Since vocab learning and retention is one of the biggest hurdles for keeping your Greek, I thought I’d share some more thoughts on this for your feedback. It’s been helpful so far!
My thoughts can be grouped into principles of learning and retention, and tools to achieve this. The following is a summary; it’ll be fleshed-out in the book, of course.
Caveat: I don’t necessarily expect everyone to use all of these; they’re ideas and suggestions (though some are more important than others).
Tell me: what do you think, and what’s missing?
How to learn/remember words
1. Invent a memory hook for each word.
2. Make each word your friend.
3. Pronounce each word.
4. Try listening to vocab (make your own recording or download).
5. Try writing vocabulary out by hand.
6. Practice going from English to Greek, not just Greek to English (more advanced).
7. Make vocab a part of your life. Busy people need a pattern that does not take much time or effort.
Tools
1. A New Reader’s Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. This provides rare vocabulary for each passage in the GNT, which makes reading more enjoyable AND facilitates learning the vocab you don’t already know for any passage you might be working on.
2. A Reader’s Greek New Testament. This is similar to the above.
3. Various software tools (there’ll be an index of these, I think). My favourite is iVocabulary for iPhone.
Posted by Con Campbell
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Con Campbell
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Yep, I’ve found all of those useful.
Specifics on memory hooks that have helped me are:
- Acted memory hooks. Say πηδάω while jumping around, or γέφυρα while driving under a bridge; and,
- Learn it in a sentence. So whenever I think of “ἅτε” I think of one of LSJ’s citations (“ἅτε τὸν χρυσὸν ἔχων” – as he had [all] the gold [of Sardis] Hd1:154). The LSJ at Perseus is really good for this because you link through from the citiations to the texts and translations to quickly pick a memorable phrase.
Interesting idea.
I have found memory hooks to be very useful. I still remember a classmate mentioning “no stew” for νηστευω to help remember its meaning. However, I come up with hooks for words that I find confusing because there is another word that looks or sounds similar. I don’t take the time to do it for each word.
I do pronounce each word in my head as I go through flashcards. I’m normally in a setting where saying each word out loud would get me some funny looks.
I think the biggest thing is making vocab a part of my daily life. I used to do brute-force flashcards and go through hundreds a day. Now that I use more sophisticated software (I use Anki) I have it down to a few dozen each day in Greek and in Hebrew. I think brute-force is good when learning the new vocab, but for lasting retention I like a more intelligent review process. I think I have the hang of words like οτι, και, αυτος, λυω, etc and don’t need to review them since I am reading Greek every day too.
Great! Thanks.
As I read the GNT, I had thought that if I write an occasional verse that especially jumps out at me (either for devotional reasons, grammatical reasons or vocab enhancement) in my Moleskine and then make that verse a Greek memory verse my grasp of the vocab, and grammar would increase by means of the compiled databank within my own memory. Does that make sense. I’m hoping that just as hiding the word itself in my heart is useful for increasing understanding, teaching, theology so also would hiding God’s word in Greek in my heart be useful for these things but plus at the same time build up my grasp of Greek grammar and vocabulary providing me with an internal concordance. Unfortunately so far coming up with this idea is much easier than maintaining the daily discipline to making it happen.
Greek memory verses are an interesting idea! Probably for more advanced users, I would say.
Tooootally stealing this idea for my Greek students.
I heartily agree with the methods prescribed above, and have benefitted from all of them in learning vocabulary. My newest strategy for keeping and gradually advancing my Greek vocabulary, is to make frequency based vocab lists using Accordance. For example, I am currently reading 1 Peter along with Clowney’s commentary, and I have made a vocab list of the words used in 1 Peter 20x or less (kind of like Kubo’s “special vocab”). I try to be diligent enough to learn the vocab for the verses that I will read following the commentary’s divisions–typically 5-10 verses. So far, I have been pleased with the results. I have found that studying the vocab and then seeing it contextually in my reading helps me remember it. Also, I am learning new words and stretching my existing vocabulary. Studying vocab within the context of one book can also prove very interesting because certain writers prefer certain uncommon words. You see that repetition studying the frequency list. I keep my list on hand in case I get stuck, and try not to be so rigid to the point that it takes away from the devotional quality. All of this is in an effort to ween myself off of Zondervan’s Reader’s Greek New Testament. I used this tool faithfully through my M.Div. and loved it, but my vocabulary was not growing at all! I am not a computer genius, and learned how to create the frequency lists by googling some online forums–it is very easy. Hope this helps.
Gold! Thanks.
I do this with my Latin students, and I’m thinking of assigning it for my Greek students too — if there is an English derivative (obviously much more common with Latin), they write it on the back of their vocab card above the definition and they’re responsible for memorizing at least one derivative for each vocabulary word. Some derivatives are obvious (especially the preposition-based ones) but I find it quite helpful to be deliberate in learning derivatives, even if they’re really obscure or arcane, and even if they’re not English words you’re immediately familiar with. It just creates another memory hook — a neural pathway, so to speak.
Oh, Mounce includes derivatives as footnotes to his vocab lists, so that’s a shortcut, but a good dictionary is all you really need.
Great list Con.
I also like to learn cognates together. (Or perhaps more accurately, wish I had done as I discover them down-the-track!). It feels like I’m reinforcing the one idea from a couple of angles at once.
Yes, cognate-learning is an approach that works for many people.
One will learn verbs in their lexical form, but it can be harder to parse a verb in a particular tense/voice/mood, especially if it is irregular. One idea is to use your Bible software to print out a sheet of the different forms of a particular verb based on its use in the NT. While it may not be beneficial right away to learn a particular form of a verb that occurs once, it would be beneficial to incorporate into your vocabulary a particular form of a verb if it occurs more than 20-30 times (for example, an irregular verb that occurs in 2 Aorist 30+ times).
Interesting idea. Thanks.
Hi Con. You may find my Greek resources on deinde.org useful for what you are discussing. (www.deinde.org). As far as vocabulary goes, I sell multimedia packs with audio attached to the flashcards and image/mnemonics.
Next year, I will be greatly expanding these vocabulary packs to be tagged by frequency and parts of speech, as well as including contextual examples (like those mentioned in by other commenters).
You and other readers may also be interested in my “flashcard roundup” under the Greek section of Deinde as well. It lists vocabulary helps available on the net for various different grammars.
Thanks, Danny. That’s a great site you have there. I’ll be sure to make use of it.
Hi Con. One thing I found helpful was learning vocabulary from lists. Sometimes knowing where a word was on a page helped me remember it. Or that, for example, meros came after melos (Sorry, no unicode keyboard installed on this PC).
Hi Joshua, I found the same thing. Lists seem especially good for visual learners.
Conman – revising out loud, off lists, with a big whiteboard, with hooks, actions etc etc etc, WITH A FRIEND regularly is the only way for me (maybe it has more to do with being an extrovert, not a bookish introvert as a certain bishop described a lot of his Sydney clergy, or perhaps it has more to do my own lack of discipline or my ADHD???)
Happy birthday to you – legit – in a couple weeks I believe?
One more idea: possibly should have been most obvious to me – the way for me that I retain stuff, especially Greek, is BY TEACHING it.
My number one suggestion is to either tutor someone, or start a small group, or get a job at a worthy institution (soft option really).
Btw this makes me feel better about the legend Fortescuuuue spending so many hours leading up to exams reading Greek and helping a couple of us less able bodies recognise the significant verbs and structures in the wild – he kept telling us he was benefitting as well – I should have believed him!
Good point, Gary. Teaching helps.