sigh.

[jmtorres]

SIMON ILLYAN WANTS ME TO LEARN GREEK.

CLASSICAL GREEK.

AND THEN ALSO MODERN GREEK PLUS ABOUT A MILLENNIUM OF INTERSTELLAR DRIFT.

Asshat.

Comments

[jackandahat]

A bunch of mine want me to learn American Sign Language.

I don't even speak British Sign Language yet.

(Also requested: The purchase of Superman underpants. Just no.)

[jmtorres]

:-D?

(I'm on Project Gutenberg for mine.)

[jackandahat]

(I am trying to learn BSL, because that will be useful to me as a hearing-impaired person in Britain. I've never even set foot in America! But you try telling them that...)

[twistedchick]

Simon? ::headshake::

If I were you, I'd ask what he has in mind. Classical Greek isn't bad (I had a year of it at college, and enjoyed it immensely); however, modern Greek drives me a bit bats because of the shifting of sounds. What was (transliterated) tt in a word is now ss, what was mp is now b, and so on. Wouldn't he just be happy with Koine Greek (what the Bible was written in) which is classical with sloppy endings, street talk, the way people spoke down by the docks in Pireas instead of declaiming philosophy up on the Acropolis? Seems to me that Koine, plus drift, is what he really wants. Beginnings of words, then not quite the right or usual ending. There are books that teach Koine.

[flourish]

Seconded: If you don't care exactly when the Greek was, DO KOINE, it's like 50 zillion times easier than any of the earlier OR later forms, in my opinion. The earlier forms are what made me stop being a classicist. I'm sorry, Thucydides, I can quit you - and I will and I did - you suck!

[niqaeli]

Not my headperson, but I know why he wants her to learn Greek, and he wants both as both are actually relevant.

The Barrayarran Greek he speaks would have shifted from modern Greek, not Koine. Koine might be worth looking at, though, not sure. See: not my headperson. (The person who speaks the classical Greek lives in my head but not, thank God, Illyan.)

[jmtorres]

Yep, I imagine it would be useful to learn about what direction the language has been shifting in.

Of course it would also be useful to learn Russian. *facepalm* Hey, I know I'm not horrible at picking up alphabets, I used to use SW Rebel for my diary in high school. Because as long as no one less geeky than me could read it I was safe.

[jmtorres]

I do know what he wants. He wants the fucking Odyssey. And also 30th century Barrayaran Greek. Both.

[laurajv]

*cracks up*

[jmtorres]

Yes, well.

[lannamichaels]

You should make him teach it to you in the Cyrillic alphabet. ;)

[jmtorres]

Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha.

*cries*

It's come up, yes.