When you’re practicing developing your Greek reading skills, here are a few suggestions:
- Read out loud.
- Read Greek in chunks — the larger the better, even if you don’t . If you can, start with at least paragraphs and work up the pericopes & perhaps even larger section
- At the end of each of those sections, pause and write down a small summary of what you did understand, as much as you can.
— Who was in the paragraph?
— What did they do?
— Where were they?
Stuff like that. But be honest, write down what you actually understood, not what you know the English says — in fact, reading less familiar or unfamiliar texts will be better for you in the long run, even if it is more difficult initially.
- Optimally, I’d say write your summary in Greek, but I can’t say that I can expect that of most of you.
The goal is that as you read and think about what you actually did understand without thinking in English or looking things up, you’ll find that your Greek is improving & you’ll begin to develop more and more of a natural feel for the language. Your summaries will improve in detail and understanding and you should begin to comprehend more and more over time.