Classes

Beginning Greek Web Class

1. Course Description

The beginning Greek course covers essential Greek grammar. To learn how to read Greek (as with any language) with any degree of fluency the student must learn to think in Greek. Most Greek courses teach people how to work with Greek in English terms. In other words, there is no understanding of the text until it is converted into English. This course is different from the typical Greek course in that it focuses on training students to think in Biblical Greek through Greek stories, conversational dialogues and compositions. It is also different in its format. Students can work through lectures and audio exercises such as dialogues on their own time and then attend live office hours each week to work through their personal questions. This is also a fantastic safety net for anyone that falls behind the pace of the course or needs to work at it on their own schedule.

So if you are excited about learning Ancient Greek as a foreign language and want to learn it actively as other modern languages, this tutorial was designed for you. Remember; since Greek is not a dead language, there is no need to learn just enough to silently decipher the New Testament as one might translate a dusty gravestone inscription. Greek is a living language, and Ancient Greek needs only be revived by this and future generations.

Course Text Books:

Oxford Press has developed a time tested world renowned curriculum called Athenaze. It is a story driven grammar that introduces the student to ancient Greek culture, relationships, work, literature and history. Between the text, workbook and supplemental materials (such as "A Greek Boy at Home" by WHD Rouse and "Living Koine Greek" by Dr. Randall Buth) students have the opportunity to gradually grow accustomed to reading large selections of Greek each week. By the end of the second book of the curriculum, students will be prepared to actually read works in Greek, rather than merely learning about the language. If you are serious about truly learning how to read Greek easily, this is the curriculum that will guide you all of the way to the end. A student who completes the curriculum should easily be placed in an intermediate Greek course at the college or graduate level.

To begin the course you will need the Athenaze text book 1 and workbook 1. Once you are a few chapters into the course you are welcome to use Randall Buth’s book 1 with CD as a recommend optional resource.

Course Pronunciation:

Contrary to popular opinion, Greek is not a dead language. The language has undergone a number of dialectical changes, but the language itself has maintained its integrity for thousands of years. God has seen fit to preserve the language of the New Testament to this present day with basically the same sound. If it were possible for you to hear Timothy speaking Greek and then someone from modern Greece, you would certainly ascertain that they were speaking the same language. This would not be the case with Homer, whose Greek dialect had significantly different sounds.

Most Biblical Greek courses taught in America today use the Erasmian pronunciation, which began as an attempt to speak Greek as it was spoken before the Koiné period. However, the Erasmian pronunciation has now become merely an anglicized pedagogical construction that was never used by Greeks at any time. Since this course teaches the language as it was used in Biblical times, we will not use the Erasmian pronunciation but rather the true historic and ethnic Greek pronunciation identified by Randall Buth (how the New Testament writers themselves spoke). This system has many benefits over the Erasmian systems such distinguishing vowels that Modern Greek doesn't. But it does so in a historic way that doesn't offend the Modern Greek ear. The advantage it has over the typical American version (the Erasmian pronunciation) is that it also distinguishes vowel sounds that the Erasmian pronunciation wrongly confuses and Ancient Greek would have held distinct (i.e., ει as different from η). Given the variety within Erasmian systems and the phonemic historicity of Buth's system, it should not offend the Academics or Modern Greeks. Further, it will enable us to learn the language like ancient Greeks.

2. Prerequisites

The course is a beginning course and does not require any previous experience with Greek. Many people actually learn English grammar as they learn Biblical Greek. The course is best suited for students who are at least 14 years old (It is preferable for those 14-15 to have had some previous experience with a foreign language). At the other end of the spectrum you are never too old to learn ancient Greek so there is no upper age limit.

3. Course Format

Once you register for the course and pay the tuition, your account at www.biblicalgreek.org/grammar/athenaze/ will be activated. This will unlock the recorded video lectures (approximately 30 minutes per lesson), story recordings, and video conversational dialogues pertaining to the stories. It will also contain directions to log into the class account at www.greekexam.com so you can take the quizzes and unit exams.) Within your account there is a web page with all of the links to these recordings and all of the vocabulary with clickable pronunciation for you to learn for each lesson.

