Getting on with Greek

This week was the 37th annual conference of The Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies (ISPCS)

My bosses had other ideas about my being there, however.

I only managed to sign up as a member of the ISPCS and purchase a few books to help me with my Greek.
I bought the Joint Association of Classical Teacher's (JAST) series of Reading Greek textbooks.

(There are so many complicated acronyms in the last paragraph that you'd think it was about something in hightech...)

I bought the Grammar, the Reader and the Independent Study guide. I linked to Amazon because the official JACT site is strangely silent about the books. (at least, I haven't found anything)

Anyway, it's now official - I'm spending too much time BUYING Greek books instead of LEARNING Greek!

I've got an exam next Friday - it's a good thing that it's a long weekend here in Israel.

Learning Greek 1

Well, another reason I'm writing this blog is my studies of Greek. I want to learn Ancient Greek because it interests me and I think as as long as I'm studying the Classics, I may as well be able to read the language. Unfortunately, I seem to have some mental blocks...

So, As I review the stuff I should already know, I'll post it here.
I'll start with the Greek Alphabet.

Upper Case	Lower case	Letter Name	English equivalent
Α	α	Alpha	a
Β	β	Beta	b
Γ	γ	Gamma	g
Δ	δ	Delta	d
Ε	ε	Epsilon	e
Ζ	ζ	Zeta	z
Η	η	Eta	e
Θ	θ	Theta	th
Ι	ι	Iota	i
Κ	κ	Kappa	k
Λ	λ	Lambda	l
Μ	μ	Mu	m
Ν	ν	Nu	n
Ξ	ξ	Xi	x / ks
Ο	ο	Omicron	o
Π	π	Pi	p
Ρ	ρ	Rho	r
Σ	σ or ς	Sigma	s
Τ	τ	Taf	t
Υ	υ	Upsilon	u / y
Φ	φ	Phi	ph
Χ	χ	Chi	ch
Ψ	ψ	Psi	ps
Ω	ω	Omega	o

Note : Sigma is written σ in the middle of a word and ς at the end.
SOS would be σος

Obviously, Wikipedia has a big page about this.

It there is some problem and the Greek letters don't appear properly, please send me a note...

Buying Books

Bought a few books today...

• Asterix and the Falling Sky : The most recent Asterix book. Virtually all the reviews are not very good, but this is an Asterix book - how bad could it be?
  I always recommend Asterix and I, Claudius for people who want to know a bit about Ancient Rome.
• Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans : For a seminar I'm doing this semester.
• Aristarchus of Samos: The Ancient Copernicus : This is actually for a course I really enjoyed last semester.
• Learn Ancient Greek: a Lively Introduction to Reading the Language : I don't like the textbook I'm using, I bought this as a sort of pick-me-up book.
  

The links I've given have all been from Amazon, but that's just because Amazon has the most information about books on their site.
I use www.bookfinder.com to find cheap copies of books (both old and new)

I especially like it because it includes the postage and handling in the price AND converts to shekels for me.

I've just noticed that even the Asterix book has an astronmical connection ;)

First Post

Hello,

The purpose of this blog is, like most blogs, to be a "portal" of sorts outward.

In this blog I plan to concentrate my thoughts and conclusions about various aspects of my life and hopefully, those who read these words will enjoy both the fruits of my labour and seeing the process by which they are born.

My interests are varied - and thus will be this blog.

My occupation is that of an "Enterprise Management Specialist" in a small company called IBM.
Most of my work entails implementing various applications in IBM's Tivoli line. At the very least, I expect this blog to contain the various tips and tricks I pick up along the way.

While working I am also studying towards a BA in Classics(Ancient Greece and Rome) and the History and Philisophy of Science.
Yes, thats quite a mouthful of a name for a degree and Yes, I have no idea what I'll do with it when I finish. But I am learning a lot from it.
Another thing I know this Blog will contain is aid in the study of the Greek language.

Further interests of mine are Astronomy and Military History.

Lastly, no blog can be complete without the required political posts...
Since I live in Israel, an "interesting place", I doubt there will be few of these...

I start on this journy without knowing where it will lead me, but the joy is in the journey - more than in the destination.