Good to know! I think you're right—that must have been the issue. You'll have to let us know when the Gospel of Mark film is released (in Koine Greek).

@BPK Wow, that's the one! It's so great to see this recording available again. Audio resources such as this one are invaluable to building fluency. Thank you pointing this out, Ben.

There used to be an edition of the "LXX" on Bible.is. Unfortunately, it was removed and would almost certainly violate copyright restrictions to copy and distribute. Hopefully it will return eventually. There was some discussion about this on the B-Greek Forum. https://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4113&start=10#p29993

Just for clarification, I recall that Vamvas's translation is translated into a Katharevousa dialect and read with a Modern Greek pronunciation. Francis already linked to it, so I'll just add that you can find it presented in a different format that segments the text into smaller verse-and-phrase units, along with additional links in Animated Hebrew's Bible Reader (web app). I recall Jill Firth sharing it on Nerdy Language Majors (FB group). http://www.animatedhebrew.com/reader/ot/01_genesis.html#key http://www.crosswire.org/study/fulllibrary.jsp?show=GreVamvas https://www.sermon-online.de/search.pl?lang=en&id=21999

longhornm, I was wondering if you have any familiarity with Randall Buth's Living Koine Greek: Part 1? I was probably about about as "successful" as you can get with Mounce's BBG. (In fact, I often wish I was as diligent with a communicative approach. I seriously burned myself out grinding through BBG while also trying to supplement its deficiencies leading up to and during my undergraduate studies.) In the end, however, I found the results very poor and frustrating. In many ways, I had to start over because his method didn't even really begin the process of internalization and fluency building (i.e., learning Greek as an actual language, not as something to be rapidly decoded and translated in one's head). I can't imagine how far along I'd be now if I had started on a better course with a stronger foundation. But I don't begrudge God's providence; I have learned much and have much to learn. I provided a little of my background on the B-Greek forums earlier last year, as Harlan mentioned in a previous thread (sharing similar experience): https://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=4451 Anyway, I wouldn't want to derail your plans at all, quite the contrary! We all have to start with what we already know and branch out from there. For many of us that's Mounce's BBG. Your class will probably be better off since you clearly recognize and will be supplementing some of its weaknesses. You might want to consider some of the Living Biblical Language materials for down the road. I've seen students make tremendous progress even just with Part 1. That might mean initially focusing on listening and reading comprehension while only gradually adding verbal communication as you are able. I think Mounce's textbook would be rather challenging to adapt to a communicative approach. You'd almost have to produce an entirely new curriculum. https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/books-products/koine-greek/ https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/blc-online-2/ I'll be interested in hearing how your plans develop and work out.

I realize that the above information doesn't directly address all of your questions, Harlan. I'm short on time, so I'll just state that the default word-order in languages can vary somewhat depending upon conventionalized grammatical constructions acquired by language speakers individually and collectively. Generally speaking, finite verb clauses in Koine Greek narrative, for example, default to a VSO (verb-subject-object) pattern, beginning with a verb, then followed by core-arguments (which stand in relation to the verbal idea by complementing or completing it) and finally adjuncts (which are more peripheral, not being grammatically or semantically necessary to complete the clause). There are many factors involved in why Koine Greek speakers and writers don't always follow this pattern. Anyway, that's a bit abstract (sorry about that!), so I or someone else can provide or point you to more concrete examples later. There are many others who are better equipped than me! :-) I hope this is even a small help.

More advanced material can be found from Stephen H. Levinsohn. Analyzing Discourse: A Manual of Basic Concepts, which he coauthored with Robert Dooley, is one of the best entry points that I know of (after Runge) into their approach to discourse analysis and information structure. Levinsohn and Runge tend to follow an (eclectic) functional, cognitive, typological linguistic framework that would be broadly shared by many linguists, including Randall Buth. Levinsohn and Dooley have made their Analyzing Discourse available for free online (although note the disclaimer: "May be reproduced only for non-profit educational use.") http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Analyzing%20Discourse%20-%20A%20Manual%20of%20Basic%20Concepts.pdf From there, Levinsohn has many other materials on his SIL page, including his Discourse Materials for Narrative an Non-Narrative Discourse and BART Displays Enhanced for Discourse Features. https://scholars.sil.org/stephen_h_levinsohn https://scholars.sil.org/stephen_h_levinsohn/discourse https://scholars.sil.org/stephen_h_levinsohn/bart He provides a brief overview of some key discourse features in BART Displays Enhanced for Discourse Features: Greek New Testament, although it depends on his other writings. https://scholars.sil.org/sites/scholars/files/stephen_h_levinsohn/bart/enhancedbartdisplaynt.pdf As I understand, he's been working on an updated version of his book dealing explicitly with the Koine Greek of the NT, which hopefully will be released someday, Lord willing! That would be Discourse Features of New Testament Greek: A Coursebook on the Information Structure of New Testament Greek. https://www.amazon.com/Discourse-Features-New-Testament-Greek/dp/1556710933

Hi, Harlan. Word order in Koine Greek is a complex subject. It does matter, however! Steven E. Runge introduces some of the factors involved in "Part 3: Information Structuring Devices" of Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament: A Practical Introduction for Teaching & Exegesis (2010). https://www.amazon.com/Discourse-Grammar-Greek-New-Testament/dp/1598565834 Although before that, I'd generally recommend Randall Buth's Living Koine Greek series. He and his co-laborers at BLC do a wonderful job helping students internalize and understand information structure and how it interacts with linguistic form (morpho-syntax and discourse structure) and meaning (semantic-pragmatics). The new audio recordings and resources that they're producing for their Live Video Classes are phenomenal in this respect (e.g., "Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling" and "Comprehension Questions"). I understand some of the linguistic nuts and bolts of information structure and word-order, but it really becomes clear the more you internalize it (as implicit, communicative knowledge). https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/books-products/koine-greek/ https://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/live-video/