Lesson 1

Overview

Daily Dose of Greek overview:

Lark Kelsey overview:

Ted Hildebrandt for another perspective:

Memory

Alphabet

Learn to sing the Greek Alphabet Song by Daily Dose of Greek. It shouldn't take more than a few days to learn the basic alphabet. The upper case letters are a bit more challenging, but you should know the lower case letters especially well. I found it helpful to remember the letters in groups of fours and then remembering which letter starts the next group of four.

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4
Alpha (Α α) Beta (Β β) Gamma (Γ γ) Delta (Δ δ)
Epsilon (Ε ε) Zeta (Ζ ζ) Eta (Η η) Theta (Θ θ)
Iota (Ι ι) Kappa (Κ κ) Lambda (Λ λ) Mu (Μ μ)
Nu (Ν ν) Xi (Ξ ξ) Omicron (Ο ο) Pi (Π π)
Rho (Ρ ρ) Sigma (Σ σ/ς) Tau (Τ τ) Upsilon (Υ υ)
Phi (Φ φ) Chi (Χ χ) Psi (Ψ ψ) Omega (Ω ω)

Diphthongs

Diphthong Pronunciation English Equivalent
αι “eye” as in aisle
αυ “ow” as in kraut
ει “ay” as in freight
ευ “yew” as in feud
οι “oi” as in oil
ου “oo” as in soup
υι “we” as in suite
ηυ “ay-oo” (rare) “ay-OO-lo-geh-sen”
ωυ “ō-oo” sounded out
ιη “ee-ay” → “yea” as in yeast

Reading

Read 1 John along with I John in Greek (as read by Maurice Robinson) to compare and practice pronunciation. It will help with memory, reading speed, and comprehension over time if you nail down being able to read the text well.

Vocabulary

The textbook vocabulary introduces words for the next chapter: Vocab 1. I'll add vocabulary relevant to the current chapter here each time.

Miscellaneous

ἐγώ
I
λέγω
I say
ἀκούω
I hear, obey
πᾶς
all, every
ἵνα
so that, in order that
οὐ
not
καί
and, even, also
ἐν
in, among, by
ὅτι
that, because
τίς;
who? what?
τις
someone, anyone, a certain one
δέ
and, but, now
μέν
on the one hand, indeed
ὁ, ἡ, τό
the