Although you may take up to six months to complete Greek I, we recommend that you progress through the course using a 18-week time frame. To help you move through the content of each chapter in a systematic way, we suggest the following learning strategy:

1. Begin with an understanding of the unique challenges of learning a language.

   Learning Greek (or any foreign language) has much in common with learning a sport. The initial work of getting in shape is somewhat agonizing, as you tone up weak muscles, build aerobic endurance, and begin, through a process of sheer hard work and some trial and error, to gain endurance and to master the basic skills of your sport. Later, things begin to "click" as those skills become second nature and their execution flows more naturally. Finally, there come those moments of ecstasy when strength and skill unite for relatively effortless play.

   The challenge of succeeding in biblical Greek is to get past the initial agony so you can experience the ecstasy of discovery that comes later. Unfortunately, for the first year of Greek study the scales may be tipped on the agony side. Because of the cumulative nature of learning a language, mastering beginning Greek will require more than some intense cramming sessions before exams. What will be needed is nothing less than a change in lifestyle. New daily habits of reviewing vocabulary and grammatical forms combined with sustained times of struggling through challenging grammatical concepts and wrestling through the translation exercises will be essential to keep you "in shape." But if you persevere through the mastery of the fundamentals, you'll find the joy of reading the New Testament in its native tongue to be well worth the effort.

2. Focus on vocabulary.

   The single most important thing you can do in learning Greek is to firmly commit the new vocabulary to memory and to sustain your knowledge through regular review. The following steps have proven helpful to many:

   1. Begin your study of each chapter by reviewing the list of vocabulary words at the end of each chapter (beginning with ch. 4). Write out each word and practicing how to pronounce it. Writing out and vocalizing the words fosters memory retention by engaging several senses in the learning process at one time. If you have difficulty pronouncing the words, consult the Mounce CD included with your textbook.
   2. As you learn the words, associate each Greek word with an English memory aid. Often this will be an English word that has a Greek root, such as kardia and "cardiac arrest." With other words you may need to create your own memory aid. Don't be concerned if your memory aid sounds silly; the sillier it is, the easier it will be to remember! For example, one student memorized oikoV, the Greek word for "house," by picturing a house that was as dirty as a sty, with a bunch of pigs running around inside - an "oinkos"!
   3. Once you have familiarized yourself with the new words for a particular chapter, pull the cards from the Mounce vocabulary flash card set for review. Make a habit of going over the new vocabulary cards at least twice daily. As you review, pronounce each of the Greek words audibly. Add your memory aid on the English side of each card. Learn the words both from Greek to English and from English to Greek. Rearrange the cards frequently. Combine card review with handwriting by looking at the English meaning, writing the Greek word, and then checking what you wrote against the Greek side of the card. Have a friend read the English meanings and then say the Greek words.
   4. Use the FlashWorks software program on the CDRom included with your Mounce textbook to review your vocabulary.
3. Grasp the grammar for each chapter.
   1. Often Mounce will review relevant English grammatical concepts before introducing new Greek material. Make sure you have a good grasp of the English backgrounds before advancing to the corresponding Greek information. Use a basic English reference book such as Essential English Grammar by Philip Gucker (Dover, 1966) to review English grammar where necessary. Reread any sections that seem unclear or cause you confusion.
   2. As you move into the new Greek concepts for each chapter, read the section carefully and make sure you understand what is being said. Pay attention to details, since effective translation and exegesis requires that you retain even small bits of linguistic information. Consult the supplementary Webnotes provided on this site to gain additional insights. Often the Webnotes reflect questions raised frequently by students related to the material covered. You may even want to consult a secondary grammar to see how a different author explains the concept under consideration. There are dozens of Greek grammars on the market, and often good secondary resources can be found in used books stores or on Amazon. The recommended Greek Tutor program provides a complete, software-based supplementary grammar that not only explains the grammatical concepts, but provides drills to help you work through the Greek paradigms (word charts). Finally, the CD-Rom that came with your Mounce textbook contains introductory lectures by the author that may be helpful as you work through each chapter. More in-depth lectures may be purchased from Mounce's website (www.teknia.com).
4. Integrate into your learning the inflectional forms.

   If vocabulary is the most important key to learning a new language, thoroughly learning the patterns of inflection (or word change) contained in the basic paradigms is the second most important. Yet at the same time, learning the paradigms is an area where students most often feel overwhelmed. There are well over 1000 inflectional forms to be learned in basic Greek, and mastering them all will depend on detecting the patterns of similarity between the various paradigms. As with learning vocabulary, it is helpful to take a number of approaches to tackling the paradigms.

