In the past I’ve talked about the reasons someone should study Greek. I’ve also talked about the correct motives for studying Greek. Actually, you'll find those two topics strung throughout this website. Here I’d like to share some simple thoughts about reasonable goals in Greek study. If we don’t set goals for ourselves, we are likely not to make much progress. That is especially true of myself. The following is an extract from Dave Black’s wonderful book “Using New Testament Greek in Ministry”.

• R-1 is elementary proficiency. Anyone can achieve this goal – which involves a knowledge of the Greek alphabet and a very basic understanding of some of the language aids available today.
• R-2 is limited working proficiency. At this stage you can read uncomplicated but authentic prose in Greek that contains common words and basic sentence patterns. You will still rely heavily upon on dictionary.
• R-3 is professional proficiency. Here you can grasp the essentials of standard but uncomplicated prose without the use of a dictionary.
• R-4 is full proficiency. At this final stage, you can read anything written in the foreign language without a dictionary. A very large vocabulary is the key that unlocks the door to this level.

A Few Thoughts:

R-1 is basically what a lot of pastors and Bible study leaders do. It is to learn enough to conduct word studies and use computer programs. As one friend once told me, it is learning enough Greek to "be dangerous". I would discourage anyone from pursuing this type of study. This kind of study boils down to using a concordance and/or a computer program. Most exegetical fallacies stem from people who really do not know or grasp the language, but rather pick up enough to "be dangerous" and make claims about Greek which are often incorrect. For more on this, please this post: Exegetical Fallacies

R-2 is the stage where most students are who have had at least one year of Greek, or completed an introductory Grammar book such as those from Bill Mounce or Dave Black. This is a good place to be, but by no means a place to rest and become content.

R-3 is, according to Dave Black, the place where many seminary and Bible college professors are. At this stage one may read the GNT daily in a devotional way, but still comes across the occasional word or phrase that must be looked up. This is attainable after 2-3 years of study, if the student is diligent and consistent.

R-4 should be the goal for all Greek students. It will take much dedication, consistency, and time to reach this place, but it is possible. I would say about 5+ years for the serious, devoted student. The thing which really seperates R-3 from R-4 is vocabulary. The only way to bridge the gap is daily reading.


So what are your goals? Where are you at right now? Right now I am trying to move on from R-2 to R-3. The only thing hindering me is myself, the lack of discipline and consistency.

In the past I posted two other reading plans for the Greek New Testament:

• GNT in a Year

• Sectional Reading - Moving Towards Comprehension

This plan below was put together by Dan Wallace, and I really like it. I appreciate the simplicity and focus of it, as it takes you through the books of the GNT in increasing order of difficulty. For most of us, reading a group a day, as is suggested, will be more than draining, though a chapter a day certainly is feasible.

by Dan Wallace

This list is organized along two lines: 1) easiest to most difficult, and 2) approximately 10 chapter segments which bear some semblance of unity (e.g., either literary [pastorals] or historical [James-Galatians]). If you do 1 group/day, you’ll read the whole NT in a month.

John 1-11
John 12-21
1 John; 2 John; 3 John; Philemon
Mark 1-8
Mark 9-16
Matthew 1-10
Matthew 11-20
Matthew 21-28
Revelation 1-11
Revelation 12-22
1 Thessalonians; 2 Thessalonians
Ephesians; Colossians
Philippians; Romans 1-8
Romans 9-16
1 Corinthians 1-10
1 Corinthians 11-16
Galatians; James
1 Peter; 1 Timothy
2 Timothy; Titus
Jude; 2 Peter
2 Corinthians 1-7
2 Corinthians 8-13
Luke 1-8
Luke 9-16
Luke 17-24
Acts 1-10
Acts 11-19
Acts 20-28
Hebrews 1-7
Hebrews 8-13

It is, or should be, our goal to gain reading proficiency in the Greek New Testament which is parallel to our English Bibles, if not better. I strongly believe that this is possible. I believe that given the time, determination, work, and with the help of the Spirit, we can arrive at a place where we pick up the GNT and read it with the same effort that we do so in English. Why can’t this be?

In the past I wrote a post called Learning & Keeping Greek – Practical Helps, where I discussed some things that we can do and incorporate into our studies with the hopes of gaining a more comfortable feel for Koine Greek. Being so far removed from the times of this culture and language, nearly 2000 years now, we need all the help we can get. As I spoke of in the last post on Language Learning, we will never obtain a comprehension of the language unless we get deep exposure into the minds and culture of the people (more on this later).

