How to Study in Elementary Ancient Greek

Beginning Greek moves very quickly. In one year, we will cover just about all the grammar, build a vocabulary of about 600 words, and begin reading literature. It is therefore important not to fall behind.

Morphology: You will learn the endings for:

• Verbs: six principal parts, six tenses, six moods, three voices, three persons, two numbers
• Nouns: three declensions, five cases, two numbers
• Adjectives: three declensions, five cases, two numbers, three genders
• Pronouns: four cases, two numbers, three genders

Some hints for memorizing:

• Pick a paradigm word for each class (each declension of nouns, an ordinary verb) and make flashcards with all the forms of this word.
• Recite the forms of several different nouns or verbs. For example, when we learn the imperfect indicative active, work out the forms of this tense/mood/voice combination for each of three different verbs, and say them over to yourself.
• Test yourself: pick a noun or verb and write out all its forms without looking at the book, then correct your work.
• As we learn more tenses and moods, writing out a whole verb will take a long time, so practice writing synopses like the ones you will be doing for homework.
• Look in homework sentences or in readings for forms from the new declension, tense, or mood. Identify them, parse them, and drill yourself: what would it be in the plural? In the genitive? In the first person? And so on.

Syntax: There is relatively little syntax to be learned this year and most of it is in the second semester. Syntax is one of the few areas in this course that requires understanding rather than just memorizing: you need to know why a verb is in a particular mood or a noun is in a particular case. Fortunately, you will get a lot of practice. As you analyze sentences (metaphrase, read with Hale's method), you will be thinking about the syntax of every single word.

Syntax in English is mainly a matter of word order; in Greek it is about the choice of tense and mood or number and gender. You know which noun phrase is the subject and which is the direct object because syntax rules tell you so. In English the normal rule is that the subject comes before the verb and the direct object after it; nouns don't change form to indicate function. In Greek, the rule is that the subject is nominative and the direct object accusative, no matter where their noun phrases appear in the sentence.

If you are skeptical about syntax, have a look ahead at the chapter on conditional sentences. You will find a whole series of sentences, all using the same vocabulary, but meaning different things. The difference in meaning between "If Socrates says this, he corrupts the youth" and "If Socrates had said this, he would have corrupted the youth" entirely comes from their different syntax.

Note that the single most frequent cause of missed points on reading quizzes is neglecting to write down the syntax of the words you're asked to parse.

Vocabulary: You are expected to learn about 600 words this year. Of course the more words you learn now, the easier your life will be later, but your main goal for this year should be morphology. You are responsible for memorizing the vocabulary lists in the chapters of the textbook and, when we get there, the words that occur more than once in Xenophon's Apology. You do not have to memorize other words that appear in readings or quizzes.

When you begin work on a new chapter, read its vocabulary list carefully. The notes will include information about idioms and constructions. Much of this information is not reproduced in the vocabulary in the back of the book, but that list indicates the chapter where you can find the details.

Before you begin doing the homework for a chapter, start work on memorizing its new vocabulary. Here are some pointers:

• Make flashcards, and drill with them daily.
• Be sure to learn all six principal parts of every verb, and all three of every noun or adjective, right from the beginning.
• Look for related English words. Derivatives are easy but cognates can be particularly illuminating. If you know Latin, look for related Latin words as well.
• Write a short Greek sentence for each of the new words.
• Group words by similarities: those that are derived from the same root or from each other, those that are in the same declension or conjugation, those that form their stems the same way.
• Look for mnemonics for words you are apt to confuse: notice how they are different.

Daily Homework Assignments: You will have a written assignment for every class. These assignments will give you practice on new material and let me check up on your understanding. Here is what a typical assignment will contain:

• Straightforward questions or short drills from the workbook, for the current chapter.
• The A exercise from the textbook for the current chapter. This is a group of ten Greek sentences which you will read, manipulate in some way, and (often) translate into English.
• The reading from the current chapter in the textbook and the supplements packet. Since the skill you are developing in this class is reading Greek, this is the most important part of the homework. It's also the most fun. Note that this part of the assignment is not written.
• The B exercise from the textbook for a previous chapter. This is a set of five English sentences which you will translate into Greek. The B exercises will lag behind the A exercises to remind you to look back at earlier grammar and vocabulary.
• Reading comprehension questions from the workbook, for the next chapter. This is to call your attention to important points in the chapter. Read the chapter and begin memorizing the new forms and vocabulary.

You should try to work on Greek every day, not just the night before class meets. In particular, do some work on memorization (drill with flashcards, practice writing out forms, or whatever works for you) every day. Start memorizing the new morphology and vocabulary before trying to do the homework for the chapter. Note that the written assignments themselves are not sufficient for you to learn the material of the course: you will also have to drill yourself.

Approach the written assignment in the order given above, even if I've written the various components on the board in a different order. That is, take the current material first, then the review (English to Greek exercises), then the new material.

Homework is the largest single component of your course grade. Each assignment is graded out of six points, as follows:

• Timeliness: 2 points if you give it to me in class when it is due; 1 point if I get it later the same day; 0 points if it is later than that.
• Completeness: 2 points if you have attempted essentially all of it; 1 point if you've done most of it, but perhaps omitted a section; 0 points if you've done less than half.
• Correctness: 2 points if you clearly understand the work and it is mostly correct (a few small errors are OK); 1 point if there are significant misunderstandings; 0 points if the assignment shows little or no comprehension at all.

When you write up your assignments, skip a line after each sentence. Leave space for comments: my notes on your homework are intended to show you what you're doing well and what you haven't mastered yet.

Here are some pointers for actually doing the homework exercises:

• The workbook has an answer key. Obviously it is counterproductive simply to copy answers from there, but you may find it useful to check yourself if you are not confident of your work. Be careful, though: there are a few typos. Also the translations into Greek are often very ungraceful, though not incorrect. So do not assume the workbook is always right: it's not.
• Memorize first, then do the exercises. It's much faster that way.
• Read the notes in the vocabulary carefully; they will clue you in on idioms and other special uses.
• Do not look up words unnecessarily. If you are unsure of the meaning or form of a word in a homework sentence, let the rest of the sentence help you figure out what it must be. For example, if it is preceded by a nominative plural definite article and followed by a plural verb, you can expect that it is a noun in the nominative plural and it is the subject of the sentence.
• Do not look up words you already know. Be confident. One of the biggest problems students have with Greek assignments is the tendency to look up every single word, just to make sure. This is not a good use of your time, and it tends to reinforce the feeling that you are not sure. If you're keeping up with your memorization, you will know what you need to know.

Extra Practice: Use the unassigned exercises in the workbook for additional practice. Note, though, as observed above, that the answer key has some flaws, so use it with caution.

Re-read the stories from prior chapters until you can read them easily. This includes not only the readings in the book but also the supplement packet and even quiz stories. Naturally if you have written notes and glosses on your text you will not be able to do this, so keep your texts clean.

You may want to work through simple texts using the language tools in Perseus. Good choices include the New Testament, Xenophon, and Apollodorus. Be patient with yourself, though; if you get frustrated, wait a week or so and come back to it.

Other Resources: From the course web page you can find various handouts, links to drill programs, and links to relatively easy readings.

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