, the duration of each chapter will be adjusted as needed, but the 5 day chapter will be a good paradigm. Below is a downloadable copy of a potential lesson plan for Lesson VII of Crosby and Schaeffer. This lesson plan anticipates a 45 minute class period but timing can change if class length is different.
crosby__shaeffer_lesson.docx | |
File Size: | 15 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Greek an Intensive Course, Hansen and Quinn: This book is a 20 chapter text, the end of which was used at the beginning of an upper-level Greek course that I took. This book may at first seem less than practical for a Greek Beginners sequence in college or high school. The major downside to a text like this is that if the book were used for two years, approximately 10 chapters would have to be stretched to cover approximately one full high-school year . Thus, it would take almost a month to cover a chapter, during most of which time it will be difficult to find exercises in the chapter which are conducive to the particular skills that the students are going over at that point. It would be possible, though, to beneficially use the book if it were used at a faster pace. Even at a slower pace, I would introduce enough outside sources to make the book work for my class.
Athenaze: Although I have not yet used this book, I am familiar enough with the outline that I can confidently say that it has its merits as an introductory text. It is an illustrated book, good for making Greek less dull-seeming. It seems to be designed for high school or college learners of Greek and is not as outdated as Crosby and Schaeffer may sometimes be accused of being, nor as intensive as Hansen and Quinn. It also has cultural content and Greek texts later in the two-part sequence. Both books in the two-part sequence could likely be used in a Greek I and II sequence.
Athenaze: Although I have not yet used this book, I am familiar enough with the outline that I can confidently say that it has its merits as an introductory text. It is an illustrated book, good for making Greek less dull-seeming. It seems to be designed for high school or college learners of Greek and is not as outdated as Crosby and Schaeffer may sometimes be accused of being, nor as intensive as Hansen and Quinn. It also has cultural content and Greek texts later in the two-part sequence. Both books in the two-part sequence could likely be used in a Greek I and II sequence.
Activities for Beginning Greek
Attached below is an activity which would be useful in teaching Beginning Greek. This activity was inspired by my experience tutoring Greek.
greek_verb_and_noun_activities.docx | |
File Size: | 13 kb |
File Type: | docx |
I have used the flashcard game described above with students in Greek and Latin. It has proven to be a useful review tactic and is a beneficial learning tool. The key to success in learning from this game is, unsurprisingly, repetition. Thus, in addition to the time that we played the game in class, I would suggest this as one of the possible memorization techniques students might use at home to master declension and conjugation systems.
Advanced and Intermediate Greek
I have also taken several courses in Advanced and Intermediate Greek. The content in these classes included excerpts from Homer, Euripedes' Alcestis, Menander's Dyscolus, Xenophon's Apology, Plato's Apology and his Symposium, and Origen. These works, which I read in part or in whole with a wide range of instructors has given me an appreciation for the culture as well as the language of the Ancient Greeks.
History and Culture
As a History and Classical Studies major in college and an MA focusing on ancient History, I have studied Greek culture from the times of the Peloponnesian War through Roman occupation down to slightly beyond the fall of the Western Empire. Thus, when teaching a class, I will be well-equipped to include salient historical discussions as well as the language.
History and Culture
As a History and Classical Studies major in college and an MA focusing on ancient History, I have studied Greek culture from the times of the Peloponnesian War through Roman occupation down to slightly beyond the fall of the Western Empire. Thus, when teaching a class, I will be well-equipped to include salient historical discussions as well as the language.