Each week we have scheduled times for you to meet with an instructor to answer your individual questions and practice your conversational skills. One of the meeting times is called the cohort meeting which will begin after Labor Day. This session will work through the exercises in one lesson each week and will be recorded for anyone signed up for the course to watch on their own schedule (for review or to help those who can’t attend the live session). The other meeting times are open year round (except for holiday weeks) and are designed to help students at any level.

The live conferences use Adobe’s Acrobat Connect Pro to meet online. This system is flash based so it will work with both PC’s and MAC’s and firewalls are not a problem. The conferencing system allows students to see the instructor and interact online through their microphones. Students are also welcome to type comments and questions in the real-time chat window during the conferences. This additional mode of communication increases the amount of classroom interaction and benefits students in a way not possible in a conventional classroom.

4. Time and Schedule of Web Classes

Students may begin the course and complete it at any time. Typically there is a larger group of students who enroll during summer break and get a head start for the cohort sessions that begin the week after Labor Day. Another common beginning time is mid-January after winter break. Nevertheless, there are enough scheduled meeting slots during the week that students can begin at anytime during the year.

Below is a chart, showing the live meeting times for all of our online classes. Since all of the lectures and exercises are recorded the live sessions are not required, but a helpful benefit for personal instruction. Think of the recorded videos as the class portion of the course and the live meetings as office hours. The available meeting times are displayed in green. There are two cohort meetings on Thursday. One begins the week after Labor Day and finishes in the summer. The second one begins at the beginning of Feburary and finishes prior to Decemeber (allowing for some breaks in the summer.) These meetings work through the exercises of each lesson (1 lesson per week) and is recorded to be available for those who can’t attend the live meeting time. The other sessions run year round so students can work at their own pace or get a head start on the cohort sessions. Each student has access to the live meetings for one year after they sign up. If they wish to continue to attend the live sessions after that period they can sign up for a monthly subscription to live sessions ($25 per month cancelable and reinstatable at any time). Our goal is to be as flexible as possible with your personal learning pace.

Meetings will not occur during weeks when Prof. Schwandt must travel and on the following holidays:

1. New Years
2. Good Friday
3. Memorial Day
4. 4th of July
5. Labor Day
6. Thanksgiving
7. Christmas

* The Fall Cohort runs for a typical academic year beginning the week after Labor Day and finishing in June.

* The Spring Cohort runs for a similar time period beginning in February and ending in November with some breaks in the summer.

5. Instructors

John Schwandt

All of the lectures, conversational dialogues, story recordings and vocabulary recording are recorded by John Schwandt, M.A. He also hosts the live Greek cohort meetings and office hours. He is a Senior Fellow of Classical Languages at New St. Andrews College and has taught Greek at the college level since 1997. Mr. Schwandt was the senior editor of the ESV reverse interlinear Bible and recorded the Greek New Testament for the German Bible Society (available through Logos Software). He also is the voice behind the Greek recordings in Bible Works software and Bible Soft Software. He developed the Greek In A Week, which is now called New Testament Language Training. This is an intensive language learning course which he has been offering in various locations multiple times each year since 1998. Mr. Schwandt founded and served as the director of the National Biblical Greek Exam for nearly a decade. Prof. Schwandt is known as an energetic instructor whose enthusiasm for Greek is contagious.

6. Fees and Registration Information

The course tuition is only $450. This works out to approximately $7.50 for each hour of instruction. (Compare this to the price of piano lessons.) This is also comparable to $75 per college credit. We can also offer two payment plans if necessary.

Upon completion of Athenaze volume 1, students are encouraged to enroll the second year course to complete volume 2. Although we recommend taking your time to work through volume 2 of Athenaze, often times graduate students need to complete beginning Greek within one year. We have an accelerated summer Biblical Greek track, schedule and resources to help them accomplish their goal.

The required textbooks are not included in the course tuition. Tuition includes hours of audio/video lectures, readings, exercises, quizzes, exams and one year of access to live weekly office hours.