Learning Greek requires patience and perseverance. Looking at the Greek “hieroglyphs” for the first time, it is difficult to imagine how rhythmic and melodic this language can be. I remember my first impression when I opened the textbook: neither Cyrillic nor Latin - it’s unclear what. And when I started learning and broke my tongue on accents that were unfamiliar to my ears... It was these thoughts that gave rise to the idea of ​​writing a post about the first difficulties people face when learning Greek.

I won’t sin and I’ll say frankly that I didn’t write this post alone. Everyone has their own difficulties, and I asked Anya to talk about the most systemic errors. So, essentially, I’m paraphrasing.

So, the difficulties for beginners in learning the Greek language can be “put on several pillars”: writing and reading rules, personal pronouns and the linking verb “to be”, as well as cases. And now about all this in a little more detail.

In Greek writing and reading rules, the main difficulty lies in their difference from the Cyrillic alphabet that is close to us or the widely studied English. Due to the fact that the brain, at the first contact with something new, tries to refer to previously studied material, students often confuse the Greek ν(nu) and ρ(ro) with the visually identical English v and p.

Spelling also poses certain difficulties: for example, in Greek there are 6!!! various letters and letter combinations to indicate the sound “i”; a similar situation is also with the sounds “e” and “o”.

But, as a rule, difficulties in reading are quickly overcome, and already in the third lesson the average student reads fluently. With spelling, for the reasons given above, things are a little more complicated, since the spelling of many words just needs to be memorized.

The second common difficulty is personal pronouns and the linking verb “to be.” Although students often get stuck at this stage, with practice it can also be successfully overcome. I would like to emphasize that the corresponding rules are not complicated - they simply differ from Russian and English due to the fact that Greek belongs to a different language group. And the point here is not in complexity, but in elementary practice.

The third main “stupor” is cases. By studying Greek cases, you begin to understand how difficult it is for an English speaker to learn Russian. But still, the Greek cases are simpler than the Russian ones - not counting the vocative, there are only three of them.

The main point in cases is the change in endings and stress. And if students cope with the first quite easily and quickly, then the second comes a little later with systematic practice. The greatest number of complaints is associated with the genitive case, since in it there is both a change in the ending and a shift in stress. However, as practice shows, with a few days of persistence, this “Gordian knot” can also be eliminated.

The verb itself is simple, but when studying it it is important to feel the rhythm. This is especially important when changing the tense of verbs, when, as in the previous case, stress shifts.

If we add here the nuances of the passive voice, it becomes clear that without perseverance it will not be easy to master this topic. But there is a good way out: the verb can be taught in all forms at once (by tense and by person). This not only helps you better focus on the future and grasp a sense of rhythm, but also contributes to a faster replenishment of your vocabulary.

Thus, learning Greek has its own nuances. However, they do not stem from the complexity of the language or the presence of any special constructions, but from its difference from the Russian and English we are accustomed to.

The teacher’s advice is not to despair at the first difficulties and not to retreat. In many ways, Greek is much simpler than it seems at first glance. You just need to be patient, develop your own approach and everything will work out.

LESSON-1: After the first lesson you will learn how to say hello in Greek (say “Hello!”, “Good morning!”, “Good afternoon!”, “Good evening!”); learn to say “coffee” and “tea” in Greek; you will be able to say “Please”; learn to ask for something in Greek. After the first Greek lesson for beginners, you will know 8 new words.

LESSON-2: In this lesson you will learn to speak in Greek “Menu”, “Account”, “and”; learn how to ask the waiter to bring you something; learn to say “Goodbye”; You will be able to say “Thank you” in Greek.
After two lessons, your vocabulary will be 14 words.

LESSON-3: In this lesson you will learn how to ask someone “Would you like?”, learn to say in Greek “We would like”, learn new words “Lemon”, “Sugar”, “Milk”, learn, how to say “Tea with lemon”, “Coffee without milk”, etc., learn the conjunction “or”. Your vocabulary is 21 words.

LESSON-4: After the 4th lesson you will learn how to say in Greek “I am going to ...”, “I am flying to ...”; learn to speak “Moscow”, “Athens”, “Crete” in Greek; learn how to say “Flight” in Greek; you can ask your interlocutor “Where are you going?”, “Where are you flying?” By the end of the lesson you will know 29 new words.

LESSON-5: In this lesson you will learn how to say “Place” in Greek (on a plane, train, etc.); learn to say “Window Seat”, “Aisle Seat”; Learn how to apologize in Greek. After five Greek lessons for beginners, you will already know 33 new words.

