When somebody says there are "challenges and opportunities", it is typically a euphemism for "Oh baby! This is hard!!! I suppose there are some upsides here, somewhere, but it is really hard."
And what we are doing, by diving into Acts — which is definitely NOT what you could call a "graded reader" — is definitely hard. You are all being hugely stretched.
But if we can just persevere — a word we hear quite a lot of in the NT about the whole Christian life — then studying Acts as we are is going to be GREAT for us. There is a HUGE upside to it...a gigantic opportunity.
There is also academic research in language acquisition that suggests that reading — where we press ahead, always ahead, even if we don't always track fully with everything we read — may be a hugely effective strategy to acquire a second language.
I have made a video where I take two steps back, and look at the whole task that we are attempting right now. I believe I included this link in an email, but here it is again. I hope it is helpful to you.
Learning Greek from Acts vs. Learning from a Graded Reader (4:57)
Let's begin by reviewing some vocabulary items from Lesson 5...vocabulary items you have heard but may not yet seen in print.
- ἵππος
- βοῦς
- ὄνος
- κάμηλος
- κύων
- λύκος
- χοῖρος
- ἄνθρωπος
- μέγας
- μικρός
There are some interesting things in how Angela pronounces Greek.
- Listen to how she pronounces the χ in χοῖρος. It is a good model for us to all follow for the sound of that letter, like the "ch" in the name "Bach".
- Also, note that the ύ in κύων was a "u" as in "cute". So the ύ, is not so much an "oo" as a "yoo", at least when preceded by a κ sound.
- I am accustomed to pronouncing πού like pooh (as in "Winnie the..."). Angela seems to be saying it like poy. There is continuing ambiguity that comes from the history of the ύ in English, sometimes being pronounced as a u and sometimes as a y. Even people like Rob Plummer and Angela Taylor are not quite agreed on how to handle it.
- She seems to be pronouncing ω and ο the same. Rob Plummer does not do this. But if Angela keeps producing videos that are as much fun as the first one, I may get converted to her particular dialect of Erasmian Greek.
It is quite possible that if it were 2028, and Angela had 100 videos prepared, instead of just the 3 that she has now, I would consider folding my class into her video course.
But alas, it is still just 2021, and I think if you want to learn Greek, what we are doing together is your best choice.
Please download and print this out.
Then go here, and do your analysis and translation:
The New American Standard Bible and English Standard Version are intentionally written to be as close to the word order of the Greek as possible, and still be comprehensible. When I am struggling with coming up with a basic interlinear rendering, I find it helpful to compare my work with theirs.
Once you are moderately happy with your interlinear rendering, then download and review the notes on this verse from the NET Bible. They often have some "tn" translation notes that will be helpful.
The idea in every case...
...looking at the NASB, ESV, NET Bible, and finally getting Bob's comments as you will in the next half of the lesson...
...as you have already noticed, is to try and do the best you can on your own, then go to an outside aid for help. This will help you maximize your learning experiences.
When you have done all of these things, go on to .