Friday, July 27, 2012

Update on Greek, Hebrew and Thoughts on Pronunciation

Right now, I'm focusing a little more on reading my UBS Greek New Testament Reader's Edition. Along with that, I have been listening to John H. Dobson's CD that accompanies his book Learn Biblical Hebrew. His method of teaching is different from other language resources and I find it quite helpful.

I am also considering developing my own New Testament Greek lessons in order to spur my growth in this language. I found that my ability to understand and speak Spanish increased drastically when I began making up my own lessons for that a few years ago.

I find the study of pronunciation to be just as important in language learning as is the study of grammar. I'm thinking about this for two reasons, 1) scholars and seminarians pronounce New Testament Greek in the Erasmian style, which sounds strange and artificial to anyone familiar with native Greek. There really should be no controversy over this, but as with all minor points, there is; and 2) in order to hear what people are saying in Spanish, I have to listen very hard to the way they pronounce the words in sentences, because they often do not sound the same when different native speakers talk than when they are learned in the classroom. For that reason, pronunciation learning is an exercise not to be neglected.

My two cents.