Keep Your Greek with the Word List Tool and Flashcard App

People frequently ask me how I have been able to keep my Greek after leaving college. I respond with the answer I received from my Greek professors: read, read, read! It is that simple, and yet it is so difficult. If you only have ten minutes a day to read, then you use those ten minutes to read the Greek New Testament. Even if you only read one verse per day, that is one more day you have immersed yourself in the Greek text. On the other hand, the many other commitments that come throughout a given day can make this difficult. But if you stick with it—even just one verse per day—you begin to retain your Greek.

I also utilize Logos’ word list tool to keep my Greek. The word list tool allows me to build a list of the words I come across while reading that give me the hardest time. For example, while reading through Mark 5:6, I’ll come across ἔδραμεν. Unless I remember that ἔδραμεν is a second aorist of τρέχω (to run), I’ll be left scratching my head. But I can create a word list in Logos, and whenever I come across a word I don’t know, I simply right click, select “Lemma,” and then select “Add Lemma to.”

I recently started reading through John’s Gospel again. I currently have the NA28, the word list tool, and BDAG open while reading.

Screen Shot 2014-06-17 at 2.54.42 PM

As I read through John and come across words I don’t know, I simply add them to my word list titled “Johannine Vocabulary.”

Screen Shot 2014-06-17 at 2.55.43 PM

Creating word lists is easy. Simply click “Documents” then “Word List,” and then give your word list a name. Before adding a word to your list, double check the name of the word list to be sure it is the correct one.

Screen Shot 2014-06-17 at 4.27.17 PMAs an added bonus, Logos recently released a Flashcard app. It uses data from word lists to create custom flashcards for drilling yourself on a mobile device.

I hope this encourages you to pick up your Greek New Testament and begin reading it with a fresh desire to keep your Greek.

 

Share
Written by
Cliff Kvidahl
View all articles
3 comments
Written by Cliff Kvidahl
theLAB