[jeockammece]

I'd like to help Anglo-Hellenic relations a bit. :-)

More specifically, we homeschool our 6 yr old son and would like to teach him Greek. We are OCA, it's all in English there so there are more Greek words in services than Russian. But we have no Greeks around to help us out. Certainly if he wants to study Christian texts later on, Greek would be most helpful. It's also a good way to give him a classical education without resorting to Latin.

I'm looking for good child-friendly learning Greek materials. Thank you for any help you can provide.

[leijggeds]

Greetings!

I'm not a Greek, and even though my wife is, she doesn't read Greek, which is a little unfortunate.

Being able to read Greek is wonderful. I can relate to your situation. My son is 5 ("and a half," he would add) and is having fun learning the Greek alphabet.

At his age, like your son's, learning letters (and logos) is very easy. I suggest that you learn the alphabet with him. Whatever homeschooling you and your wife do, you can allow some time for Greek letters. If you're the one who teaches him, you will be forced to learn. It worked out great for me and my son.

I think that the best video I've found is:
http://www.greektownimports.com/acat...ek_4_Kids.html

Do NOT resort to teaching him Latin!!! :-)

Matthew

[Retapleapse]

DW--I guess there is nothing child friendly about this one, but "Essentials of New Testament Greek" by Ray Summers, revised by Thomas Sawyer is a book that you might consider for him. This could be a good one for you to work from with him in the sense that it is very easy to pull what you need from this book to make flash cards and practice sentences and actually have him translating simple sentences in three weeks.

I'm not sure if you (or he) is familiar with the protestant song, "Onward Christian Soliders;" but, if so this one lends itself to learning the Greek alphabet pretty quickly:


Onward---Christian---soliders----marching---- as to war . . .

Alpha . . . . beta,. . . .gamma . . ., delta . . . . . epsilon . . .


I guess one consideration would be how to pronounce the words. I learned the Erasmian system which is used by protestants academics and even some Orthodox academics (like Zizioulas for example), but I think most of the Greeks that I have met in a Greek church think I sound like a barbarian.

It occurs to me that Effie G. might have some good input for you with here background.

And, for that matter, for your boy, the Hebrew alphabet lends itself very well to "Yankee Doodle"

The book mentioned above is published by Broiadman & Holman; ISBN# 0-8054-1001-5. There is a workbook that goes with this as well that may be helpful.

[seekfrieddy]

I'd like to help Anglo-Hellenic relations a bit. :-)

More specifically, we homeschool our 6 yr old son and would like to teach him Greek. We are OCA, it's all in English there so there are more Greek words in services than Russian. But we have no Greeks around to help us out. Certainly if he wants to study Christian texts later on, Greek would be most helpful. It's also a good way to give him a classical education without resorting to Latin.

I'm looking for good child-friendly learning Greek materials. Thank you for any help you can provide.

Is there a Greek church near you? If so, they most likely have Greek school classes for kids. I would think that they would allow Orthodox children from other parishes that aren't Greek to take the classes, although you will probably have to convince them why you want him to take them.

And, unfortunately for everyone that hates Latin, a proper Classical education teaches both . I am going to teach my daughters both Latin and Greek, and some Russian as well. The Orthodox Classical school near us starts Latin in 1st grade and Greek in 6th grade.

Sbdn. Anthony

[bensabath]

Is there a Greek church near you? If so, they most likely have Greek school classes for kids. I would think that they would allow Orthodox children from other parishes that aren't Greek to take the classes, although you will probably have to convince them why you want him to take them.

wow there are churches who do not take them? How come? I thought to suggest the same without thinking there would be hindrances...

And, unfortunately for everyone that hates Latin, a proper Classical education teaches both . Yes, of course! The majority of English words also originate from both those languages and Old German.

[WUlcN1Rz]

wow there are churches who do not take them? How come? I thought to suggest the same without thinking there would be hindrances...

I was just thinking of my experiences. Growing up, people thought it somewhat strange that I went to Greek school since I wasn't Greek, although they always said I had a better accent than their own children . I don't know of any specific circumstances, just a general feeling that I've gotten sometimes, like when we wanted to get married at a big Greek church because it was larger, and the priest didn't understand why we wanted an Orthodox wedding, even though I was Orthodox.

Sbdn. Anthony

[Lilji]

I guess one consideration would be how to pronounce the words. I learned the Erasmian system which is used by protestants academics and even some Orthodox academics (like Zizioulas for example), but I think most of the Greeks that I have met in a Greek church think I sound like a barbarian.

I think learning Erasmian pronunciation would more of a hindrance than a help since it is used neither in a Liturgical nor everyday setting. While Erasmian is more phonetic, in that every letter is pronounced, modern Greek pronunciation is (at least I think so) much easier and sounds far more natural.

[Unonounaple]

Erasmian pronunciation bears no resemblance whatsoever to any spoken form of Greek (demotic or liturgical) I know. Steer clear of it! Please!

[surefireinvest]

Erasmian pronunciation bears no resemblance whatsoever to any spoken form of Greek (demotic or liturgical) I know. Steer clear of it! Please!

I 2nd Olga!

Dear Sbdn. Anthony you wrote:

I was just thinking of my experiences. Growing up, people thought it somewhat strange that I went to Greek school since I wasn't Greek, although they always said I had a better accent than their own children . I don't know of any specific circumstances, just a general feeling that I've gotten sometimes, like when we wanted to get married at a big Greek church because it was larger, and the priest didn't understand why we wanted an Orthodox wedding, even though I was Orthodox.

Sbdn. Anthony Oh! How would I know? These instances seem very strange to me and I do not know why those exist. Anyway. I haven't been blessed as you all to go to Greek school as a child, or teen, and I think the freedom and resources that are available here (or other places) are a major blessing.

[seosoftseo]

Erasmian pronunciation bears no resemblance whatsoever to any spoken form of Greek (demotic or liturgical) I know. Steer clear of it! Please!

All things considered, I'd rather be in Philidelphia. No, that's not what I meant to say at all! I meant to say, all things considered, I think Olga is giving some good advice here. The Erasmian system just makes the average church goer a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. If it turns out that you have a scholar on your hands there who will be moving in higher education circles down the road, then he can make a switch then.