Author Archives: Karyn

Let’s talk content

Daniel & Tonya have posted the first installment of their “hypothetical” syllabus for teaching Biblical Hebrew to a group of adults. They describe the class (and participants) this way:

This hypothetical Hebrew class is offered through and meets at a hypothetical, local Baptist church. All the hypothetical students are members or attenders of the church. They all have hypothetical jobs, hypothetical families, and many other hypothetical obligations. The class will meet for two hypothetical hours in the evening once per week for twenty weeks.

An overview of the entire syllabus is here. It’s actually not completely hypothetical. They did teach this course a few times and the only thing that is hypothetical is that they combined the experiences of all the sections taught into one description.

I’ll be interested to read why they choose to include (or exclude) certain material. I hope we can then move on to define a hypothetical seminary course (for a particular student population) and discuss the content for that course. Along the way, we’ll probably talk about resources and methodology to implement these courses.

UPDATES:
B&T continue with Syllabus – Vol. 2 here.

Communicative Method for Ancient Language Learning = Misplaced Priority

[I’m being a bit antagonistic on purpose with that title to get some reactions, but only a bit!]

Tonya & Daniel (bloggers at Hebrew & Greek Reader) asked me a question about communicative methodology in learning Hebrew when they interviewed me. After that, Seumas MacDonald wrote a four-piece essay (here, here, here, and here) on “Conversational” “Dead” languages which generated some good comments and led me to Daniel Streett’s work. Rather than bog down Seumas’ blog with a lengthy response, I’ve decided to bring my further comments here to my own blog. Mike Aubrey also has a lot to say (here and here) in response to Daniel & Tonya’s own posts on their blog (here and here) in response to Seumas. I know I’m missing some other contributors to this current discussion (but I’m not leaving them out intentionally)! I think we need a flow-chart to follow the conversations.

For those who may not be familiar with the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), you can read about the work of the Cohelet Project here. They have provided a very good summary of the goals and methodology of CLT. Paul Overland and his team have been working very hard to integrate SLA research into a program that is primarily driven by the communicative approach to language learning. Randall Buth has been running Biblical Hebrew ulpans for years (and is now also offering Greek ulpans). Randall is also part of the design team for the Cohelet Project.

Bottom line? Continue reading →

If you are interested

This is a semi-shameless plug about the interview that Daniel & Tonya (of the Hebrew & Greek Reader blog) conducted with me. It’s in a 20 Question format. I figured that since I agreed to the interview, I might as well let my readers know about it. You may even learn something new about me. But please, don’t go on a crusade to get me to like sweet potatoes. I assure you, you will utterly fail.

The Building of the first of our Gardens

I’ve taken a break from writing this week to begin the task of putting in gardens in our yard. In a sense, we not only began to build utilitarian vegetable gardens but also the beginning of  my very own  kirimahu (ok, so I’m not an ANE King, and I haven’t conquered any foreign realms recently, but I have begun to set some things in order, so I think it is okay for me to begin to plan and plant my own “pleasure garden”). If this last sentence confused you (and you’ll also have to ignore the fact that apparently WordPress is removing the diacritics), then ignore it. If you are vaguely interested, then Doug Green’s forthcoming book “I Undertook Great Works”: The Ideology of Domestic Achievements in West Semitic Royal Inscriptions should be added to your reading list (and it has ALL the diacritics).

Now, on to an annotated photojournal of how we built several garden beds this week.

garden 2009

We started off with a semi-level area of the yard that gets good sunlight. I dug in a frame of cinder blocks that would be 3 ft by 10 ft. We chose cinder blocks so that we could reposition or enlarge the garden bed in the future with less difficulty.
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Turkey Roll Recipe

Turkey Roll-up

OK, due to popular demand (don’t ask how this got started, but it has something to do with Mark and Twitter), here is my recipe for Turkey Roll. The stuffing is rolled up in the meat! So, I guess the recipe keeps with the theme of the blog by allowing you the taste of an entire Thanksgiving meal with much less effort. This is not my photo, but it does represent the recipe well.  Continue reading →

Health Widgets

Want to figure out how many calories you burned doing a specific type of exercise? Check out these Health widgets from the people at everydayhealth.com.

