If you’ve followed me for a long enough time then you’re probably already familiar with how I approach modern languages. How do we avoid treating Koine Greek like a code-breaking exercise? How does someone learn a dead language as if it’s still alive? But can you treat a dead language like it’s still alive? You learn the alphabet, some core vocabulary and enough familiarity to navigate a lexicon.īut imagine being able to pick up a Greek New Testament, read a Pauline letter fluently and actually hear the human who wrote this – hear and get a feel for the human creativity behind all the little nuances, words and expressions the author used. In other words: never actually learn the language. It’s almost expected that you’ll forever rely on a lexicon, grammar tables and commentaries in order to use Greek.
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NT Greek classes today don’t teach the language as a once living, natural language – instead classes are more like code-breaking sessions where you learn the appropriate rules and then proceed to crack the text. You certainly wouldn’t see this in any modern language course.Īs I’ve said before, in order to become a translator you need to first know a language. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how completely unrealistic this is. We expect students to go from zero knowledge of a language to translating deep, abstract theological concepts in the New Testament within a few short months of study.
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That’s essentially what we do with NT Greek courses. “By Week 12 of this term, we’ll be translating the philosophy of Jacque Derrida.” Imagine walking into your first French lesson and being handed a curriculum for advanced French translation on day one:
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With modern languages, we don’t start off by learning how to become a translator like we do with ancient languages like Koine. I think the way that Koine is traditionally taught is backward and a lot more tedious than it needs to be. It’s at this point that I want to present a challenge to every NT Greek student (and teacher): So when translating Koine Greek, we can’t escape the fact that the grammar is truly important to learn. “I have stolen money” on the other hand could have happened years ago and you’re just recalling it as a past experience. Saying “I stole money” sounds a lot more serious and recent – like a confession of something you’ve just done. If you think of the difference in English between “I have stolen money” and “I stole money” – it’s not just a small grammatical difference. This is especially true with Koine where an incorrect verb tense can have enormous theological ramifications. Just hearing terms like optative mood, second Aorist middle and periphrastic tenses is enough to make a student drop out of Greek and give up altogether.īut the reality is that learning these things is unavoidable and necessary. I was poring over highly respected Greek textbooks like The Elements of New Testament Greek by Duff and Wenham, and Basics of Biblical Greek by William Mounce which go into great detail on all the fundamental aspects of Koine grammar and I kept asking myself: What’s wrong with the way most colleges (and resources) teach Koine Greek? I’ve been reflecting on this for a long time: The problem with the way Koine Greek is taught One of my main goals with this project is to identify the points where Koine Greek is a major struggle, look at how it’s commonly taught and see if I can find a way to radically improve it. I’m going to share some of that with you. Today I’ve been reflecting on my initial struggles with Greek way back in college and also the common points of confusion that my peers had when starting the language. I can already see those aspects of Koine Greek that are etched into my memory forever.Īnd other parts that I must have not learned properly as I’ve completely forgotten them. This is why I believe that if you learned a language in school but can’t remember it, it means you never really learned it in the first place. This past two weeks has really been an eye-opener for me as to how much I truly remember.Īs I’ve said before, if you learn a language properly the first time then you never forget it. It’s always bugged me as I’ve never liked leaving things incomplete! ? 300 BC to 300 AD) ancestor to today’s Greek and a language that I spent 4 years on in college but never quite completed. I jumped back into serious Greek study about two weeks ago.Īs I mentioned in my last post, I’ve committed myself to learning Modern Greek to conversational fluency this year while also reviving and mastering Koine Greek.