LESSON-6: In this lesson we will study the phrases “This (this, this) is” and “This (this, this) is not”; further you will learn how to say “Two” in Greek; learn to say "Beer" and "Bottle" in Greek. After this lesson you will already know 42 new words.

LESSON-7: In this lesson you will learn how to say “Ticket” in Greek; you will be able to say “I want to buy” and “We want to buy”; learn to ask in Greek “How much is it?” After seven Greek lessons for beginners, you will already know 46 new words.

LESSON-8: In this lesson you will learn how to say “Water”, “Wine”, “Glass”, “Juice” in Greek; you will be able to say “You want to buy”; learn to say “Yes” and “No” in Greek; you can ask a question with the word “Which”. Your vocabulary after this lesson is 54 words.

LESSON-9: After the 9th lesson you will learn how to say “My”, “Your” in Greek. Learn to ask a question with the word “Where”. Learn phrases with the words “Baggage”, “Here”, “I can get it”. After nine Greek lessons for beginners, you will already know 60 words.

LESSON-10: In this lesson you will learn how to say “Taxi Stand”, “Bus Stop” in Greek. You can ask for a one-way or round-trip ticket. After the lesson you will already know 65 new words.

LESSON-11: In this lesson you will learn to say “I know”, “We know”, “I don’t know”, “We don’t know” in Greek. You can ask your interlocutor “Don’t you know?” After the lesson you will already know 70 new words.

LESSON-12: After completing the lesson, you will be able to ask your interlocutor how to get to the city center, you will be able to find out where the pharmacy, tavern, hotel is located. You can ask to show you where these objects are located. You will already know 78 words.

LESSON-13: The theme of this lesson is “In the Tavern”. In this lesson you will learn to name popular dishes in Greek, and you will be able to ask if a certain dish is available. After 13 Greek lessons for beginners, you will already know 87 new words.

LESSON-14: In this lesson we will learn phrases related to checking into a hotel. You will be able to book a single/double room in Greek for one or two days. After this lesson you will already know 94 new words.

LESSON-15: In this lesson we will continue to learn hotel related phrases. You will learn how to say “Room and Breakfast” in Greek. You can tell that the TV, telephone, and Wi-Fi do not work in the room. You will know how to ask for the Wi-Fi password. You will be able to find out what check-out time you leave the hotel. After the 15th lesson of Greek for beginners, you will already know 102 new words.

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The topic of the lessons is perfect when preparing for a trip to Greece (The topic of all lessons: “Greek for tourists and travelers”).

When you move to another country as a child, learning a foreign language is easy, and what was previously a foreign language quickly becomes native. But, if you are already over 18 and do not have special abilities for languages ​​(and this was exactly the case in my case), then learning a foreign language can be a difficult task, especially if you need to learn Greek...

Today I want to tell you how I learned Greek, perhaps my experience will be useful to someone and help in difficult times (yes, I even threw notebooks, in full confidence that Greek is practically Chinese, and I will never master it).

How it all began.

Moving to Greece was not a spontaneous decision: I knew in advance that, one way or another, I would move to this wonderful country. Therefore, I decided to start preparing for the move by learning Greek. And then a problem arose: I don’t know how it is now, but 7 years ago there were simply no tutors or Greek language courses in Belarus. I had to start learning the language on my own. Among the resources available to me were a few language lessons on the Internet and several Greek textbooks. I wrote about the best books for learning Greek. Is it any wonder that by the time I moved, I had only mastered the alphabet and a few basic grammatical structures.

"Yasu malaka."

My integration into the language environment began at the Athens airport building, where I heard and learned my first two words in Greek. “Native speakers” uttered these words so often that it was a sin not to remember. Can you guess what popular Greek words we are talking about? Of course, “yasu” is a Greek greeting/farewell and “malaka” is (uh, how can I translate it so as not to express it) a curse word. The word “melaka” in Greece has a certain magical, almost sacred meaning.) The Greeks managed to give a completely ordinary meaning to the word, which originally meant a curse, and unanimously use it in the company of friends or at work, to describe emotions or characterize things and events. And no one is offended by anyone. But I would not advise immigrants to use it, at least in the first couple of years.

From the ship to the ball.

Naturally, with knowledge of the alphabet and as many as 2 words in Greek, my path could only lie in group A (for beginners) of the Philosophers School of the University of Athens.

How exactly to study the language: independently or in courses, everyone chooses based on their preferences and capabilities, but I simply vitally needed () a diploma in knowledge of the Greek language, so my choice was predetermined.

