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# Like a broken record
- URL: https://thepatrologist.com/like-a-broken-record/
- Published: 2014-11-17T12:01:29.000Z
- Updated: 2014-11-17T12:01:29.000Z
- Author: Seumas Macdonald
- Tags: Language, Acquisition, Methods, #Migrated-1784156034836, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-15 22:54

Q: Patrologist, why do you talk so endlessly about language acquisition?

A: Because our field is so broken. In no other field do so many people who know their target language so poorly talk with such authority. I honestly wish it wasn’t necessary, that we rather lived in a time, an age, a place, where we took for granted that people who studied ancient Greek literature *knew* ancient Greek, where people learned in Hebrew had learned Hebrew, where scholars of Latin had been schooled in Latin. But we do not live in such a mythical land, we live in its counterfeit where people peddle outdated methodologies to reach inadequate heights.

I believe this is changing, but slowly, and only because some are agitating – pointing out that the Emperor does indeed have no clothes. You can try it at home – approach a Greek professor or a NT one or whatever, and initiate a Greek language conversation. If you don’t get a quick χαῖρε, ὦ μαθητά, πῶς ἔχεις σήμερον; then there really is something wrong.

On the flipside, all I am saying is that we apply Best Practices from contemporary Second Language Acquisition to classical and biblical studies. This should be the least controversial thing in the world. And all I am discussing is *how* we can do that. There is a long road ahead of us. That’s why I keep talking about the same things over and over. Until the revolution comes.