How to succeed in Greek

 

Aim for Success

You are at the beginning of the semester and you have to study good ol’ daunting Greek. My #1 advice to you is to aim for success. Defining where you want to go can be a great help to making A in Greek. You have 12 weeks to reach this goal.

Be clear about the importance of the course

How important something is to you makes you want to do more. Motivates you to max it. So that you are ready.

Time management

Study is about time management. Have a schedule for it and goals too.

Make a written commitment

Stop thinking you will make it by yourself. Write a commitment and paste it in your notebook or grammar book. The pledge will help you stay on track.

Change your expectations

Many times we begin with weird expectations. Expect to learn something modest like 500 words, like 10 paradigms, know how to read well.

Get a good book

Invest in a Greek Bible, and a Greek grammar. You do not have to buy one. You can print one, or photocopy from the library. But make some investment. Your recommended textbook may always seem frightening. Getting something you choose helps to get over the hump.

Read a Greek bible daily

Highlight new words as you read. You can easily identify cases from your translation. With the interlinear app, you have that. Have a notebook for that. You do not have to read all the bible. You can take Mark 1 to 5. The first letter of John. Or John 1 to 3.

Greek seems difficult. Why?

The script is new and different from English. But you already know some of the letters from science and maths. Make it fun.

Your teacher is your friend

Your Greek teacher is there to help you. So do not feel intimidated. Many teachers teach Greek with a passion. They appreciate students who share that passion. They know how hard it is to learn, so there is effort. Ask questions for clarification. Avoid poking fun at teachers or contradicting them.

Be a teacher yourself

At times teaching is the better way to solidify what you know. Help others. Poking fun at teachers does not help you. It upsets the teacher. Help others that will help you appreciate teacheing.

Memory

Memory is taken for granted. Build your memory capacities. Rest and nutrition are essential to memory power. Also memory exercises. Eat healthy before classes. You do not expect to perform optimally if you are laden.

Stop being afraid

Fear is one of the things that cripple students. They have fears of failing even before they start. These are legitimate fears.

Get help from a friend

Getting help from a friend does not humiliate you, keep your goals in mind. If there is a classmate that knows more about it, why not ask? She will be a study partner, someone easy to call on when you need help. Someone you can sit with to clarify loads of problem spots.

Hope

You are studying God’s word. Have hope.

Prayer

Say a prayer before your class and before your study . Aske for help from God.

Discipline and regimen

allot a set time and duration for study and keep to it. We only have 24 hours in a day. And with many things to do it may be hard to get in your necessary Greek practice. Let your practice be task oriented.

Paradigms

In learning Greek learn your paradigms they are very important. Have them organized in a separate place. They are usually found at the bottom of your book.

Vocabulary

Use tools like Quizlet and Memrise for learning vocabulary. Make a slide of your vocabulary. Make use of flashcards. Do a test. Testing is one of the things we skip on. Rather than try to memorise. Test yourself. And fail the test and learn. Keep testing yourself.

Parsing

Try to parse every word you meet. This is what your friends who know the language. They can see what each word is.

Doing Exercise.

The greatness is in the drill. Wow. Go for it it will pay off.

Get a primer.

Have some sample questions

Request for past questions for the course.

Writing

Make having a good handwriting a priority. Make use of the pangrams for this purpose.