Any tips on learning greek?

[Mickysmummy]

Have plans to live in kos with my son and need to learn Greek, am hopeless at laguages. Fiance is half greek but think he will get frustrated trying to teach me properly. Did anyone have some tips that helped them learn? thanks

[wka]

Yes. When I was 18, I'd never heard Greek spoken. Ten years later, I was completely fluent and credentialed - it was a lot of work but COMPLETELY worth it. Some things that helped me (I don't know how many of these will help you, but maybe they will).

- Listen to Greek music all the time. Even if you don't think you like it, there are LOTS of genres. Find something you like. Look up all the words you don't know and learn what they mean - the language of song is the language of daily life. Sing along outloud, it will help with natural pronunciation.

- Watch Greek TV - this will be easy if you're living in Greece. I learned Greek in the US before moving here, and I had to pay ridiculous money to get Greek channels at home. Some kinds of shows are better than others. The news will probably be one of the last things you understand - it moves a little quicker than regular speech, and uses a lot of technical terms. Go for soap operas, sitcoms, that kind of thing.

- Use the Greek internet. Find a forum about something you're interested in, like this one, but in Greek, and start posting and reading. Learn to use Greek Windows and learn to type in Greek - you'll need this.

- Read Greek books. Start with children's books. Heck, start with baby board books if you have too! My first Greek book that I bought was "Sta palatia tis Knossou" (In the palaces of Knossos) by Nikos Kazantzakis. It's written for kids so it was a lot easier! I also found Greek poetry HUGE in learning Greek - short poems are easy to handle, have lovely vocabulary, can be memorized, and are a pleasure to read. Don't start with Cavafy - his spelling is horrendous. Seferis is a good choice because he's not too wacky.

- Talk to Greek people in Greek. Even if they speak to you in English, just persist. You'll have a lot of conversations where you're speaking Greek and they're speaking English, just don't give up. Don't ever be shy or afraid to make mistakes. Just jump in.

- Take formal lessons. I don't actually know if it's possible for an adult to learn proper Greek without formal instruction. I had formal instruction for about 4 years and it was absolutely essential I think. But it was by NO MEANS enough on its own.

- Take exams. The Greek government gives exams in Greek, I've posted about them at length on here but there are probably other exams out there. It is helpful to set goals for yourself like to take (and pass) a certain exam by a certain date. If you don't have any specific goals you may stagnate in your progress.

- Use flashcards. I find them really helpful - not just quizzing myself, but actually sitting down and making them.

- Speak to your fiance in Greek. My husband is Greek and we speak Greek ONLY together (his English is not really conversational), so our home is 99% Greek language zone! This is a big help.

- Talk to yourself in Greek. Read aloud from Greek books when you're alone!

- Make friends with Greeks. Add them on Facebook. Comment on their stuff in Greek. In other words, initiate Greek language interaction that is not Greek-language related. Not every conversation should be about how you are learning Greek or where you're from etc. Branch out and talk about politics, fashion, your childhood, favorite recipes, whatever.

- Keep a small notebook in your purse and write down words you see on signs that you want to look up later. I learned a lot of Greek from signs and billboards!

- Don't get down on yourself. It's a difficult language. Old people and people who live in more remote areas speak very differently and you may not be able to understand them. TV news goes quickly, and classic Greek movies have poor audio - both may be hard to understand. You will hear Greeks making mistakes and you may be unsure about what is right. You will interact with expats who will downplay the need and likelihood of learning the language. You will run into many people who will prefer to speak in English as it's faster and simpler. But you will be learning the language IN Greece, it is so much easier, you will probably learn it much faster than the TEN years I spent doing it (though to be honest I could hold a decent conversation after 1 year of lessons - the other 9 years was just steady improvement. You'll probably experience something similar - the first few months you'll struggle to put together a sentence, and then it will start to come together.)

Good luck!

[altohb]

The other thing I have found helpful is watching English movies/TV shows with Greek subtitles. Just seeing common words over & over again has lodged at least some of them in my brain!