During the courses, we were often repeated a phrase, the meaning and correctness of which I understood only some time later: “If you know the grammar of the Greek language, everything else will follow.” At that time, I strongly disagreed with this statement. Years of studying English have taken their toll: they studied and learned grammar at school, but what’s the point? I began to speak and communicate freely in English only when I found myself in a language environment, and there was no one nearby who understood Russian. Here you want it, you don’t want it, you can talk. At school, I, like other guys in the class, could not clearly connect even a few phrases in English, despite the long hours spent “memorizing” the rules of grammar. Therefore, I did not trust the teachers in Greece, and I studied grammar solely because of the grammar test included in the upcoming exam.

As time has shown, the teachers were right. When you are in a language environment (and not outside it, as is the case with school English), knowing the subtleties of grammar helps a lot. Within a year, I spoke Greek better than some foreigners who had lived in Greece for decades. And all because, having even a small vocabulary, but a good grammatical base, I clearly understood the “formula”: how, what and why to say.

A thorny path.

If we talk about the process of learning Greek itself, it was very difficult. The exam time was quickly approaching, and knowledge and skills were accumulating very slowly.

I attended courses five days a week, spent hours in the evenings doing huge homework, and learning words. The clock was ticking, deadlines were pressing, and at some point bad thoughts crept into my head: I’ll never learn “THIS,” I don’t understand anything, and in general, I’m probably a fool, not a very capable student. If you are not pressed for time and there is no certain fixed deadline, day “X”, by which you need to know everything, then learning the Greek language will be much easier and more enjoyable. If there is no time, then you will have to gather all your strength into a fist and “cram” further.

At some point, when my vocabulary expanded significantly, and I already knew grammar like a duck to water, all the pieces of the puzzle came together into a single whole. Everything somehow unexpectedly quickly went easy, very easy. I began to understand spoken language, speak Greek myself, read - all this began to come without much effort, as something taken for granted. From here I made an important conclusion: the main thing, when you are just starting to study Greek, is to overcome yourself and, regardless of the fact that a lot of things still don’t work out, that you don’t understand something, just continue. And at some point, when the “skeleton of language” is formed in your head, all subsequent knowledge will come on its own, without much effort on your part.

What helped me.

Undoubtedly, being in a language environment makes it much easier to learn a language. But even in Greece, many foreigners manage to drag out this process for decades. I would like to give a few recommendations that helped me and my friends learn Greek faster.

No Russian channels! Especially at the beginning of studying the Greek language, Russian television should be strictly prohibited. I have a friend who lived in Greece for 15 years and can hardly string together 2-3 words in Greek. And if it weren’t for her love for programs and films in Russian, everything could have turned out differently.

Watch Greek TV series and foreign films with subtitles in Greek. For me, this point was one of the most difficult, since I don’t like TV series in general, and even more so Greek ones. But Greek TV series are the key to understanding spoken language, so I had to watch it. If TV series contribute to the development of listening comprehension skills, then films with Greek subtitles will enrich your vocabulary and help you make fewer spelling mistakes when writing.

Greek songs. To be honest, I don’t agree that listening to songs will help you understand spoken language faster. I’ll explain why: in order to hit the notes (and in general the melody requires) the singer is forced to draw out the words somewhere, and “eat” parts of them somewhere. This is acceptable for a song, but not for life. So it turns out that TV series or radio are much more effective. This is just my point of view, many people claim that they learned Greek thanks to songs.

Read. Read as much as possible, try to find the type of literature that you like: it could be Greek myths, children's fairy tales, fiction, fashion magazines, or even just road signs. The more you read, the faster your vocabulary will expand.

Ask. Don't be shy to ask what a word you don't know means. Ask your friends to point out your mistakes in speech. The fact is that when a foreigner has at least learned Greek and begins to speak with mistakes, he is corrected, but only for the first half hour. Then the Greeks begin to understand your speech even with mistakes, they get used to understanding you this way, and stop pointing out mistakes. What happens next: making the same mistake 3-4 times, a foreigner begins to think that since he is not corrected, it means that he speaks correctly, and the word with the mistake is “embedded” in his memory as the correct option. It is very difficult to relearn later.

Try to stop communicating in English. I know from my own experience that sometimes this is very difficult to do. Especially when you want to quickly convey your idea to your interlocutor, but you still don’t have enough vocabulary in Greek. It turns out that saying a phrase in English is much easier and faster than “straining” your brain and fishing out a word in Greek from the bins of your memory. As a result, learning Greek will drag on for an indefinite period.

Like Latin, Greek is considered an ancient language but is still used by scholars. However, unlike Latin, Greek is a living language and continues (albeit in a modified form) to remain the official language in Greece. Having studied Greek, you will be able to read in the original the famous works of Plato, Lucian, Xenophon, Hippocrates, Homer, as well as the New Testament. Moreover, after you learn Greek, you will learn to better understand many European languages, because... many words were borrowed from Greek. This article can serve as a guide for beginners study Greek language.

