In this chapter (ch. 2), Porter introduces us to nouns and adjectives. The chapter includes definitions of grammatical concepts and charts that aid the learner in memorization as well as lays out the changes in endings so that the learner can get the big picture. This is nothing new, Mounce does an excellent job in his grammar defining and displaying the declension in Greek. Also, we are introduced to the five noun cases, grammatical gender and number, and the function of the adjective (i.e. attribution).
After working through this chapter, I feel Porter et al. did a better job explaining more fully the noun and adjective. The temptation is to give just enough information about the subject, and then jump right into examples of how it all comes together. Porter et al. go into great detail to make sure the learner fully understands the workings of the noun and adjective before giving examples. I appreciate this. I still remember learning nouns in Mounce and not at all understanding what was happening. I knew how to translate the exercises in the workbook, but I did not understand the grammar that informed my translations. Maybe you can blame this lack of understanding on my educational upbringing (I still do not remember taking any grammar classes while I was growing up), but I feel that if I had Porter’s grammar at hand while studying nouns, I may have understood sooner the grammar behind the nouns.
I’m interested in your initial comments on Porter and your chapter-by-chapter comparison with Mounce. I’d like to add your blog to my rss feeds, but I’ve scoured your blog pretty carefully and don’t find any obvious rss feed link. Can you point me in the right direction? (And no, I don’t do twitter or facebook.)