new term

Fall 2011 semester classes at Johnson Bible College University started this morning. The summer was great (busy, but great), and it always seems the autumn comes too quickly. And even though it's hard for me to put down the various projects I get to work on from May til August, it really is good to see returning students and to meet the brand-new freshman.

Speaking of brand-new freshman, new students moved onto campus last weekend. In all the hustle and bustle of meeting new roommates, unpacking milk crates, and trying to get to Walmart to buy more stuff we really needed, I snuck down and filmed a group of incoming freshman. Unfortunately, I had to edit out some language; I guess that's bound to happen when you drop "Bible" from your name. Here's what I got:

. . . and by the letter Ω

Mark Goodacre notes a number of songs available to assist people learning the Greek alphabet. My favorite is probably this one; I might even add it to iTunes! But here are two others; the first is significantly more entertaining (and more accurate) than the second:




[If you're in my Elementary Greek class, do NOT follow this video's pronunciation!]

For the sake of completeness, those of you who are interested in all things alphabet should check out the recent debate concerning the origins of the alphabet. The relevant articles are linked to on PaleoJudaica (and follow the links).

[HT: Mark Goodacre]

Greek vocabulary resource

I generally add links to online Greek resources to the sidebar, but as this is a commercial product for sale, I've decided not to add it there. Nevertheless, over on Deinde Danny Zacharias has just made available the catchily (and descriptively) named NT Greek Vocabulary Expansion Packs, available here. I will post a response to the Expansion Packs in a couple weeks. But at a mere $8.00 (with an offer for $8 off Flash! Pro [for PC users], making the Expansion Packs free), some of you might find it worth the cost to try these out on your own.

[NB: David Alan Black has provided free online flashcards for his first year Greek Grammar Learn to Read New Testament Greek (see the link on the sidebar). Danny's Expansion Packs are keyed to four different first-year grammars, including Black's.]