Reading Comprehension versus Translating & Decoding

Many of us think that we are reading Greek. We suppose that if we can pick up our GNT and read through a few verses or passages while understanding for the most part (as we translate into English in our minds) that we are indeed reading. I would like to suggest that this is quite far from the truth. There is a huge difference between translation-reading and comprehension-reading. The former is what we do when we really don’t know a language but are fumbling to get by, the latter is when we have a control of it and it becomes second nature to us. This is what we want, second nature comprehension of NTG.

There is so much confusion about the world of language learning and linguistics. Many people "want" to learn a language, but few do. Language learning is often viewed as something torturous and dreadful. In this article I will seek to explain and clarify the matter and hopefully bring some closure by way of discussing some misconceptions of language learning, excuses against language learning, and giving some hope for language learning.

Introduction & Clarification

First - From the outset I would like to state that this writer is not linguistically gifted by nature. That is to say that I don’t possess special language learning abilities, in that languages do not come easy for me. I have to work just as hard as the next person. I mention this now so that the following statements and ones like them are not made upon reading this post – “Easy for you to say, you are a natural linguist” “You have special language acquisition abilities, so it just comes easier for you than most”. When speaking about language learning, those who do not know a language and have not put in the effort to even try and learn one will often say such things as quoted above. Such statements are rarely true and I would like to suggest that there is a bigger picture to consider.

Second - The fact that I am not a natural linguist is not to say that I am ignorant of the field of linguistics or languages. By the Lord’s help, prayer, and much hard work I have learned to read, write, and speak Spanish fluently as well as acquired a small level of a native Indian language spoken in South America. My experiences and studies with learning living languages has carried over and influenced the way in which I view Biblical Greek.

Third  - I also realize that not everyone learns the same way. People are different and some learn differently. I am not trying to put everyone into a mold. I am also not the authority (if there is one) on the matter of language learning. I am still studying this field, not only from an objective way but also through personal experience. I will share some of my own experiences in the years that I have been exposed to foreign languages through living in another country and culture.

Fourth - The information in this post is not limited to learning Biblical Greek, but rather applies to “living” or spoken languages today as well. In most instances, you can swap the word Greek for other languages as the statements will often apply to languages in general. The issue of indigenous, developing, or unwritten languages is a slightly different issue, though not that much different. If you have questions about such languages you can write me and we can discuss it.

Fifth - This article is rather long, not by intention but by necessity. This is a deep and complex subject which merits discussion and detail, though certainly not everything is covered here.

As 2011 ends and 2012 is upon us, I want to offer a reading plan for those who are desiring to read the GNT daily, but may not know how. I am not the originator of this plan, though I have changed it significantly from its original format. Any thoughts or ideas to edit or better it for the future are welcome.

PREFACE

This plan is designed for reading the Greek New Testament once per year. A minimum of first year Greek and vocabulary from a text such as Bill Mounce or Dave Black is needed in order to be able to follow, and it doesn’t hurt either to be an over-achiever in year one. Through this simple reading plan, your ability to read the Greek New Testament will increase dramatically. If your Greek is rusty, this will help you recover and sharpen your skills. You must be consistent and disciplined though in order to make positive strides and see lasting results. With a little each day you can accomplish much.

READING PROGRAM

There are 260 chapters in the Greek New Testament. Of these, 74 chapters have 38 verses or more: Matt 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 21-27; Mark 1, 4-6, 8-10, 12, 14, 15; Luke 1-12, 18-24; John 1, 4-13, 18, 19; Acts 2, 5, 7-10, 13, 15, 16, 19-21, 27; Rom 8; 1 Cor 7, 14, 15; Heb 10, 11. To read the Greek New Testament in a year, read one chapter per day. Chapters that are 38 verses or longer should be divided and read over two days, splitting the chapters up according to a paragraph break around the middle. This plan yields a total of 334 (260 + 74) daily readings. It also allows you to take 31 days off each year; more on that later. Thank you to Lee Irons for making this possible.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

UBS Greek New Testament: A Reader’s Edition –This GNT is geared for reading large portions of the NT at one sitting. As such, it provides simple context glosses for all words occurring 30x or less, while also parsing the rare forms. Using this GNT will enable you to expand and stretch your vocabulary, while providing a more enjoyable reading experience as you will not have to “live” in the lexicon.

The New Exegetical & Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament – This book provides concise explanations of grammatical features that may not be immediately obvious to the reader. Occasionally it will refer to other works such as Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, BDAG, and others. This work is very accessible to those who have first year grammar and keep up with it.