Steps

Learn every letter. Here they are: (from right to left, Greek letter, upper and lower case, name in Greek, equivalent name in Russian, pronunciation, Russian correspondence):

Α α – ἄλφα ………….. alpha ……………. a,
Β β – βῆτα …………… beta/vita/…….. b,
Γ γ – γάμμα…………… gamma…………….. g,
Δ δ – δέλτα……………..delta…………… d,
Ε ε – ἒψιλόν……………Epsilon…. ......uh,
Ζ ζ – ζῆτα ……………… Zeta …….. ……….z,
Η η – ἦτα ……………… This ………. ……..uh,
Θ θ – θῆτα ……………. Theta…….
Ι ι — ἰῶτα ……………. Iota……….. …and,
Κ κ – κάππα…………. Kappa……. …….To,
Λ λ – λάμβδα……….Lamta….. …….l,
Μ μ – μῦ …………….. Mu …………….. m,
Ν ν – νῦ ……………… Nu ……………… n,
Ξ ξ – ξῖ……………….. Xi…………. …..ks,
Ο ο – ὂμικρόν……….Omicron……..o,
Π π – πι ……………… Pi……… ………..p,
Ρ ρ – ῥῶ ……………. Ro………….. ……..r,
Σσς – σῖγμα ………..Sigma.. …………s,
Τ τ – ταῦ ………….. Tau………….. …..t,
Υ υ – ὖψιλόν……….Upsilon….. (as in French u)
Φ φ – φῖ …………. Fi………………. f,
Χ χ – χῖ …………. Chi……………….ch,
Ψ ψ – ψῖ……….. Psi……….. …ps,
Ω ω – ὦμέγα…….Omega………….o,

• Note. Gamma, γ , pronounced like n before the letters γ, κ, χ, ξ. For example, σαλπιγξ – salpinx (Eustachian tube).
• Greek diphthongs (two letters that are pronounced as one sound):
  • αι as Hey in the word "hey".
  • ει as Hey in the word "hey".
  • οι how Ouch in the word "oh".
  • αυ as aw in the English word “cow”.
  • ευ as Yu in the word "blizzard".
  • ου how at in the word "onion".
  • υι how in and in the word "view".

Aspiration marks: the sign above each vowel that begins a word (or the second vowel in a diphthong). The hard aspiration ʿ over a vowel is read as h, for example "ὁ" is pronounced like "ho". Light aspiration indicates that the vowel is pronounced without a firm aspiration sound.

Iota subscript: A small ι may accompany the letters α, η, ω if the word ends with one of these letters. This is a trace of an ancient diphthong and is not pronounced, but its writing is required.

Declensions. IN Greek three declensions: first, second and third. Each noun is declined according to cases and numbers (as in Russian). Adjectives are inflected like nouns, agreeing with them in gender, number and case.

• For example, the word λογος (“word”) would be declined as follows:
  • Nominative case, singular: λογος
  • Vocative case, singular: λογε
  • Accusative case, singular: λογον
  • Genitive case, singular: λογου
  • Dative case, singular: λογῳ
  • Nominative case, plural: λογοι
  • Vocative case, plural: mλογοι
  • Accusative case, plural: λογους
  • Genitive case, plural: λογῳν
  • Dative case, plural: λογοις

Prepositions. Prepositions require the use of nouns in a specific case (control). For example, the preposition απο (“from”) requires the use of a noun in the genitive case. The preposition εν (“in, on”) requires the use of the dative case.

Conjugation. The table of verbs is usually found at the end of Greek textbooks: study the table. "Present" and "Imperfect" tenses indicate the duration or repetition of an action. "Aorist" denotes a simple, indefinite action. The verb can be in the active, middle or passive voice and inflected accordingly. Moreover, the verb is conjugated according to the context, i.e. in the indicative, imperative, conditional, desirable mood.

• For example, in the present indicative mood, the active voice λεγω (“I say”) would look like this:
  • 1st unit: λεγω “I say”
  • 2nd singular: λεγεις “you say”
  • 3rd singular: λεγει “he says”
  • 1st plural: λεγομεν “we speak”
  • 2nd plural: λεγετε “you say”
  • 3rd plural: λεγουσι “they say”

Conjugation of irregular verbs. They need to be learned through practice.

New words learned should be repeated periodically. Make it a habit for yourself to regularly repeat the list of words you have learned before you start memorizing the next ones. It is better to learn a little every day than to learn a lot once a week.

