Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Greek

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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I originally used this book in college to learn Classical Greek, which I studied with a 78 year old Jesuit. It was probably the same book he initially learned Greek from. It dates from the time when Greek studies were losing ground in American academia, but when any educated college graduate worth his salt was still expected to have a smattering of the language. And it was typical of that period: short lessons, each one of them full of grammatical meat to digest. Paradigms, lots of 'em. The unspoken assumption that you already had some Latin, probably four years of it at the high school level, and so you were used to the drill. Cute little Classical cultural asides, the type designed to keep a young student's interest up. Short excerpts from Plato, Heroditus, the playwrights, and of course Xenophon, the Greek student's first companion.

I'm glad I held on to it. When I went back to relearn in earnest the Greek I learned so badly while in school, it was the most useful source I had. I have run across many other books to learn Attic Greek, but I always keep going back to this one. Somewhere within its covers there is an explanation for everything in the language.

The somewhat antiquated format may not appeal to you, unless you like that kind of thing (I do), but if you've already used some other book on learning Classical Greek, I have no doubt that you will find this book useful as a supplement and reference.

This is without a doubt the best book from which to learn attic (classical) greek from. I used this book in college to learn greek and of those I have seen it is the easiest to use and the most complete. It is somewhat difficult to use to teach yourself but is doable.

The other reviewers are right: it's possible to learn Ancient Greek from this classic, but the feeling of not knowing you are right or wrong at the exercises is sometimes annoying. It should be a good idea to start a collaborative task force in order to provide all the answers for free over the net.

I think this book is geared toward mature self-learners, mainly those who already know Latin. For newcomers the book Learning Greek With Plato (Bristol Phoenix Press - Classical Handbooks) is a far better alternative.

I have used this book a number of times with students who wanted to learn Greek. It's not really suitable for a self-taught course, but it has features that make it handy for those who have some Latin under their belts. The approach is indeed old-fashioned, and I don't know that there are any answer keys. The aim of the book is toward Xenophon just as older Latin books were headed toward Caesar, very old-school British. The vocabulary has that military flavor to some extent, but a girl whom I have taught recently was very excited about reading four axioms of Euclid and then announced it to her Math teacher.

I read through numerous reviews and picked Crosby & Schaeffer as my introduction to Greek. Having completed Wheelock's Latin I am satisfied with the approach and have enjoyed completing the first few lessons already.

However, if I may turn the review into somewhat of a request--I am learning on my own, without the aid of an instructor. I was aware that no answer key is provided in the book itself. But is one available on the internet, perhaps from instructors that have utilized the text in their classrooms? It would be immensely helpful to the self-learner. Please reply via a comment to this review.

I was a classics major in college. The professor used Athenaze *spelling* my first year taking Greek. Second year, we used this book when I had a new professor. This book is condense. It covers the mechanics of the language with some light reading. Comparing the two methods in Crosby/Schaeffer and in Athenaze, I prefer Athenaze because you dive right in and learn to read classical Greek by reading classical Greek. I feel rewarded for reading whole paragraphs. Building confidence is very important in learning a new language. Also with this method you expand your vocabulary faster in my opinion, thus saving time in a dictionary looking up words. However there are times where I found the condensed information in Crosby/Schaeffer refreshing and informative. I would recommend having both. If you come across a grammatical mechanic and have trouble with it in Athenaze, reading a different perspective could possibly help you get past the hump. If you are a nuts and bolts person, then this is the basis book to learn classical Greek. I would just suggest doing additional reading in Athenaze for the vocabulary building and practice reading. Athenaze starts you off with reading paragraphs at a time in story form. Crosby usually has a few sentences for each chapter/lesson, which can leave you wanting for more.

Like everyone else on here, I used this text back at UNC in an intensive course. As we went through the text, with a great instructor, Dr. West, I was careful to use a notebook to record all the correct answers to the exercises. In other words, I made my own answer key. I have searched high and low for it but cannot find it. I am a pack rat but I have the feeling it is gone. I would also enjoy a collaborative effort to create an answer key for this book. Any takers?

Robert

I used this book to learn Greek in college. Along the way a friend 'borrowed' my copy, so I finally replaced. I will work my way through it over the next two years. It is a very straight forward no frills approach. It asks you to memorize vocabulary, translate from and into Greek.

I bought the Bolchazy edition (as opposed to the one published by Dover). It's high quality and holds up well. The text is clear, easy to read, although the print is a little small for my middle-aged eyes, but I can manage it.

I love the format of the book -- short lessons, easy-to-learn vocabulary lists, clear and concise overall style. The photos and quotes with each lesson are also a plus.

The lack of an answer key is an issue if you are learning on your own. I have a strong language background so I'm not overly intimidated by the lack of an answer key, but someone without extensive language studies (Latin, especially) would probably find that more of a factor to consider.

My only issue was there seemed to be too little practice. I was just being lazy, of course, wanting the book to provide what I can well provide for myself. I now use a dry erase board to write out forms, then I check what I've written against the book. It's quick, easy, and let's me write BIG which is helpful when writing a new script (and focusing on accent marks). You can pick up a small dry erase board for a few bucks -- it's worth it.

Because this book is so concise, my best advice is just go slow, take your time with it, practice and repeat and repeat and practice until you really have a lesson down, then move on, then go back and review again. I review everything from the introduction through to the current chapter on a constant basis. Literally. The review never stops for me. Repetition is invaluable. And don't just do the exercises -- copy the Greek sentences from the book for extra practice, and write out every word you learn in every form you've learned for it! Try making your own sentences based closely on the examples. Put the work in and this little book can teach you Ancient Greek!

Did I mention -- I'm thrilled with this book!

The book is in very good condition, but the wait was very long. It got here on time, but it was very close to the deadline date of delivery.