Years ago, as children learning to read and write at school, we had simple readers available right from the outset. I seem to remember titles such as “Janet and John” that we could practise at home with parents. It seems to me that there is a gap in the market for simple readers of NT Greek for the real beginner, still undertaking Year 1. Many seem to start once the student is entering year 2 of their studies. With Paul Nation’s pedagogical advice around how to spread one’s learning and developing fluency, it would be really helpful to have some readers available at a much earlier stage…. Even if they are not from biblical texts but constructed using biblical language. Thanks for the video - a very helpful summary.
Agreed wholeheartedly! Once upon a time, the McGuffey's Eclectic Readers series was commonplace throughout American schools, and those are how children first learned English before graduating to a primary grammary, then to an elementary grammar, and later still to a practical grammar. I honestly do believe biblical languages are being taught in a backwards, counterproductive way in this regard (raders after grammar instead of the other way round). As you suggested-and as used to be done for English grammar even with native English speakers-we might be far better off having low-level readers that eased into familiarity with the language and increased in difficulty before finally graduating to a primary or elementary grammar. Considering we don't have anything like that at the moment, I think a best possible substitute would be for a student to work all the way through John Dobson's _Learn New Testament Greek_ first. That whole grammar cpuld take the place of a series of leveled readers. Afterward, the student could then move to an elementary grammar (like Black or Merkle/Plummer), and then moving on to something like Michael Boler's _Introduction to Classical and New Testmanet Greek: A Unified Approach._ I like Decker's _Koine Greek Reader_ precisely because he uses readings from the Septuagint and the Apostolic and early Church Fathers. So, pairing it _with_ (not after) the elementary grammar would be ideal, provided the adapted "graduated readers" model (Dobson first) has been followed.
I think Decker’s Koine Greek Reader would be my first and when I’ve gone through that I’d like to do Hellenistic and Biblical Greek next. Thank you for another great video!
"A Reader in Biblical Greek" by Richard A. Wright was released a few months ago by Eerdmans. It is divided into 3 sections based on difficulty, with the majority of readings being NT, but still a number of readings from the Septuagint and Apostolic Fathers. Each reading is followed by a vocabulary list of words occurring less than 50x, which makes sense since most 1st year grammars don't go much further than that. The footnote helps are extensive but have few parsings.
@@bma we greek orthodox world wide almost 2000 years use in church only koine greek in all our says prays hymns readings. The erasmians when we ask then cant say when supposed we change the way we say our language.
I have a copy of McLean's Hellenistic and Biblical Greek reader, and thoroughly enjoyed what I read of it. There is an interesting and engaging selection of texts, ranging all over the place. I think there was even a personal letter from a soldier to his mother in there somewhere. As Darryl mentions, its not an easy book to pick up for a student right out of 1st year Greek. What struck me most about this book was the distinct impression that the author has an.... agenda... that he is cleverly and subtlety asserting in his comments and in his selection of texts. I could very well be wrong, and I really don't know anything about the author. But that's the impression that I got.
Great video and content mate! What is the best approach for learning the vocabulary required for hellenistic and biblical Greek reader? Is it included in the text? Otherwise, shout out to your Student Edition. Anyone who hasn't used it yet, I really encourage you to do so. It turned Biblical Greek from a slog into a joy for me. - I'll always be grateful for this.
Thanks for the shout out! I really appreciate it! The vocabulary is included with the book, but you'd need to type up your own flashcards if you wanted to integrate it with Flashcards Deluxe or something similar. Thanks again!
I had a question concerning the student edition of Master New Testament Greek: is it a resource that I can use on my own or is it only to be used while enrolled in the Master New Testament Greek program? I ask because, having studied Greek on my own for the past few years, I have finally shifted to reading through the NT, and, if the Student edition of MNTG can be used independently, I would find it a valuable resource to save time (chapter-specific vocabulary, quality glosses, etc.). Thanks.
@@bma Thank you very much for the reply. I was just looking over the relevant page on your website when one more question presented itself: I noticed you mentioned that, since it is a digital product, a smartphone is needed. My question is, will the student edition of Master New Testament Greek function just as well on a computer, or does the format truly require a smartphone? (I ask because I do not own a smartphone!)
