Studying = Sleep

I think I might have developed the habit in junior high.  I find it odd that I still have it.  Whenever I study, I get sleepy.  Every single time.

This Thursday I am attending a wonderful class - Greek in a Week.  It's actually only two and a half days and I'm pretty sure it's going to kick my butt.  This is the same professor that I took the Greek course from a year ago.  He's quite amazing and come to find out he also teaches a "Latin in a Week" course.  Gonna look for that next summer.

He teaches this course all over the United States and I couldn't believe it when I finally found one in Iowa City!  I've been wanting to do this since I discovered it was available, so this is truly wonderful.

I'll be taking Greek as part of my coursework this fall, so I am looking for this to give me a refresher, a kick start ... all of that stuff. 

This afternoon I began processing through the pre-assignments he emailed to the participants (overnight last night - I really haven't been procrastinating).  At one point I finally had to lean back in my chair, rest my head on the back wall and just sleep. Yup ... studying makes me sleepy.

I have 125 vocabulary words he'd like us to memorize, but since Bible software has become such an integral part of our study these days, the memorization isn't quite as important.  I'll go through the words - some are new since his original class, refresh the ones that I knew at one time and practice my pronunciation ... in general, that's not great for me.  All those crazy accents ... gotta learn 'em!

The thing is - we've bastardized Greek so badly that what I'm used to saying when I read a word is not at all what the word should sound like.

Just so you know - the letter 'p' is actually 'pi' (you know - 3.14159265).  But, it's pronounced 'pee.'  We see the word gamma - it's actually the third letter in the Greek alphabet and he wants me to pronounce it as gahm-mah.  Sigh ... You know that name "Zoe" that seems so cool?  It is cool.  The word means 'life' in Greek.  But, the accent is on that last syllable.  Zo-eh'.  Oh yah ... kickin' my butt.

I posted a status update that I was going to be whining and complaining this fall when I actually start classes and was reminded that I was making this choice so I shouldn't whine.  Oh yah - that's right!  But, I have to say ... as excited as I am to be learning again (and you can't imagine how truly excited I am), I also know that of all the information flowing into my mind, there's a good portion which will escape me just at the point that I need it for an exam or a paper.  THEN, I'm going to complain.

This afternoon as I began going through the Greek words and listening to the professor as he read through 1 John 1:1-4 in Greek (expecting me to begin practicing my pronunciation and understanding), I had a hard time sitting still.  I was so thrilled to be back in learning mode again.  The only way for my body to release the excitement since I didn't get up a dance a jig (I was watching a video, for pity's sake), was to get all teary-eyed. 

I can't wait for the journey to begin - fortunately, I have a little jump start this summer to tide me over until September 7th gets here!  And here's hoping that a lot of 5-10 minute naps will get me through this process!