Greek language tapes / disks.

Anyone got tapes or disks? I can ask for a bottle of cold beer and two glasses, I can also ask if I may take a persons photo. I'd like to be able to say more on our holidays. Cheers, Tony.

 

you could take a look at this till you get some
BBC - Languages - Greek: All you need to start learning Greek

 

act deaf and dumb .... have a pen and a piece of paper with you and draw what you want ... ...

you get better service .... works worldwide ... waiters are always polite in such cases ... works well when shopping aswell ... people feel bad if they rip you off (even in places like Turkey and egypt)

have not tried it in the UK though ....

 

And just don't get mistaken for a German. There is still a lot of bitterness there.

 

I've been to a great many 'exotic' lands and the first was Bahrain (in 1968) on our arrival chat, the C.O. said "Try and speak the language, they will think it's a hoot at first, but persevere". I've put that into practise during my service life and after. Never had any complaints, in fact quite the reverse. Kong E Fat Choi. Cheers, Tony.

 

The BBC site which Jools mentions is good. There is also this one:-

Learn Greek Online!

Clueless, I still remember a trip to Spetses a few years back. Germans never got served in the local shops. The Greeks, particularly the older people, simply pretended that they weren't there. Wonderful, hospitable people ... unless you happened to be German.

 

some say this is very good

Language Learning with Rosetta Stone

 

Most libraries have tape/cd language courses and modern Greek would be one of the most common.

 

Why would you want one bottle of beer and two glasses

 

Yes they do seem to be a lovely bunch of folk. I've only been once, and it was the best holiday ever, and it was the local people that made it such.

My mam and sisters have been a few times. They have one tale about being completely ignored for ages at a restaurant, just as you describe. Only when the waiter overheard them grumbling in English he said 'You English?'. To which my folks replied yes. He then apparently got very embarrassed and started apologising profusely, and said 'sorry, I thought you German'. Once the confusion was cleared up, apparently my folks were treat with the greatest respect and hospitality from then on

 

The Filoglossia series is excellent and you can access some of the tutorials on line

Filoglossia - Learning Greek as a foreign language

I was involved in the trials of one of their CD Roms and they are about as close as you can get to a properly tutored language course. Not cheap though. You get vocabulary, grammar, 'real' video situations and tests. Got ours free as we were involved in the development but you might find them on Amazon or Ebay.

Another source would be the BBC Greek Language and People. We used the first 1970/80s book and tapes as a key text in tutored classes. This series was updated two or three years ago and you might find it on Ebay or Amazon. If you can get it with the video sequences (tape or CD) it adds to the enjoyment of learning.

Whatever you do I'd earnestly suggest you concentrate on learning the Greek alphabet and associated phonic 'rules'. It's much more regular than English and it makes learning the Greek language very much easier.

Stick with it. Even making an attempt at speaking Greek in Greece will pay off. We've now got loads of really good Greek friends and have a really good laugh with them every year with our fractured Greek ( Πενδι λεχισ - 'Pendi lexis' - Five words) and they are really very, very kind to us. Making the attempt will make you stand out from the tourist crowd and they'll appreciate your effort.

Γεια μας --Cheers

 

For free, community based learning, how about LiveMocha?

Language Learning with Livemocha | Learn a Language Online - Free!

I'm on there somewhere, although I haven't been on for a while. Only because I've lost interest in (for now) in learning languages.

It has the advantage over CDs and video tutorials in that real native speakers of the chosen language mark your work and give you feedback, and when you get a bit more confident, you can have a live chat with a native.