Learn to Read and Study the Greek New Testament...
in small steps!

Beginning Greek in Small Steps is the first course you’ll take once you join the Greek Mastery Membership. This unique course makes it easier to read and study the Greek New Testament when you have a job, family, and ministry commitments.

You can do more than just word studies!

Learning to read and study the New Testament in Greek is hard work. It’s not for everyone. But for those who want to go deeper into the word of God, it should be common practice to work from the original languages, and that doesn’t mean doing word studies (though they have their place).

Instead of doing word studies, you can gain the ability to read the language without using tools like interlinears, reader’s editions, and diglots… in fact, without even having to look up words! Just read.

The ability to read Greek well leads to insights and questions about the text, resulting in better exegetical study and benefits for you, whether you’re a bible teacher or an everyday Christian.

But getting to this stage is hard. Most of those who want to learn the language give up because it’s so hard.

 That’s why we created Beginning Greek In Small Steps.

Why is Greek so hard to learn anyway?

It's a trek through the wilderness

Most grammars written to teach you Greek are written for academic students. They assume the student will grit their teeth and figure it out in order to get a grade. Authors and professors then focus on fitting the grammatical concepts into the time they have available to teach – normally one or two semesters or two 12-14 week blocks. For students with jobs, families, and ministry responsibilities, this means breaking chapters into multi-week treks in the wilderness. While you’re treking through the current chapter, you’re forgetting previous lessons, making progress seem harder than it should be.

 

You have to drink from a firehose

This means that concepts tend to be layered on top of one another at a pace that is incredibly challenging for students to learn. In fact, if you don’t have some rudimentary knowledge of Grammar before you start, it will be very hard to follow along.

 

There are missing links

Not only that, but grammars delivered as books just don’t provide enough information to help you learn. Learning Greek is different to learning Church History, Theology, or even Hermeneutics. It isn’t just about the knowledge required. Learning Greek requires the development of particular skills, and it’s painfully obvious if you haven’t developed them.

But grammars often don’t adequately teach you to develop these skills; they simply give you information and then Greek texts to translate. Between these two steps are other steps that you’re left to figure out on your own.

Complicated grammars shouldn't keep you from reading Greek... That's why we've made learning Greek simpler for you!

We’ve simplified learning Biblical Greek with our flagship course we’ve built from scratch.

Beginning Greek In Small Steps is designed for busy people with jobs, families, and ministry responsibilities. It is designed around the best approach to teaching the language without semester constraints, and without expecting you to be driven by grades and degrees.

Beginning Greek in Small Steps expects you to have no knowledge of grammar, but anticipates that your goal is to read and study the Greek New Testament.

At the end of Beginning Greek in Small Steps, you’ll have read from three New Testament epistles in Greek, have the vocabulary to read much more, and you’ll be able to follow the arguments and explanations in technical commentaries.

 

"I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this in-house developed BMA course in terms of pace, content, and format."

Greek Mastery Member

Take Small, Consistent Steps

Where most grammars pack everything into 36 or even 24 hefty chapters, Beginning Greek in Small Steps breaks solid explanations and details of Greek into 60 small lessons that are designed to be completed in around 30 minutes each day (exact time required varies between individuals).

Each lesson introduces one or two main ideas with clear explanations, clarity on what you need to know, and lessons to help you learn, review, and practice what you’ve learned to this point.

Designed with complete beginners in mind

Most of us don’t have a very good handle on grammar. Beginning Greek in Small Steps provides you with a clear explanation of what you already know about English first. Then we use that to explain new concepts that map to this in Greek.

Start with zero knowledge of Greek. Get everything you need as you need it.

 

Comprehensive yet simple

Some grammars provide too much information. Others try to simplify the language, leaving out information, and leaving you confused. Beginning Greek in Small Steps is comprehensive, but simplifies the language, and breaks lessons into concise segments.

 

Designed for Reading Greek

Colleges and seminaries focus on teaching students to do exegesis. It’s assumed reading is too hard. But reading is the foundation for good exegesis. Without the ability to read, students are likely to lose their Greek. Beginning Greek in Small Steps uses the last three lessons to help you move from translation to reading.

 

Study the Greek New Testament

Throughout Beginning Greek in Small Steps we provide you with all that you need to know for careful exegesis directly from the Greek text. The main uses of various Greek constructions are explained clearly and comprehensively enough that you’ll be able to identify them when you find them in the Greek text. When you’re done, you’ll be able to follow the arguments in technical commentaries.

 

30 Minutes per Day

Beginning Greek in Small Steps is designed for people with jobs, families, and ministries. We know you’ve got a lot on, which is why we provide flexibility and clarity. Lessons are designed to be finished in around 30 minutes per day, though some people will take more time than others (which we think is just fine! As you progress, we’ll let you know how to pace yourself based on which lessons are easy, and which to spend more time on.

 

Everything You Need

You could go and buy a grammar, but we think you’ll need more. Beginning Greek in Small Steps includes video explanations for every lesson by the author. You can download the written grammar for every lesson. We even include instructions for creating a personal book in Logos Bible Software!

But wait, we also provide you with the slides from the video, downloadable (and printable) exercises, electronic vocabulary (and instructions), and more.

 

Based on the Latest Scholarship

Grammars don’t always keep up with the latest scholarship, but Beginning Greek in Small Steps incorporates the latest scholarship, including verbal aspect (rather than tenses), and prioritizes modern Greek pronunciation.

