Course Overview Why learn Greek? Curriculum Study schedule Course Materials Why learn Greek? Greek is the language of the New Testament.  You may ask, "Why can't I just use an English translation of the Bible?"   You can and will use English translations for studying and teaching the Bible.  But there are four important reasons why you should also study the Bible in its original languages. (1)  Often it is impossible to translate the full meaning and feeling of a sentence from one language to another language.  Many verses in the English Bible do not communicate the true meaning of what the Bible really says.  After you learn the basics of Greek vocabulary and grammar, you will discover treasures of gold in the Greek New Testament which you never saw before in your reading of the English translation.  These wonderful insights will increase your faith and knowledge of your Savior, and you will want to share these insights with the people you teach. (2)  Deaf readers often use "easy English" versions of the Bible.  Those versions go beyond translating the text to interpreting the text.  These are not true translations; they are paraphrases.  In a paraphrase, the translator does not just tell us what the text says, but the translator tells us what he thinks the text means.   If you can study the Bible in its original languages, then you can detect interpretation errors.  (3)  Many non-Christian religious groups claim that their teachings represent the meaning of the original Greek text of the New Testament.  Your knowledge of Greek can protect you from the deception of these false teachers. (4)  Sincere Christians in various denominations disagree about important church doctrines and practices, such as baptism and the Lord's Supper, or teachings about End Times and gifts of the Holy Spirit.  To best understand the Bible's teaching about these topics, we must study the original Greek and Hebrew text of the Bible, and examine each verse in its own context. Curriculum The Deaf Pah! Greek course uses a set of workbooks by Karen Mohs titled Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!  Ms. Mohs wrote this curriculum with home school students in mind.  We chose it because (1) this curriculum teaches Greek grammar in small steps, without a lot of confusing English, and (2) this curriculum fits perfectly our method of instruction in the Deaf Pah! program. Note that Deaf Pah! Greek I uses Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Level 4, not Level 1. The reason for this is explained in the video introduction and in the mentor's guide. Both students and mentors (pastors) need to order the workbooks and answer keys from Amazon. The "short set" includes the workbook, flash cards, quizzes and exams, and answer key.  Other course materials are PDF files which you must download from here -- the Deaf Pah! Greek website -- plus online videos which explain concepts in many of the lesson. You may also use the online practice tools for each of the Deaf Pah! Greek courses. Study schedule The Deaf Pah! Greek course is self-paced.  You can progress at your own speed.  The study guide lists in detail everything you need to cover in each lesson.  Please do not skip any of the assigments.  This is very important.  It will help you if you write a check mark in the box by each assignment in the lesson schedule when you complete it. After you write each assignment, check your answers with the answer key.  If you find that you don't fully understand the concept, keep practicing until you get right every time.  Don't continue to the next lesson until you are confident that you know the material. Meet with your mentor every week.  He/She will give you a quiz, answer your questions, and introduce new concepts that you will learn in the coming week. If you have questions... Email me at:  ronfriedrich@verizon.net Put "Deaf Pah! Greek" in the subject line. Pastor Ron Friedrich Silver Spring, Maryland