Customer Reviews

Learn Ancient Greek (Greek & Latin Language) (Greek and Latin Language)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love this book so far (up to chapter 5). It's elegantly simple but very effective. I've also been doing the JACT course, and while it is very good and certainly much more comprehensive, it just didn't grab me. Jones uses a lot of repetition to drill things in, and it works because unlike the JACT course, I'm finding things are actually sticking in my head. Fortunately, Jones also has a very silly sense of humour, so this does make all the repetition rather more fun.

I've been trying to do 1/2 to 1 chapter most evenings just before I go to sleep. While Jones wants you to write everything down, I've been saying it out loud while trying to visualise it in my head. It's harder at first but I find I'm retaining more. Also because I don't have an easy reference of vocabulary, I'm forced to think a little more to see if I remember something.

What's great about this book is that it makes Ancient Greek approachable, and well, fun! I really can't express the difference it made, I'm finding reading in Greek so much easier because I'm now actually being able to think in Greek. And I actually look forward to doing exercises!

If you're self-learning a language, and finding standard textbooks to be drier than toast, give Peter Jones' "Learn ___: A Lively Introduction to Reading the Language" books a try! I have his book for Latin, and it enabled me to get over the initial learning curve and see that I would be able to learn this language after all. So, when I saw that he had another book for Ancient Greek, I snagged it as quickly as possible! These books began as a popular series of newspaper columns in the UK, and were subsequently published as books due to popular demand.

Some reviews about this handbook sound quite enthusiastic, a few do not.

First of all, I should like to make clear that I am not new to studying ancient and modern languages, both by myself or with a teacher.

I have decided to take up Greek seriously (a long standing wish) on my own to give my passion for historical lingustics a sounder basis and I bought several British and American textbooks as there is no self study material in Italian.

There is no doubt about Dr Jones being competent, that is wholly out of question. I like his humour too, his light hearted way of illustrating grammar as if it were real fun: I may be a linguist in the core but I find learning declensions by heart just a little more easy than a common high school pupil would therefore heartily welcoming any device that can make things more palatable.

Up to chapter five (included) things are just fine. I do not like (well, I abhor) the leaving the accents aside, but this is very common way in Anglo-american textbooks: I see no reason why it should be so but so it is and one cannot blame Dr Jones too much for doing just the same.
Accents aside, learning is easy and entertaining and you really get the impression of making the most of your time.

From chapter six things get sticky. Grammar is still nicely illustrated but the examples and excercises are no longer up to the task of making you learn what has been so entertainingly explained. Reasoning leads one near to nowhere: one must begin learning by heart and doing the (few) excercises again and again in the attempt of memorizing vocabulary and constructions.

An even stickier problem is the choice of readings. Probably in the attempt of confronting his reader with real texts to awaken his/her interest, Dr Jones is just too eager in introducing nearly unadulterated Greek passages.
Such passages must be preceded by discouragingly long vocabulary lists not to mention the fact that this vocabulary is seldom useful later on; this is why I took no pleasure in reading Thucidides or Socrates as boasted on the book cover.

A minor but irritating fault is the lack of answer key translation for those readings taken from the New Testament. "Use your Bible" is not satisfactory for someone who wishes a self contained handbook, not to mention that there are several translations of the Bible and that, for the purpose of learning, a literal if unattractive translation could be of more use than the usual ones.

In my opinion one could use the first chapters of this book to break the ice but should go on with a different text or be prepared for a lot of self imposed supplementary work.

A totally awesome Teach-yourself book. This review is coming from a language teacher with more than 20+ years in the field of teaching/tutoring ESL/EFL. I have studied such varied languages as: Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Sanscrit, Classical Greek, Polynesian, Latin, and others, so am not a stranger to the study of linguistics or tongues. I have perused, over the years, various books aimed purportedly at teaching yourself various languages, and must say I find the Jones book one of the better ones.I particularly liked his humor, which jumps out at the reader from every page and makes the usual toil of this attempt at language learning a joy to exceed all joys, indeed! Esp. his renaming of "Definite Articles": DEF ART (p. 34), which harks a rock concert or other hallmark of modern life, making the normally dry, dull activity of declension lists more palatable. His arrangement of the DEF ARTs indeed is logical, fun and manageable. He only gives the student what the student needs. No more; no less. No poring over endless vocab lists. Every word has a place. The student can be assured that whatever is presented, he will use forthwith. No need to worry that a word or phrase will be neglected or ill-explained in this cheery little tome. Much worth the money if only for the chuckles, as well as the learning! A merry good read...indeed.

(...)

I have the earlier 1999 printing of this book, and have recently gone back and worked through it again for a review of the basics. I'm well studied in French, German and Latin, using more "formal" books for those languages. I regret that I didn't use Jones' Latin book (although I'm contemplating getting it just for the fun of it), and that there aren't comparable texts for modern languages!

Jones is not only an entertaining teacher (even in print), but a wise one. As other reviewers have said, he organizes otherwise daunting information in small, easily grasped nuggets. He also keeps the pace moving along, so that the self-study doesn't become laborious. It does get a little more difficult midway through: after chapter 11, you'll find yourself multitasking with reviewing (so not to forget) past vocabulary and grammar, tackling new material, and trying not to get frustrated with increasingly more complex exercises. Yet fret not, as Jones makes this inevitable hump in learning any language as easy and accessible as possible (mind you, he warns us of this challenge at the start).

