Below is a curriculum for parents to add Koine Greek into their child’s study routine. While this is designed particularly to be used alongside Cycle 1 of Classical Conversations, it can easily be used by any parent (whether home, private, or public schooling) and requires no previous knowledge of Greek by the parent.

But, you may ask, why Greek?

The short answer is: in order to read the New Testament in its original language. I agree with Andrew Campbell that “Latin is the spine of your whole language arts program” (65) and am passionately pro-Latin. Yet Bill Mounce’s comment on the two languages is worth noting: “I learned Latin and read Caesar’s Gallic Wars; it was interesting. I learned Greek and read the Bible; it was life changing” (3).

My recent experience in learning Koine Greek attests to this. Thankfully, we have a multitude of wonderful English translations that accurately communicate God’s Word; however, reading the Bible in Greek is like watching a film in color rather than in black and white.

Furthermore, just as the Reformation was fueled by a rediscovery of Greek and the invention of the printing press that made translations into common languages possible, I believe that the use of the Internet to put Greek (and Hebrew) into the hands of ordinary, everyday Christians will be the start of a new reformation in the global church.

Historically, classical education was rooted in learning both of the classical languages, for doing so gave students the keys to engage directly with the foundations and pillars of our Western cultural heritage. Indeed, a functional knowledge of Latin and Greek was the educational standard until only a couple generations ago. Thus, we know that children are able to learn both languages because countless children have done so throughout the past two thousand years.

Unlike Latin, Greek has its own alphabet, which is why the purpose of this cycle is to learn the Greek alphabet, pronunciation, and punctuation. Again, and like everything in Foundations, this requires no previous knowledge of Greek by the parents but is designed for parents and students to be able to learn together, which provides an activity for you to share together as well as an opportunity for you to model life-long education in front of them.

If you desire to teach your child to read Koine Greek, they can begin watching Alpha with Angela videos at any time, and by the end of this cycle, the child should have a sufficient familiarity with the alphabet to begin a digital program like Biblingo. But even if you have no desire to fully teach Greek, the content of this particular cycle is still beneficial for exposing them to the Greek alphabet.

For the recordings that can be downloaded, I am using the Erasmian pronunciation.

I would recommend starting Greek with children who already have the English alphabet learned in order to avoid confusion.

Finally, I will continue to revise this page to make it as helpful as possible, so feedback is greatly appreciated.

Week 1: What is Koine Greek?

Koine Greek was the commonly spoken Greek in which the New Testament was written.

Week 2: The Alphabet 

Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Ξ‎ Ψ Ω

α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ/ς τ υ φ χ ψ ω

Printable Greek Alphabet Flashcards

Greek Alphabet Handwriting Sheets

Greek Letter Practice Sheets

Weeks 3-4: Letters & Their Sounds

Αα = ah, Ββ = b, Γγ = g, Δδ = d, Εε = eh

Note: I’ve included the chart (adapted from Bill Mounce) below for the benefit of parents. The second column is how the name of the letter is written out in Greek, and the third column is how that letter is commonly transliterated into English, which is helpful to know for some readings.

Alpha	ἄλφα	a	Α	a	a as in father
Beta	βῆτα	b	Β	β	b as in Bible
Gamma	γάμμα	g	Γ	γ	g as in gone
Delta	δέλτα	d	Δ	δ	d as in dog
Epsilon	ἒ ψιλόν	e	Ε	ε	e as in met

Weeks 5-6: Letters & Their Sounds

Ζζ = z, Ηη = ey, Θθ = th, Ιι = ee, Κκ = k

Zeta	ζήτα	z	Ζ	ζ	z as in daze
Eta	ἦτα	ē	Η	η	e as in obey
Theta	θῆτα	th	Θ	θ	th as in thing
Iota	ἰότα	i	Ι	ι	ee as feet
Kappa	κάππα	k	Κ	κ	k as in kitchen

Weeks 7-8: Letters & Their Sounds

Λλ = l, Μμ = m, Νν = n, Ξξ = x, Οο = o

Lambda	λάμβδα	l	Λ	λ	l as in law
Mu	μῦ	m	Μ	μ	m as in mother
Nu	νῦ	n	Ν	ν	n as in new
Xi	ξῖ	x	Ξ	ξ	x as in axiom
Omicron	ὂ μικρόν	o	Ο	ο	o as in not

Weeks 9-10: Letters & Their Sounds

Ππ = p, Ρρ = r, Σσς = s, Ττ = t, Υυ = oo

Pi	πῖ	p	Π	π	p as in peach
Rho	ῥῶ	r	Ρ	ρ	r as in rod
Sigma	σίγμα	s	Σ	σ or ς	s as in study
Tau	ταῦ	t	Τ	τ	t as in talk
Upsilon	ὖ ψιλόν	u or y	Υ	υ	u as in loop

Note: Sigma changes to ς whenever it comes at the end of a word.

Weeks 11-12: Letters & Their Sounds

Φφ = ph, Χχ = ch, Ψψ = ps, Ωω = oh

Phi	φῖ	ph	Φ	φ	ph as in phone
Chi	χῖ	ch	Χ	χ	ch as in loch
Psi	ψῖ	ps	Ψ	ψ	ps as in lips
Omega	ὦ μέγα	ō	Ω	ω	o as in tone

This is a fun sheet to work through once a child is becoming familiar with the alphabet.

Week 13: What is a diphthong?

A diphthong is when two vowels together make one sound.   

Weeks 14-15: Diphthongs & Their Sounds

αι = ay, ει = ā, οι = oi

αι as in aisle	αἴρω (I carry)
ει as in eight	εἰ (if)
οι as in oil	οἰκία (household)
αυ as in sauerkraut	αὐτός (he)

Below is an audio for pronouncing the example words.

Weeks 16-17: Diphthongs & Their Sounds

ου as in soup	οὐδέ (and not; nor)
υι as in suite	υἱός (son)
ευ as in feud	εὐθύς (immediately)

Below is an audio for pronouncing the example words.

Week 18: What is the rough breathing mark?

The rough breathing mark ( ̔ ) represents an H sound at the start of words that begin with a vowel.

Ex. ἡμεῖς (we)

Week 19: What is the smooth breathing mark?

The smooth breathing mark ( ̓ ) shows that there is no H sound at the start of words that begin with a vowel.

Ex. ἄγγελος (angel) [note: whenever γ comes before γ, κ, ξ, or χ, it makes the n sound]

At this point, the child should be able to read the words on these cards.

Week 20: Greek Punctuation

, = , | . = . | · = ; | ; = ?

Week 21: How many accent marks does Koine Greek have?

          Three: acute ( ́ ), grave (  ̀ ), and circumflex (   ̃ )

Week 22: What do accent marks indicate?

 Accent marks indicate which syllable of a word is emphasized.

Week 23: Definite articles

The Greek definite article reflects the three genders of Greek nouns: masculine ( ὁ ), feminine ( ἡ ), and neuter ( τὸ ).

Week 24: Indefinite article

Greek has no translation for the indefinite articles a or an.