   1. To begin, study each chart as a whole, discerning the inflectional patterns and noting similarities between forms. In studying adjectives, for example, you will notice that the neuter forms are often identical to the masculine forms and that the genitive plural ending -wn is a constant in most paradigms. Detecting recurrent patterns of inflection is a useful way to reduce the number of bits of information that have to be learned by rote.
   2. Once you've studied the paradigm as a whole, practice writing the forms from memory on a sheet of notebook paper. Typing the Greek charts on your computer using the TekniaGreek font or a Unicode font is a great alternative way to review the forms and practice your Greek keyboarding skills at the same time. See the Greek Keyboarding page for more information on getting started with typing in Greek.
   3. One of the best ways to review inflectional forms is by using flashcards. Visual Education (www.vis-ed.com) offers a box of 1000 3.5" x 1.5" blank language flashcards that are the perfect size to review your forms. It takes a bit of time and effort to write out the forms from each paradigm on the blank cards, but it is not much more taxing than writing out the charts on notebook paper. Besides, the process of creating the cards is a learning experience in itself, and the card sets will provide you with a valuable review resource for years to come.

      As you create your card sets, put the Greek form on one side and the parsing (grammatical analysis) and English meaning on the other. Review the cards by looking at the Greek word, reading it aloud, and then stating the parsing and English meaning before checking the other side of the card. Another way to use the cards is to mix them up and then lay them out on a table in the correct arrangement to match the paradigm. Still another use is to review the English and parsing side of each card and write the Greek word on a piece of paper before reviewing the Greek side of the card.

   4. Use the ParseWorks software from the CDRom incuded with your Mounce textbook for helpful, chapter-specific parsing exercises.
   5. Finally, the recommended Greek Tutor software (available for PC only) incorporates learning drills for the most important paradigms.

   If you employ a variety of approaches to learning the Greek paradigms and review the newest forms frequently (again, at least twice per day is recommended), you should have a firm foundation upon which to move toward translating and exegeting the New Testament text. You should also be adequately prepared for the course examinations.

5. Put learning into practice by using the Mounce Workbook.

   The workbook exercises for each chapter are an excellent way to prepare for both the grammar, parsing, and translation portions of the course exams. They also provide a good way to flex your Greek muscles and check your skill in making good English sense of complex Greek sentences. Because the workbook exercises are drawn from the New Testament text, they represent not an artificially oversimplified form of Greek but the actual language you will encounter as you move directly into translation and exegesis. Since a significant portion of each Greek 1 examination involves the translation (with helps) of a passage from the New Testament, working through these workbook exercises will be critical to performing well on exams. The workbook exercises should be completed only after you have learned the chapter's new vocabulary, carefully worked through the grammatical concepts, and done some diligent drilling on the new paradigms. The workbook exercises are divided into several sections:

   1. The Parsing section of each exercise unit provides a convenient place to review relevant paradigms and practice parsing inflected words. You'll notice that an important part of parsing is providing the lexical form and inflected meaning of each of the words in the exercises. This stresses the importance not only of learning the Greek forms but of understanding how they impact translation.
   2. The Warm-up section helps you work through the grammatical concepts learned in the chapter. These exercises offer short Greek phrases or sentences that focus on how grammar impacts English translation.
   3. The Translation section gives you portions of actual sentences adapted from the Greek New Testament. Words that have not yet been covered are translated for you, and footnotes explain problematic words, phrases, and idioms. (Note that the "references" section at the end of each workbook exercise unit provides the Scripture references for each of the phrases and sentences to be translated. These references enable you to compare your Workbook translations with a literal English translation of the Bible, such as the New American Standard Version.)
   4. The Additional section provides more challenging Greek sentences from the New Testament and beyond (including the Septuagint Greek Old Testament [commonly abbreviated LXX] and the Apostolic Fathers). While these optional sentences go beyond the scope of the translation work to be covered in your Greek 1 examinations, they are helpful in broadening the horizons of your understanding of biblical Greek.
   5. The Summary section provides a final opportunity to get an overview of all the chapter contents before you move on to the next chapter. If you encounter grammatical concepts or translation issues that raise questions or cause confusion, remember that just as there are Webnotes related to the content of each chapter, there are also Webnotes that provide specific help in completing the Workbook exercises. Read through these carefully as you complete each exercise.
6. Prepare for and take the unit exam.
   1. Use your flashcards to review all the vocabulary words and new paradigm forms covered in the chapters included in the unit covered by the exam. Review the new points of grammar you have learned in these chapters as well.
   2. Although the grammar and parsing sections of each exam will cover only new points of grammar and new forms learned in the chapters covered by the exam, the translation section of the exam will draw upon your knowledge of the vocabulary and inflectional forms covered since the beginning of the course. So be sure to continue a broader review of the vocabulary and forms learned previously even as you focus on the new material learned in the past few chapters.
   3. The examinations for Greek I are correlated with the Review sections of the Mounce Workbook. Complete the Review section of the Workbook that corresponds to the chapters covered in the examination. With the exception of Review #1, the sections are divided into grammar, parsing, and translation sections, and these correspond to the major areas covered on each exam.
   4. Use the online study guide to review specific areas to be covered by the exam.
   5. Take the online practice examination. The practice exam, while not identical to the actual exam, covers the same subject areas with similar types of questions. Correct the practice examination using the provided key. If you miss a particular question, review that subject area again.
   6. Once you feel adequately prepared and well rested, take the actual examination online or in the presence of your approved proctor. Consult the Exam Procedure page for more information on requesting and taking Greek I online exams. If you have questions, request lab assistance by email.