Otherwise - yes to formal lessons, but be aware that the teaching in Greece can be very didactic - our teacher wasn't too keen on answering "why" questions! I found that after about 18 months I was happy to go on alone (the cost was a factor, too). Typing Greek into a translation engine is helpful, too - I do this regularly with any "official" correspondence, and am beginning to recognise the formal phrases which recur.

Talking to people is what I find hard, as most of the people we know speak more English than I do Greek, but I keep trying - even doing the shopping is a learning experience!

Good luck.

[Mickysmummy]

Originally Posted by wka

Yes. When I was 18, I'd never heard Greek spoken. Ten years later, I was completely fluent and credentialed - it was a lot of work but COMPLETELY worth it. Some things that helped me (I don't know how many of these will help you, but maybe they will).

- Listen to Greek music all the time. Even if you don't think you like it, there are LOTS of genres. Find something you like. Look up all the words you don't know and learn what they mean - the language of song is the language of daily life. Sing along outloud, it will help with natural pronunciation.

- Watch Greek TV - this will be easy if you're living in Greece. I learned Greek in the US before moving here, and I had to pay ridiculous money to get Greek channels at home. Some kinds of shows are better than others. The news will probably be one of the last things you understand - it moves a little quicker than regular speech, and uses a lot of technical terms. Go for soap operas, sitcoms, that kind of thing.

- Use the Greek internet. Find a forum about something you're interested in, like this one, but in Greek, and start posting and reading. Learn to use Greek Windows and learn to type in Greek - you'll need this.

- Read Greek books. Start with children's books. Heck, start with baby board books if you have too! My first Greek book that I bought was "Sta palatia tis Knossou" (In the palaces of Knossos) by Nikos Kazantzakis. It's written for kids so it was a lot easier! I also found Greek poetry HUGE in learning Greek - short poems are easy to handle, have lovely vocabulary, can be memorized, and are a pleasure to read. Don't start with Cavafy - his spelling is horrendous. Seferis is a good choice because he's not too wacky.

- Talk to Greek people in Greek. Even if they speak to you in English, just persist. You'll have a lot of conversations where you're speaking Greek and they're speaking English, just don't give up. Don't ever be shy or afraid to make mistakes. Just jump in.

- Take formal lessons. I don't actually know if it's possible for an adult to learn proper Greek without formal instruction. I had formal instruction for about 4 years and it was absolutely essential I think. But it was by NO MEANS enough on its own.

- Take exams. The Greek government gives exams in Greek, I've posted about them at length on here but there are probably other exams out there. It is helpful to set goals for yourself like to take (and pass) a certain exam by a certain date. If you don't have any specific goals you may stagnate in your progress.

- Use flashcards. I find them really helpful - not just quizzing myself, but actually sitting down and making them.

- Speak to your fiance in Greek. My husband is Greek and we speak Greek ONLY together (his English is not really conversational), so our home is 99% Greek language zone! This is a big help.

- Talk to yourself in Greek. Read aloud from Greek books when you're alone!

- Make friends with Greeks. Add them on Facebook. Comment on their stuff in Greek. In other words, initiate Greek language interaction that is not Greek-language related. Not every conversation should be about how you are learning Greek or where you're from etc. Branch out and talk about politics, fashion, your childhood, favorite recipes, whatever.

- Keep a small notebook in your purse and write down words you see on signs that you want to look up later. I learned a lot of Greek from signs and billboards!

- Don't get down on yourself. It's a difficult language. Old people and people who live in more remote areas speak very differently and you may not be able to understand them. TV news goes quickly, and classic Greek movies have poor audio - both may be hard to understand. You will hear Greeks making mistakes and you may be unsure about what is right. You will interact with expats who will downplay the need and likelihood of learning the language. You will run into many people who will prefer to speak in English as it's faster and simpler. But you will be learning the language IN Greece, it is so much easier, you will probably learn it much faster than the TEN years I spent doing it (though to be honest I could hold a decent conversation after 1 year of lessons - the other 9 years was just steady improvement. You'll probably experience something similar - the first few months you'll struggle to put together a sentence, and then it will start to come together.)

