In order to be able to read saint John Chrysostom’s writings in classical Greek, I have to spend some time refreshing my knowledge of that language.
Even though I studied Latin in high school for 6 years, and continued to read Latin texts during my philosophy and theology studies (not to mention all the liturgical texts and hymns as a priest!), I only learned Greek at the start of my philosophy studies at the age of 18.
Old-fashioned
The conditions were less than ideal. With about 100 students we were crammed into a small classroom, and we had a very competent, but old-fashioned teacher who seemed to love humiliating her students in front of the class. She would often ridicule us when we didn’t know an answer or made mistakes in our translations.
Our study book was purely grammar-based, and dated back to 1907! I hated it. I had learned many other languages thanks to great, modern methods that brought these languages to life; that first taught you to love a language and pronounce it well, and only gradually introducing grammar. This Greek method did just the opposite. Plus: the whole course was in French, and I was still struggling to improve my French at the time.
New motivation
It won’t surprise you to know that I never got a good grip on Greek. I barely survived the exams, and have always been struggling with the language. But now, I have a good reason to start over again. I am so fascinated by Chrysostom’s writings that I want to be able to read the original texts! And so, as of this week, I am reteaching myself classical Greek. Using a different, more modern textbook that consists of 58 lessons. If I can do one lesson + exercises + vocabulary each day, I will be done in two months.
It’s going to be very challenging, because the older you are, the harder it is to master a language. On the other hand, I still have some residual knowledge of Greek, and I have learned many different languages before, so I hope I’m able to do this! At least this time, there is positive motivation, no outside pressure, and no cruel teacher!
I was wondering how your revisit to classical Greek is going? I took a couple courses in college about 15 years ago. We used two textbooks: “Athenaze” by Balme & Lawall, and “New Testament Greek” by Machen. Both were fantastic, It’s been ages since I attempted to read classical Greek. I’m sure I’d need to brush up on it again myself! Perhaps I’ll attempt to do just that this Lent!
“Using a different, more modern textbook that consists of 58 lessons”
Fr. Roderick- Could you give the title and author, please? I also studied Greek long ago, and want to actually know it and use it now. Thanks!
Lee Gilbert