by Anne Elk [Miss] » May 5th, 2007, 4:55 pm
Greek is going to be harder if you don't know Latin. Unless you've previously learned an inflected language (one where you change the precise function of a word in a sentence by changing the ending), starting the two together might be rather difficult. Greek has a rather similar format to Latin, as it's also inflected, but there are even more inflections to learn - there's a middle voice in addition to the active and passive, an optative and a subjunctive where Latin uses the subjunctive to cover both, etc. Also, there's simply the added barrier in Greek of learning to use a new alphabet, although honestly that goes away after the first month or two.
That said, if you wanted to learn <i>just</i> New Testament Greek, that changes things somewhat, because it's much simpler to learn than classical Greek. If you're taking regular Greek courses, however, it's likely you'll start with classical so that you can do either later on.
Still, I wouldn't recommend trying to start both Greek and Latin together. It's simply a ton to memorize, and you have to get used to the idea of an inflected language. Once you've moved to the level in one of reading a text and looking up vocabulary, rather than spending all your time on grammar and vocab, that's when I'd start the other.
But you asked about suggestions for Latin specifically. Hm. I found getting a musical rhythym in my head that I could fit strings of endings to worked well. You're going to have to mutter endings and principal parts to yourself a lot before they stick; putting them to a tune helps them stick a little better.
Also, the subjunctive is your mortal enemy for the first few weeks you're trying to understand it, and then eventually it becomes just as easy to use as the indicative mood. Really.
Good luck! It's always nice to see fellow classics enthusiasts. :)
This post was made by Sarah. All the ideas expressed therein are original to me, except when they are not.
(Karen's daughter).