Good luck!

thank you for all of the advice! will try out these tips
i am slowly learning the alphabet and a few words, not easy to read up with a 5 month old but i am getting good at greek baby talk!

[Mickysmummy]

Originally Posted by altohb

The other thing I have found helpful is watching English movies/TV shows with Greek subtitles. Just seeing common words over & over again has lodged at least some of them in my brain!

Otherwise - yes to formal lessons, but be aware that the teaching in Greece can be very didactic - our teacher wasn't too keen on answering "why" questions! I found that after about 18 months I was happy to go on alone (the cost was a factor, too). Typing Greek into a translation engine is helpful, too - I do this regularly with any "official" correspondence, and am beginning to recognise the formal phrases which recur.

Talking to people is what I find hard, as most of the people we know speak more English than I do Greek, but I keep trying - even doing the shopping is a learning experience!

Good luck.

i agree, greek supermarkets are the most stressful places on earth for me. not designed for prams at all. also i look greek so people always try and speak to me, want to be able to answerits a good thing really but stressful all the same

[wka]

Wait til your 5 month old starts speaking... Greek!! Then you can learn together! It's shocking how fast kids pick up language. It's practically a certainty that your child will speak better than you six months after their first word - nothing we can do about that... just the way our brains work! Remember to give yourself a break! Adult language acquisition is NOT easy.

[Chrisles]

Originally Posted by Mickysmummy

Have plans to live in kos with my son and need to learn Greek, am hopeless at laguages. Fiance is half greek but think he will get frustrated trying to teach me properly. Did anyone have some tips that helped them learn? thanks

I've been coming to greece on holiday for about 28 years- I started with a phrase book and then teach yourself books. about 10 years ago i decided to to evening classes which were ok but i found i needed to learn & practice more frequently and I had a variety of teachers with very different methods.
So did 6 months of the Rosetta Stone online and loved it- so bought the whole set. This method suited me-it covered reading and writing as well as speaking- an hour or 2 a day -it just goes in.
I've also got music tapes and children's books as well as text books from the Hellenic institute as back up.
The difficulty is speaking in Greece to Greeks- they speak so fast, and can assume you're more fluent than you are-but I've found on holiday after about a week i sort of tune in.
I'm planning to move to the Peloponnese in March and intend to take lessons and throw myself in the deep end. greek telly, films, newspapers etc
I think you'll be fine once you're there- your son will certainly have no problems- you can learn together.

[seaskys]

Originally Posted by Mickysmummy

Have plans to live in kos with my son and need to learn Greek, am hopeless at laguages. Fiance is half greek but think he will get frustrated trying to teach me properly. Did anyone have some tips that helped them learn? thanks

First learn the alphabet by sound ah, be, de, ga, etc. As all Greek is written as it sounds, it is easy to then start learning names of things. As for the verbs, they aren't a bad as one thinks! But living in Kos you will pick it up quite easily, as I did when I came from the US.

[backpacker44]

I've been taking online courses, listening to language CD's as I drive, listening to Greek music and harassing my Greek friends to help me learn! I am fortunate to learn languages quite quickly (was fluent in Spanish within 15 months) though Spanish is a lot easier.. I find that you need to practice every day. I took a week off and it set me back quite a bit. Couldn't remember much of what I had learnt at all...

[wka]

Everyday practice is really good. I agree. When I took Modern Greek classes, they met 5 days/week and that was really helpful. Can you find classes somewhere that you can attend? My mother takes Modern Greek language classes offered through a Greek Orthodox Church - she's not Orthodox, but that's not important - they'll take anybody who's interested. She's not learning very quickly but it's harder at her age (over 65) to learn a foreign language. Just another thought that might help!