From Alpha to Omega: A Beginning Course in Classical Greek (English and Ancient Greek Edition)

I learned to read Greek using an earlier edition of this text. It was a good textbook then, it is even better now. Since that time twenty-years ago, I have brushed up using "Athenaze," Mastronarde's "Introduction to Attic Greek," and a textbook (whose title I forget) that focused on St. John's Gospel and Xenophon's "Anabasis." All of these textbooks aim at the same goal: getting the student to the point where he or she is able to read works of classical Greek authors in the original language, with modest reliance on a lexicon and a reference grammar.They are all effective but for my money, "From Alpha to Omega" is the best of them. First, its approach is the straightforward "grammar-translation" method, which I believe is the most intelligible and helpful for adult learners. This approach allows the user to focus on learning the grammar without the distraction of overlong lists of vocabulary. Each chapter takes up one or two grammar topics and contains ten to twelve vocabulary items. The translation sentences--ten Greek to English and five English to Greek per lesson--efficiently review vocabulary as they drill new grammar. From lesson five on, each chapter includes a short comprehension passage. A workbook contains even more review and practice sentences (more on this in a moment). Reading-approach (aka inductive-approach) texts--eg. "Athenaze"--try to introduce extended Latin stories too early and thus introduce too much vocabulary, overwhelming the student.Second, the explanations are pitched at just the right level. They don't attempt too much, they don't give extraneous information that will not help the student learn. Mastronarde's text, while it might make a good review text for a low-intermediate learner, contains too much that is unnecessary for the student learner. Moreover, the reliance of that text on snippets of genuine Greek from the very beginning results in sentences that are simply too difficult for the novice.Third, the two ancillary books--a workbook and a book of readings--are extremely useful. The workbook is modeled on the supplementary exercises in "Wheelock's Latin" and the book of readings is modeled on "38 Latin Stories" (also by Groton). These books give plenty of extra help. The result is a self-contained group of texts that, when used together, will efficiently bring the student to basic literacy. Classical Greek is very difficult: a good textbook should not add to the difficulty.The author seems to have modeled her text on Wheelock's Latin, though the vocabulary demands are less here. This is a good thing: Wheelock's text is the best way to learn Latin that I have seen.

"From Alpha to Omega" (FATO) is an excellent introductory text for Classical Greek. It provides an enormous amount of information, not all of which need necessarily be taught, but all of which is extremely useful. The chapters are carefully crafted to focus on one primary grammar issue and contain only ten or so words each, making them extremely user-friendly to 45-minute class periods. Long vocabulary lists are often the bane of Greek texts. FATO has carefully selected the most useful words designed to facilitate reading actual Greek (Aesop, Xenophon, Plato, etc.). The vocabulary in each lesson is also carefully annotated, containing much essential information (e.g., we learn that the Greek word "leípo" means "leave" in the sense of "leave behind"), including basic roots of verbs. The appendices contain not only full summaries of paradigms, but also lists of the words covered in each chapter. There is also a very well done workbook to accompany the text with much extra material for practice. I would also highly recommend the accompanying book "41 Classical Greek Stories" which correspond to FATO Chapter 5 and beyond. Finally, there are also readings from the Greek Bible to give students a wide range of exposure to the language. A website is also available for extra practice.This book is designed for college use, but I am using it with Juniors and Seniors in high school. It is quite acceptable, especially since all my Greek students have had at least three years of Latin. Even without a knowledge of any Latin, FATO would be my choice for a high school Greek text if the students are motivated and of at least average ability. It should be noted, for a potential instructor's comfort, that FATO presumes no knowledge of Latin. An altogether wonderful Greek textbook!

I have been trying to teach myself Ancient Greek for just over a year as of this writing. I started out with Hansen & Quinn's "Greek: An Intensive Course (2d ed.)," but after finishing it and not yet being comfortable in the language I went back and got this book, as well as the companion "46 Stories" and Bruss's workbook. Hansen and Quinn's book is not bad, and I learned a great deal from it, but the difference between it and this book is notable. The course organization and problem sets here are more logical and useful than in Hansen & Quinn, at least if, like me, you're trying to learn without a formal class.