Try speaking Greek when communicating with native speakers. Listening to and speaking recordings of native speech will help you develop your speaking skills. spoken Greek.

• Get it Greek language guide and actively explore it. It is possible that you will need more than one textbook to expand your knowledge.
• Get a good Greek-Russian dictionary to look up unfamiliar words.

Excerpt from Codex Sinaiticus, which is believed to be the oldest known Bible from the first apostolic letter of John. In red text we read (I John v. 7-8): “And three bear witness on earth: the spirit, the water and the blood...”.

Start reading Greek texts after you have completed at least one Greek study guide. It's better to start with New Testament, in which fairly simple words and phrases are used, and the content may already be familiar from the Russian translation. However, since the content New Testament already familiar, reading it does not require special knowledge of the Greek language. After this, you need to move on to reading other light texts, the content of which is unfamiliar to you. Xenophon and Lucian would be good choices. Apology (of Socrates) Plato also makes a good reading aid: if possible, find a book with a parallel translation for easy reading.

• Note. All early manuscripts are in Greek, such as Codex Sinaiticus, written in capital letters. Lowercase letters were invented later to make writing easier.

Note

• Conversational Greek is best practiced with a native speaker than going it alone, relying on your own rules. On the other hand, knowledge of all the nuances of pronunciation is not necessary for reading and understanding.

You will need

• Greek Language Guides/Textbooks
• Greek Texts (New Testament)
• A very useful site for those learning Greek: (though in English) http://www.loecsen.com/travel/0-en-67-2-57-free-lessons-greek.html
• Learning the Greek alphabet (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAVPYd6aHRc

The first issue that every student in Greece faces is the language. The Greek language is not easy to learn, because phonetically, syntactically, and in writing it differs significantly from the usual Romance group of languages.

Here is a list of useful lifehacks from Greek students that helped them cope with the task of “learning Greek” as quickly as possible:

Record lectures on a voice recorder

Using a voice recorder is very convenient for recording long lectures, which you can then listen to and study at home. Moreover, the recording can be the background at home when you are doing something of your own. In addition, you can listen to the recording in transport while you are getting somewhere, or in line, or while walking.

Look for lectures online

Many teachers post materials and lecture presentations on special Internet platforms of higher education institutions. This makes writing notes much easier, since you can write down or make some notes at home, and during the lecture you can focus all your attention on listening.

Get a dictionary

Some people keep separate notebooks where they write down individual words and phrases, and then learn them. Others write the translation and make notes directly in notes or textbooks. Writing down words with translations in a notebook is useful because, in addition to visual and auditory, motor memory is also included, and this type of memory allows you to memorize words best.

Don't miss lectures!

It may seem that sitting in a lecture for several hours and understanding 10-40% of the material is a waste of time, and that it would be better spent sitting at home with a textbook. This is a big self-deception. Firstly, not a single student, even the most diligent, can spend several hours at home without being distracted by social networks, tea, checking email, running to the refrigerator, etc. The home environment is, after all, very relaxing. Secondly, even if, say, we spend time in the library and not at home, we are deprived of very important components - auditory and visual perception. In the end, without coming to the lecture, we will not receive even those 10-40% of information.

Work with Greek translation

Try to immediately translate new words using Google translate, use built-in dictionaries or special applications for mobile phones and tablets. Whatever program you choose, you always have the opportunity to immediately mark, save translated words into the device’s memory, or add to favorites. This will help you continue working on these words at home.

Google to the rescue: look for materials in your native language

All students have a list of required textbooks and recommended literature. Depending on the faculty and specialty, textbooks can be written by world-famous experts from different countries. So, if the authors of textbooks are professors from the USA, Great Britain, Germany and other countries, then it is not difficult to assume that they are translated into many languages. There is a high probability that similar educational materials will be published in Russian. Storm the search engines and look for publications by the authors we need, especially since some can be found for free download in electronic formats.

Connect with other Greek students

Even if you couldn’t find the necessary textbooks in your native language, don’t forget that “Uncle Google” knows everything! Look for forums or communities of students who have faced the same problems as you - they will definitely help in some way. Someone may post last year’s lectures to the public, someone will share a rare textbook, and someone will upload audio recordings of lectures on the desired topic. And it doesn’t have to be students from your course or university - many exam topics overlap, so go to different communities.

Whatever you choose, whatever methods and tricks you use, one thing is clear - all this requires great perseverance, attentiveness and scrupulousness. But with a little effort in the first year, you will reap many bonuses in subsequent years.
Useful links for Greek language learners:

Website in Greek with textbooks, articles, tests