The Basics of Biblical Greek course was designed for independent study and is appropriate for mature teens and adults. It is significantly more thorough and challenging than Basic Greek in 30 Minutes a Day and much more condensed than Hey, Andrew!! Teach me some Greek! It was written for those wishing to learn Koine Greek for biblical study and ministry.
Course components are Basics of Biblical Greek: Grammar and Basics of Biblical Greek: Workbook. The Grammar book is a hardcover student textbook. With over 500 pages, there is a lot of content to cover. Two-color printing and the frequent insertion of the cartoon-character “Professor” add some visual appeal. Footnotes and Advanced Information sections might be skipped by struggling students although they will enrich the learning experience for those who can profit from the additional information.
Section overviews, chapter overviews, and “halftime reviews” help students identify and review the main concepts. A sizable Appendix includes grammar charts and lists plus a Lexicon of all words that occur ten times or more in the Greek New Testament.
It uses both deductive and inductive methods of teaching. While students learn cases, declensions, conjugations, and vocabulary lists the author has tried to minimize the amount of rote memorization required.
Add to this a 240-page workbook with exercises to accompany textbook lessons. Students work on parsing, translation, and grammar. Some inductive learning takes place through these exercises and students are encouraged to write notes on what they have learned in the Grammar textbook where space has been provided for the “Workbook Summary” in each lesson. Reviews in the workbook should be used like tests, although students should go back and restudy anything they miss. An answer key for the workbook is available free at www.BillMounce.com.
Online Supplements
Companion lectures are available on the author’s website: www.BillMounce.com. Brief 8 to 10 minute lectures are free, and full-length lectures may be purchased. I’d experiment with the brief lectures first to see if they might suffice. That website also has quizzes and answer key plus other extras such as Greek Bingo, the FlashWorks vocabulary learning program, Greek fonts, and Bible passages students should be able to read after completing the course.
You can also access free supplemental resources on a webpage maintained by the publisher. This webpage includes chapter quizzes, a workbook answer key, presentation slides, learning objectives, and a sample syllabus. (Instructions for accessing these resources are in the front of the grammar book.)
Summary
I would recommend this course to mature, self-motivated students who are able to work well on their own.
