Biblical Greek I and II

Biblical Greek is a class that scares most theology majors. This need not be if you get a head start on the class.

It is important the summer before or even the year before to begin memorizing the alphabet. As you get to the point where you can look at the different letters and immediately think of the sound instead of the symbol, you are ready to get a jump start on the class. This will take a lot of practice, but like reading English or your native tongue, it is worth it.

Another survival tip is to start memorizing Greek vocabulary. You can do this using Mounce's Vocabulary Cards or using Learncurve which has Mounce's vocabulary cards available in an XML file that the Learncurve program uses. If you can memorize the first hundred and fifty words in the stack it will be mostly smooth sailing during your first semester. Memorize five hundred and your Greek class life will be a whole lot easier.

Over the years different teachers have taught Greek with different books. Eugene Prewitt and Jeff Arthur have used the Griggs Correspondence materials which use the book Alpha Through Omega by Bertram Melbourne, Richard Zuill used the Living Koine Greek series of books in conjunction with Basics of Biblical Greek by William Mounce, and Scott Burgess has followed with just using Mounce's grammar. Do yourself a favor and stick with Mounce's grammar. Alpha Through Omega is contrary to the full title not a user-friendly guide. It teaches Greek in such a way that it gets harder the further you go. The Living Koine Greek series is great if you have the time to commit to it. Randall Buth who is behind that series of books has done a lot to enhance Biblical language teaching, but it is still a pioneer effort that doesn't fit too well in two semesters yet. Mounce hits the balance just right between these two and will work for getting you through first year Greek. The Living Koine Greek series is an excellent follow up to your first year. Regardless of what textbook the teacher uses, please buy and use a copy of Mounce for yourself. You will not regret it.

The last survival tip is learn to enjoy Greek. If you don't enjoy it, you will not spend the time with it that you need. If you don't spend enough time with it, you will have a very hard time in the class. Successful Greek students are those who enjoy it. They love the subject and easily put a lot of time into it. The bottom line is invest the time, and that will only happen if you love it.