Basic Greek in Thirty Minutes a Day: New Testament Greek Workbook for Laymen (Paperback)

by James Found (Author), Bruce Olson (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...a true introduction to the study of Greek which will not overwhelm..." -- Natalie Nyquist, Young Ladies Christian Fellowship --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
The author, in consultation with a professor teaching first-year Greek, has developed a self-study system which puts a working knowledge of Greek within the realm of possibility for almost anyone!

This workbook is for the one who may not have either the time or the opportunity for a formal, college-level Greek course. As an introduction to Greek, it is also valuable preparation for a standard academic course.

After completion of this study, the student will be able to pronounce Greek words fluently and will know the Greek alphabet. He can also know the meaning of hundreds of New Testament words, understand the background of dozens of religious terms through seeing the Greek components which form them, recognize relationships between Bible words which may not be easily apparent in English translations, use Greek dictionaries and other reference books, and understand the general outlines of Greek grammar.

A New Testament Greek workbook for laymen, so simply presented that the student will begin reading some Greek the very first day!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House; Revised edition (December 1, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871232855
• ISBN-13: 978-0871232854
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #568,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dabble a little, and see if you like NT Greek., April 19, 2001

By	RigelK - See all my reviews

If you have no previous exposure to New Testament Greek and are wondering if this is a language study you would like to pursue (is it worth the time, effort, and money?), this is a good book to work through. It builds up your confidence and gives a strong introductory look at New Testament Greek.

That said, you will not learn Greek from this book. This is spoonfeeding 101. This is not a serious textbook, grammar text, or selfstudy program. It is what it is...a glimpse, an introduction, a little dabbling... If you like this book, then you can go onto the bigboys and really begin to learn the language.

I gave this book 5 stars for how well it serves its purpose. If you are looking for a serious, academic, selfstudy text, this is not it. This is a get your feet wet and see if you like what you see book...very easy, very basic, very breezy, but very well planned and presented. Cute, even.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for learning New Testament Greek!, March 27, 2000

By	PJ Barnes (USA) - See all my reviews

This book is great because it builds your confidence up very early. From the beginning, you are translating large sections of verses, without having to worry about the specific cases of nouns and tenses of verbs and markings of letters and such. You fill in the blanks and complete Scripture, and he gives references so you can check yourself and also see how different translations tackle controversial passages.

Here are the sections: (1) In the first section, you start off very easily: you learn the easiest Greek letters (which look like English letters), easy vocabulary cognates, which are Greek words that are very similar to English words), and very little grammar. You eventually learn the rest of the letters (such as pi& which is pronounced like the letter ;p and theta, which is like th and so on). You also learn where ichthus (the Greek letters in the Christian fish symbol) comes from. (2) The second section gets your feet wet with a little grammar and you start to learn different endings for nouns and stuff. (3) In the third section you learn those little words such as for, but, because, in order that, and therefore (4) In the fourth section you learn where many theological words come from (such as the fact that the wordsin comes from the Greek for missing the mark the word saints cmes from the Greek for holy [ones] the word edify is based on the word for "house", and so on). (5) The fifth and last section you tackle the dreaded verb endings.

The book is divided into about 50 lessons, each of which can be done in probably less than 30 minutes on average.

Note that the book is focused on *reading* New Testament Greek, and not necessarily *writing* Greek. Some attention is given to pronunciation. It is designed for people who want to be able to *recognize* the meaning of words in the Greek New Testament, rather than worry about frustrating details that matter little, or having to write Greek on your own. Two examples are: (1) You are encouraged not to worry about the little marks above the Greek letters, except in the cases where they make a difference in the meaning of the word; and (2) the author helps you with the noun-cases and verb-tenses at the beginning of the book, so that you only worry about the root meaning of Greek words.

Inidentally, I recommend Alfred Marshall's Interlinear Greek New Testament, which shows the NASB translation on the left (practically a literal translation) and the NIV on the right (an easy-to-read more contemporary English translation).

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Start to Learning Greek, April 25, 2001

By	G. Maxwell (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the best kept secrets today is that the scholarly Biblical reference works that were once the domain of the language lawyers, are now made accesible to the Christian layman if they are willing to learn the basics of the language -- the alphabet, prepositions and a basic vocabulary.

This book teaches the Greek alphabet along with the basic skills needed to use the more scholarly works available to the laymen. One word of caution: This is a primer only. It will not replace 2 or more years of studying Greek. It will, however, introduce you to the basics and all you need to know to use the scholarly tools.