Understanding the Greek Language, Lesson 2

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UNDERstanding the greek language

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By Eirini Verykiou

How to be polite

Greetings

How to ask basic questions

Lesson 2

Reminder about : Learning A new language

Every learning poses a challenge

Learning something new and completely out of one's everyday knowings can prove hard and stressful. Some questions flowing in our minds when we think of learning a new language are :1. How do I do it? Or 2. Where do I start? Key : First of all, nobody is perfect and nobody knows everything since day one. Progress needs time. Make sure you give yourself the necessary time to advance and understand what you learn. After that we have : The Basics

The alphabet

The Greek letters

Greek language has 24 basic letters and some important letter combinations during the word formation. The alphabet doesn't have latin origins, even though the latin alphabet was inspired by the greek one. The greek language is consisted of capital letters (A, B, Γ, Δ, ... , Ω) and small letters (α, β, γ, δ, ... , ω).

greetings

• The first thing we need to learn while studying a foreign language, is how to greet someone in that language. In Greek, the most common and simple greeting is :

Γειά

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greetings

• This greeting is divided, according to the person we are greeting. Therefore, we have :

When we greet friends, or family

Γειά σου!

Γειά σου! Τι κάνεις;

Γειά σου παππού!

greetings-how to be polite

• For more than one people, for people we don't know, in our professional space, or for older people, as a form of respect, we use the plural form of the greeting, which is :

Γειά σας! Τι κάνετε;

Γειά σας!

Γειά σας κορίτσια!

different times of the day

• When we enter a place before 12:00 pm, we say :

Καλημέρα!

different times of the day

When we enter a place after 12:00 pm, we say :

Καλησπέρα!

different times of the day

And, lastly, when we leave a place at night or late in the evening, we say :

Καληνύχτα!

other forms of greeting

If we want to leave a place, except the previous forms of greeting, we can also say :

Αντίο!

Τα λέμε!

HOW ARE YOU?

The next step after greeting someone is, of course, to ask how they are doing. When we say :

Καλά

Πολύ Καλά!

We can answer :

Τι κάνεις;

Τέλεια!

everyday conversation

Let's see how all these work in an everyday conversation :

Γειά σου! Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ!

Καλημέρα! Τι κάνεις;

Everyday conversation

Or, an even more common and usual way :

Γειά! Καλά, εσύ;

Γειά! Τι κάνεις;

Are you up for a little test?

Which one of these words means "goodnight"?

Καλημέρα

Πολύ καλά

Καληνύχτα

correct answer

Congratulations! You are beginning to understand the basics!

wrong answer

It's okay! One mistake shouldn't stop us from trying! You're already doing great!

surprise

Let's end this session with a simple exercise!

Did you know that the modern Greek language has today over 7 million different words? In order to discover a bit more about it and strengthen your knowledge, here's your task : This time, we will find a word from the Latin languages (English, French, Portugese, Spanish, etc) that actually comes from the Greek one. In exchange, I will think of words the Greek language has "stolen" from other languages ;). You can use whatever means you like (books, internet, asking someone, etc.)

thank you all for your attention

See you next time!