In all likelihood, my blog will probably return to being more like what it was in the early days-- a place for me to catch everyone up on what's going on in my life. The essay-type posts will diminish some as I focus on studying. I really hate this, but time is what it is, and I have less of it.
I stuck around through some rough times at work over the past couple of years just to get the extra week of vacation that comes with having five years behind my belt. An it is proving useful. I am taking one of those weeks right now so I can hit the ground running with school, and I am thankful I did. I have needed this time to get my mind back into the mode of thinking necessary for "structured learning."
Ten years after gaining a Bachelor of Arts in Religion, I am taking my first Greek class. And my head is swimming. My other classes will require a good deal of hard work for me to do well. Greek will require a good deal of hard work and substantial doses of divine intervention. I am open to any free advice you veterans have for me.
Today I went to see Step Brothers in order to reward myself for the hours of work I put into Greek this morning. It wasn't much of a reward. But being at the movies got me to thinking how excited I am about the release of The Road coming out this fall. If you haven't read the book yet, I highly recommend it before the movie comes out.
That's about it for now. I need my sleep now more than ever.
3 comments:
Strangely enough, the book of Deuteronomy has the best advice for learning Greek. First, make some flash cards (you can buy flash cards, but if you make them you also get practice in writing Greek letters), then "talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up and when you eat cereal and during commercial breaks."
(That last part is slightly paraphrased.)
Do everything you can to stay up with the class. DON'T GET BEHIND!
Recite your paradigms until they roll off your tongue without any effort. You ought to be able to say the masculine case endings in under five seconds: "os, ou, o, on, oi, on, ois, ous." And so forth with everything else.
With vocabulary, try to assimilate Greek words to things that you already know. Some books and teachers are good at making these connections, but in some cases you may have to work at it. Many Greek words have a connection to English. If you can make that connection, you will strengthen your ability to remember them. If there does not seem to be an apparent connection, just make up an image in your head that will stick with you.
For example, when I was taking Greek, I was also working at Papa John's, and my boss's name was Scot. When I learned the word "scotia" ("darkness"), I pictured Scot sitting in a dark office. (Just to be clear, I myself was nowhere in this mental image; it wasn't THAT kind of a mental image, and yes, contra Seinfeld, there is something wrong with that). Now, every time I see the word "scotia," I have that mental image that has forever solidified its meaning into my brain.
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