The Lukeion Project
Preparation for the
National Greek Exam
Beginning Attic Greek
A page from an "uncial" (all capital letters) illustrated manuscript of the Iliad.
I'm very pleased and proud that you'll be taking the National Greek Exam. This is great experience for so many reasons! And there's nothing to lose. I've created this page to help you review concepts that you need to master for the exam. There are a few concepts that you'll need to work on that we might not have covered yet in class. I was always told that it's better to tell someone "Do your best!" rather than "Good luck!" ... so ... Do your best!
RULES
- In 2021, the exam (which had always been paper) moved online and was administered through Quia, a platform that you're very familiar with! However, in 2024 it was moved to a new platform, Lingco. Please be patient as we all try to work out the kinks in this new system.
- The exam is timed. 50 minutes were allotted to complete the exam last year.
- You will need a proctor who will monitor you while you take the exam and ensure that all the rules are observed.
- No Greek tools (dictionary, textbook, etc.) are permitted
NEW MATERIAL
- Tenses
- FUTURE tense (chap. 10, p. 182-202) - we WILL get to this before the exam
- IMPERFECT tense (chap. 13, p. 245-255) - we WON'T get to this before the exam. I'll be giving you some more help with these, but you're welcome to begin reviewing them right away.
- Other Grammatical Concepts
- RELATIVE PRONOUNS AND CLAUSES (chap. 10, p. 258-260) - we WON'T get to this before the exam. I'll be giving you some more help with these, but you're welcome to begin reviewing them right away.
- CRASIS - this is not covered in book 1. The word means "mingling" and happens when the final vowel or diphthong of one word contracts with the initial vowel or diphthong of the following word. It is usually indicated by a "coronis," which looks like a smooth breathing mark, but is found inside the word instead of over an initial vowel. Common examples include:
- καὶ plus ἐγώ can be written κἀγώ
- τὰ plus ἐμά can be written τἀμά
SYLLABUS
Please note that everything covered on the Beginning exam is fair game on the Intermediate exam.
STATISTICS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS
Here are the 2007 stats from the National Greek Exam:
- 1879 students took the exam
- 141 high schools, colleges, and universities were represented from the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
- 54% of those taking the exam earned purple, blue, red, or green ribbons.
Here are the 2008 stats from the National Greek Exam:
- 1884 students took the exam
- 154 high schools, colleges, and universities were represented from the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
- 54% of those taking the exam earned purple, blue, red, or green ribbons.
Here are the 2009 stats from the National Greek Exam:
- 1709 students took the exam
- 166 high schools, colleges, and universities were represented from the US, Canada, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand.
- 55% of those taking the exam earned purple, blue, red, or green ribbons.
USING PREVIOUS YEARS' TESTS TO PREPARE
Exact recreations of previous years' exams are included here. They are self-scoring and you can take them as many times as you wish. TO MAKE THE BEST USE OF THESE EXAMS, study first, then take them "cold" (having never seen them before), and time yourself to 50 minutes. That will be most like the real experience of taking the NGE. You may re-take them as many times as you wish, but each time they'll be more familiar, so they'll be less like the real exam experience. PLEASE NOTE the broad range of questions that are asked! It's a great help in understanding the kinds of things you will be expected to know.
NOTE: I may find time to add new activities to this page, so keep checking back.
BEFORE YOU TAKE THE 2012 EXAM, download the reading passage here:
2012 NGE Reading Passage
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