 

Exhaustive within the Greek Mastery Membership

Beginning Greek in Small Steps is integral to the Greek Mastery Membership. Inside the membership we start a new beginning Greek course (we call them cohorts) every quarter. These cohorts use the recommended pacing inside Beginning Greek in Small Steps to complete the course in less than a year, though our instructors are flexible and seek to work with you. If you get behind, just jump into the next cohort (there’s no cost or registration for members).

We also provide weekly Office Hours calls to answer any questions or problems you have. But there’s also an online community of learners who are eager to answer questions and share insights to help each other grow in your knowledge and love of the original languages.

The membership also provides a path to reading the entire Greek New Testament without help. As you progress, new and more advanced courses become available taking you to the level where you’re able to interact with scholarly works with confidence.

 
Get Started Free with our Getting Started Course

I don't think Mounce had been bettered until Darryl's Small Step process. Darryl's course includes more essential detail, and also, where there is extra detail, it is to remove the confusion present in other Beginning Greek grammars. 

Phil
Greek Mastery Member

How Beginning Greek in Small Steps is Structured

Beginning Greek in Small Steps is comprised of five parts, each containing four modules or twelve lessons (three lessons per module).

At the end of each module, there is a review (including a short quiz) to enable you to review how far you’ve come and consolidate what you’ve learned before moving on.

Part 1. Basic Sentence Structure

Part 1 explains the basics of sentence structure, starting with the alphabet, how English works in comparison to Greek. We’ll also introduce you to the basics of Greek verbs and the worker verb  form along with the basics of Greek nouns in various cases. 

Module 1: Symbols and Sounds

  • The Greek Alphabet 
  • Pronouncing Words
  • Learning Vocabulary

Module 2: Basic Sentence Structure

  • Simple Building Blocks
  • Types of Verbs and Person
  • Number and Predicates
  • Bonus: How to Build the Grammar in Logos

3. Aorist Verbs

  • Time and Aspect
  • Aorist Tense Forms
  • Contractions
  • Bonus: How to use Mounce’s Morphology of Biblical Greek

4. Genitive and Dative

  • The Genitive Case
  • The Dative Case
  • Other Noun Endings
Part 2. Imperfective Verbs and Pointers

Part 2 expands on what you learned in part 1 by adding present verb along with second aorist verbs. You’ll also learn the major sentence modifiers such as pronouns and prepositions. 

Module 5: How Verb Roots Change

  • Present Verb Forms
  • Root Variations
  • Second Aorist Verbs

Module 6: Pronouns

  • Personal Pronouns
  • Demonstrative Pronouns
  • Other Pronouns

Module 7: Prepositions

  • Single Case Prepositions
  • Two and Three Case Prepositions
  • Improper Prepositions and Compound Verbs

Module 8: Imperfect and Relative Pronouns

  • Imperfect Verbs
  • Relative Pronouns
  • Relative Clauses and Indefinite Relative Pronouns
Part 3. Voice and Adjectives

In part 3, we fill out your knowledge of verbs, nouns, and modifiers by explaining the verb voices and third declension.

Module 9: The Third Declension

  • Third Declension Nouns
  • Third Declension Pronouns
  • More Third Declension Morphology

Module 10: Passive Verbs

  • Aorist Passive Verbs
  • Present Passive Verbs
  • Imperfect and Other Passive Forms

Module 11: Adjectives and Adverbs

  • Attributive Adjectives and Adverbs
  • Substantival and Predicate Adjectives
  • Comparative Adjectives

Module 12: The Middle Voice

  • What is the Middle Voice? 
  • Aorist Middle Verbs
  • Present & Imperfect Middle Verbs
Part 4. Additional Finite Verbs

Part 4 completes your knowledge of finite verbs by introducing you to the remaining forms you’ll find in Koine Greek.

Module 13: Future & Reduplicate Verbs

  • Future Verbs
  • Perfect Verbs
  • Pluperfect Verbs

Module 14: Indicative Athematic Verbs

  • Aorist Athematic Verbs
  • Future and Perfect μι Verbs
  • Present and Imperfect Athematic Verbs

Module 15: Moods Less Certain

  • Mood and  the Subjunctive Mood
  • Subjunctives in Dependent Clauses
  • The Optative Mood

Module 16: Imperative Verbs

  • Introduction to Imperative Verbs
  • Imperative Verb Formation
  • Prohibitions
Part 5: Verbal Nouns and Adjectives

This last module focuses on the last forms you’ll find regularly in the Greek New Testament including participles and infinitives. We use the last module to get you reading a variety of Koine Greek texts.

Module 17: Adverbial Participles

  • Introduction to Participles
  • Perfective (Aorist) Adverbial Participles
  • Imperfective (Present) Participles

Module 18: Infinitives

  • Adverbial and Aorist Infinitives
  • Adjectival and Present Infinitives
  • Other Infinitive Forms

Module 19: Adjectival Participles

  • Adjectival Participles
  • Perfect, Future, and Athematic Participles
  • Periphrastics and Genitive Absolutes

Module 20: Learning to Read

  • Clauses and Reading (1 John 1)
  • Reading Pauline Texts (2 Thessalonians 1)
  • Reading Unfamiliar Texts (Didache 1:1-6)