My only gripe, which isn't really a bad one, is that I found both times through the book that once I got past chapter 13, I actually wanted more exercises and more reading segments. Somehow, I felt a little in disbelief that I had actually covered very much and wanted the reassurance. However, despite seeming "lightweight" by comparison to other texts, the book does cover a significant amount of essential Greek vocabulary and grammar that any beginner needs. The first time through, I found I was able to read many Greek texts with the only a lexicon for unfamiliar vocabulary. The second time through, I was even more impressed with how pithy and fun yet thorough the text is, which made it not just a great introductory text, but the prefect method for review.

_Learn Ancient Greek_ is a solid primer to Attic Greek. However, I offer one caveat: the book is considerably easier for those who have some prior experience with language. (More on that later.)

Jones does a remarkable job in getting readers comfortable and confident with Greek, translating simple passages by the end of Chapter Two. His humor is a bit dry, but the lessons are solid and build off each other very well. A CD is offered for those who are concerned with pronunciation (I am only interested in reading Greek, but its nice to have it offered).

With that said, I would not recommend this book to those who have no experience with language - Greek gets complicated (as Jones points out relatively early on; to his credit, the exceptions to the rules and the grammar itself are very well explained). While Jones provides some clarification of what grammar is (with humor, thankfully) and how it works, I can't imagine getting further than the first few chapters without prior language experience to draw upon. Hence the four stars.

For autodidacts, Hellenophiles, or those seeking to fill gaps in their education, I highly recommend this book. By the end of the book you will be translating excerpts from Homer and the Bible, and have an excellent foundation for further formal study.

I was at first reluctant to dive into Ancient Greek. The different alphabet and reputation of supposed complexity, made me steer clear of it. I had seen and dabbled a little with Jones' Latin series and was impressed enough to give this a whirl. I can actually say i seem to be progressing faster with Greek than i did with Latin. This book is VERY good.
This book is perfect for getting you up and running. The pacing and repetition and reinforcement is really very well done. You have confidence to move on to each new section. He's quite wily at making you figure things out by context. I would seriously recommend anybody to start with this book first in their self education to learning classical or koine(new testament) Greek. Homeric Greek is apparently a different dialect, but the author expresses tremendous passion for it, and gives a little taste of it at the end of the book.
The text is witty and draws in just enough historical information to whet your appetite and remind you why you're learning this in the first place. His excitement and passion are contagious and are perfect for someone's first venture into learning an ancient language.

Through one my students in another class I teach, I've been made aware of this little Greek text book some years ago. I've used it since with individual Greek students whom I teach in various settings. I've found, it works fine in smaller groups or one-on-one mentoring or private lessons, but I would be hesitant to use it in class, since the structure of grammar is sketchy, incomplete and sometimes confusing to the student. A big draw-back is also the absence of accents, which are very important in ancient Greek. While it is no problem to add them in smaller class settings, it would be somewhat of a challenge to do it in class -- as I believe that accents must be used in order to properly learn the language. Another, though minor draw-back of the book is that answers to the exercises and texts are given right after each chapter which only entices the student to look them up instead of working on it harder.
Despite modern-day enthusiasm of doing one's own thing, I would not recommend attempting to learn a foreign language on one's own, let alone classical languages. It may seem to be fun at first, but nothing in-depth will be accomplished in the end, ranging from proper pronunciation to grammar comprehension. All good things take time; and nothing serious can be mastered without a competent teacher!
M. Fajian MelChiZedek
Classics

I have quit learning Ancient Greek about as many times as I have quit smoking and although I did finally quit the tobacco habit, my addiction to Ancient Greek was revived on the discovery of this outstanding little book. The author, well known for his enthusiasm for popular linquistic education, does not make the task of learning simpler. Instead, he accomplishes something of far greater value: he has managed to clear away the confusion that nearly always defeats the student of this incredibly complex language. Every student of Ancient Greek is eventually made aware that the mastery of this language, so full of nuance as to overwhelm the brain's organizational capabilities, depends entirely on the mastery of its six principle parts. Sounds easy but___NOT! This is true, of course is one wishes to become a grammarian of the language but not entirely necessary for the purpose of reading skills. Instead, the author emphasizes recognition of a number of ques that allow the reader to make quick interpretation of the material. In the end, reading comprehension dramatically increases. This text dosn't cover everything but provides more than enough to get the student off to a really great start and puts the reader way ahead of the student who continues to sstruggle with the endless variations of inflection. It serves both the grammarian want-to-be as well as those just-interested-in-reading. Having mastered this book, one can then move on to either the wonderful _Ancient Greek: An Intensive Course_, which is probably the best and most comprehensive treatment of Grammar in existence or to move to more advanced reading by way of increasing vocabulary. For this purpose, may I advise the following: Begin with _Thrasymachus_ (there is also a website associated with this wonderful little book that provides in depth material for practice). Proceed to _Teach Yourself Ancient Greek_ (Penquin) which is vocabulary intensive and provides quick progression through advanced Ancient Greek. Then you can move on to the _Greek Anthology_. Keep in mind that Homeric Greek was not actually a spoken language but rather an amalgam of dialects for the purpose of oral tradition carried over several centuries. A tiny pocket book may be purchased that lists the Homeric vocabulary for such use. Otherwise, Attic and Koine Greek is the way to go.

Peter Jones makes a potentially dry subject a great deal of fun. He weaves his dry sense of humor into the lessons, with the occasional anachronistic pun thrown in there for good effect. I really love his teaching style.

I have just finished the work and can now read Greek at the elementary level (Jan 29 2010)