I picked up this book recently with a friend with the intention of learning Attic Greek. We are both Latin students, and having heard many good things about this book, we decided to try it.

After just a few weeks of work, I can already see the difference between this text and others: this book assumes that the reader is capable of understanding a language vastly more complicated than English. Having a strong background in Latin and an open mind definitely helps, though; I don't suggest using this text if you lack either of these qualities.

However, if you are planning to work alone, this may not be the best option: the title does not lie when it reads "Intensive." I know that working with a friend has helped me so far, and I can only imagine how much help a qualified instructor would be.

After the first few units, I was already finding myself reading and understanding parts of Plato's Republic and other authentic Greek texts.

Either way, I highly recommend this series over the other Greek texts out there, and i hope you pick this one up.

As an avid reader of the classics I wanted to learn Ancient Greek so that I could appreciate the works in the original language. I started out at my local library where I found very few books on the subject. The few that I did find were too advanced or were poorly written.

Hansen's text book is different. It starts out slowly with pronunciation and alphabet lessons. These are very valuble and were the elements that were most lacking in the other texts. The book builds to syntax and vocabulary. The great thing about the book is that they put easy reading and speaking drills early on. This makes you feel like you are learning and builds your confidence. The book also stresses thinking in Greek, since it makes the language easier to learn and since Greek is one of the most expressive languages.

This truly is an intensive course in the language and some devotion to study is required. However, it is fairly simple and fun to learn from the book. At the completion of the lessons, you will have a basic understanding of the Greek language and will be able to express ideas in the language. I am not very good at learning languages. If I can learn ancient greek so can you.

Other good features of this book are its Greek/English English/Greek translation dictionary for many usefuls words and phrases.

I began my study @ the University of Washington three months ago and have finished half of the Hansen and Quinn text.
The book is well-organized and presents all concepts clearly and with excellent examples.
I looked through the text prior to beginning the quarter and was, needless to say, driven nearly to tears by the level of complexity and the amount of rote memorization that was going to be required of me. However, I can't think of a better way to organize the information than the authors of this book have done.
The units start simply and then begin to require more and more work, yet keep the workload manageable, as long was one is constantly working.

The only flaw I can see is the claim that this text can be used by anyone seeking to learn Greek on their own time. I don't think this is entirely possible, unless one is willing to devote a large amount of time to the subject. I believe this weighty tome is designed for college students with ample time to spend translating sentences, not for the average individual with an already full schedule.