Lesson 10 | Odds & Ends, Part 2
[4] Next Steps: Reading Strategies
So, what are the best next steps for you to take in your progress in learning NT Greek?
Without question, the most valuable thing you can do is to pick up your Greek NT and read ... and to do so regularly. Let me offer a few specific strategies:
Build a habit of regular reading
- Establish a manageable pattern of reading.
- Read aloud.
μακάριος ὁ ἀναγινώσκων καὶ οἱ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας Blessed is the one who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy —Revelation 1:3
- Handwrite passages in a Scripture journal.
- Read whole paragraphs without slowing down to look up unknown words or to work out parsings.
- Read verse-by-verse, taking time to look up unknown words and to work out parsings.
- Continue to phrase and diagram passages.
Continue to build your vocabulary
- Don’t neglect the vocabulary you have worked hard to learn. Continue to review and develop your long-term memory.
- Expand your vocabulary.
- Frequency-based You have now learned all the words that occur in the NT 50x or more. You can use the Bible Vocab app to learn new vocabulary sets based on frequency. Start with words that occur 45-49x and then keep adding lower frequency sets. A great goal would be to learn all the words down to 30x over the next six months.
- Vocabulary based on passages A complementary strategy is to learn all the vocabulary from a specific passage that you want to focus on in your reading. For example, learn all the vocabulary from Mark 1, or all the vocabulary of 1 John. You may be surprised how much vocabulary you already know. You will also have the advantage of connecting new words to a specific context. Both the Bible Vocab app and the Book-by-Book Guide are great resources to help with this strategy.
The assignment for this lesson is specifically designed to help you start to build a habit of reading your Greek NT, setting you up to employ several of the strategies presented here.