I like to swim, so here is my favorite widget. You just select the type of swimming you did, enter your weight (lbs or kgs), and how long you exercised. Hit “calculate” and your result pops up! This image is just a screen shot of the swimming widget. You can use the widget on the everydayhealth.com website, or you can download the code to your own website (javascript doesn’t work within a WordPress blog post, so I couldn’t actually post a live version here).

Health Widget for Swimming

There are widgets for running, walking, biking, yoga and pilates!

Remember, these are just estimates (and you can read their disclaimer at the bottom of their own widget page).

Accordance 101

Bought Accordance and feel lost? Only know how to find a scripture verse, copy and paste it into another program? Want to figure out how to tap into the power of the Accordance search?

Accordance Bible

Now you don’t have to wait to go to a seminar or borrow someone’s training DVD. It’s all available online for free now!! Here are the main categories of videos:

The Accordance Interface
Searching the Bible
Working with Search Results
Viewing Parallel Passages
Tools
The Bible Atlas
The Timeline
Doing Your Own Thing
Advanced Topics

Each main category has subtopics. For example, the “Searching the Bible” section includes separate videos for each of these topics:

  • The Search Window
    A preliminary look at the various pop-up menus, icons, and buttons in the Search window.
  • How to Search by Verses
    Look up verses by reference and avoid common mistakes.
  • Searching by Words and Phrases
    Construct powerful word searches using wildcard symbols and search commands. Highly Recommended!!!
  • Creating and Using Search Ranges
    Limit your searches to specific books, chapters, and/or verses of the Bible.
  • Working with Key Numbers
    Look up the Greek and Hebrew words behind popular English translations.
  • Searching More Than One Module
    Search multiple resources using the LINK command, Text and Tool Sets, and Search All.
  • Using the Simple Construct Window
    Create sophisticated searches using a simple, drag-and-drop interface.

So, you have no excuse… learn to use the best tool you already have. What are you waiting for? (And if you don’t own Accordance yet, take a peek at the videos to convince yourself that you should not wait any longer).

Compass Confusion (Directions in BH)

For those of you struggling to retain some of your BH vocabulary, let me give you a little hint for how to remember compass directions and physical orientation.

First, remember that the BH words for “east,” “west,” “north,” and “south” are also used for “before” (“in front of”), “behind” (“after”), “left,” and “right.” In other words, you learn two English glosses for each Hebrew word.

directions BH


Can’t remember which direction goes with the other vocab meaning? Continue reading →

(A few of) Karyn’s Essential Non-Digital Tools

This collection was actually harder to compile than my digital tools list. I’ve decided to limit this short list to items that help keep me and my office stuff productive.

RadTech ScreenSavrz
This little piece of miracle cloth will keep everything that builds up on your laptop keyboard from getting on your display. Moisten the microfiber cloth and you can clean the display and case. Soaks up spills before they cause a nightmare situation. At $16.95, you can’t afford to be without it. I have the leopard skin version, but you have your choice of several solid colors too. While you are at the RadTech site, check out their Portectorz and maintenance items.

Post-it Brand Flags
I prefer the translucent flags and I use hundreds of them. I mark books, articles, notes. I like to write brief reminders on the flags. When I’m organized I will read a book and notate in different colors as I read (be sure to keep a color key for each book you mark), then I can easily go back and find what I need to type up quotes, citations, and ideas.

WaterField bags
Made in San Francisco, these laptop bags and gear pouches are outstanding. I use the VertiGo (Mambo Combo) and several of the Cableguy and Gear Pouches. Exquisite design and meticulous workmanship. Phenomenal customer service (truly). You may have to save up to afford a purchase, but you won’t have to buy something again for a very, very long time. If you like to keep your cables, cords, and accessories organized and at hand, this is a great option.

[Warning: Do not laugh] Isokinetics Ball Chair
You will have to trust me on this one. A real conversation starter. I sit at my computer for hours and hours at a time and often ended up with sore neck, shoulder, and back muscles. I needed something to help me improve my posture. This chair promotes “active sitting” and I love it.
Continue reading →