LGPSI 2.0, August 2026 Update
People have mostly stopped asking me about LGPSI, which I suppose is nice in one way, though a bit concerning in another. Well, I have mostly good news about what's happening with it. But if you don't know what LGPSI even is, go here.
Firstly, I am writing it. That's the most important thing. 1,000 words a week.
Secondly, as I explained in this post here, I really needed to take a step back and rethink the whole project from the ground up, and I've been able to do that. I'm still thinking hard about it's design principles, even as I write.
Thirdly, let's talk about my reconception of what LGPSI might look like. I have landed on an 'idealised' 50-chapters at approximately 1,000 words per chapter. That's a considerable amount of text. For comparison, here are some close approximations to other texts: Familia Romana is about 37k, the English version of Athenaze has around 18k (excluding the notorious Acharnes selection in the final chapter), the Italian Athenaze comes in at a 52k.
50 chapters allows a very clear sequencing of 'all the grammar' in a first textbook, as well as incrementally increasing the vocabulary exposure over the whole. It's designed for extensive reading, so that a learner should be able to read large chunks of it with comprehension. That is, you should be able to read more of it, faster, and so cover more words, than a more difficult text that requires more intensive style reading.
I've made some style and pedagogy decisions too. The story is set in 4th century Antioch, and so I have deliberately begun with Koine choices. As the story develops, so does the language, and so you will get more classicising features as you go on, including vocabulary expansion and choice, some 'high register' features that are intentional Atticising, and eventually some Ionic and Homeric integrations. I think this fits best with my goal of "broad Greek", respects the historical setting (including how Atticising features were used in the Koine period), while grounding the learner before they spread their wings. Don't worry, we'll even get to the dual eventually.
As I write this post, I've re-written the first 7 chapters, and I have a fairly clear road-map for the next 13. I've been running a small class who have been reading the text and then doing live video classes with me, which has been great. They are my guinea-pigs, and having a class forces me to keep writing. I also have a small team giving feedback on the text, and an even smaller team of wonderful people helping me with digital tools that help me track vocabulary, forms, and things like that.
But I've also begun to think about how people use a text. Ørberg's LLPSI was brilliant (is brilliant) in just so many ways, but he also designed it initially for a correspondence course, for learners to use on their own, and read and write Latin. The fact that it's been put to use as an oral text just shows how good it is. But this is 2026, and both our technologies, and our understanding of SLA, have moved on a great deal.
So I have been developing what I call a learning architecture, or an acquisition infrastructure, or just frankly "what your learning hours should look like". Obviously I teach live video classes, but if I can build a scaffold and direct learners into how to use their time outside class, including intensive and extensive reading, intensive and extensive listening, structured output, explicit grammar, then the whole learning process improves. I'll talk more about this in a subsequent post.
I currently plan to complete 20 chapters of the new LGPSI-1 this year. I then have in mind to finish 30 chapters by mid-2027. Part of my optimism is that I intend to teach classes based on it, and so having a weekly class forces me to get my writing done. At the same time, I am going to slow my plans for public release of it, for a few reasons. However, the base raw text of LGPSI-2 will be available under a CC licence, and I will be releasing it in blocks of 10-chapters. That means roughly 10k of relatively easy Greek being (re?)-released into the wild in about a month's time.
In the meantime, the best way to see it is (a) join an LGPSI class in the upcoming terms, (b) join my feedback and review team.
One last thing. I'm dreaming big here. LGPSI vol 1, which I'm naming μῦθος τῆς Ἀντιοχείᾱς, is only the first of three volumes I have in mind now. I have sketched an outline for a volume 2, which will follow our characters into more adventures, provide more extensive reading, and introduce and adapt texts from broader Greek literature. A third volume will, θεοῦ θέλοντος, complete the saga, fulfil the 'Roma Aeterna' slot, and provide the final piece of a bridge to bring Greek learners into confident reading of a very broad range of ancient Greek texts.
Stay tuned.
p.s. I am working on other writing projects too. Those include my graded reader for New Testament (Γαλιλαίᾱθεν), a bilingual novella project, and some on-going short pieces for just general easy reading.
