hi i know there is a thread on ancient greek, but i am learning how to speak mordern greek and was wondering if there was anyone hear who is learning aswell. i have been learning for about a year now and i have been using the kypros.org website that was mentioned in the ancient greek thread to learn and its pretty good, i showed it to my dad who is cypriot and speaks greek and says its very good and says my greek is sounding good aswell so it must be alright.
but i am finding it so hard sometimes, i just get so confused, and i want to learn as much as i can before i move to cyprus or rhodes next year.

any way, so is there anyone else learning greek, how is it going if you are, what stages are you at, got any tips on how to remember stuff?

I'd say I'm learning, but really I'm not. I have been trying but it's slowslowslow. I am at ultra-beginner stage.

My boyfriend (who is Greek) has taught me little bits and pieces, like the alphabet. So right now I can read aloud some stuff (as long as the words have less than 5 syllables!) fairly confidently, even though I'd have no idea what any of it means. And I have a reasonable grasp of the verb "to be". That's about it. My boyfriend has agreed to give me weekly lessons in Greek.

Man, how hard does it need to be, though? Like 18 different scenarios in which you need to know which version of the word 'the' to use. It blows my mind.

I'm pretty glad I learned the alphabet first, or else I'd just have piles of transliterated greeklish words in my head and would have no clue how to read their script. It's pretty handy having actual Greek people around too, to get comfortable with the accent.

__________________
Deux hommes font une promenade amicale. L'un des deux porte un parapluie à son bras.
Il se met à pleuvoir. L'homme n'ouvre pas son parapluie et l'autre lui demande pourquoi.
- Parce que ça ne servirait à rien, lui répond son ami. Il est plein de trous.
- Alors, pourquoi l'as-tu pris?
- Parce que je ne pensais pas qu'il pleuvrait.

I am Greek and I spend all my summers there so I know it really well. But I take Ancient Greek and it fucking suckssssss. It's so damn hard. I'm dropping it next year. The way they make Americans learn to pronounce Ancient Greek is HYSTERICAL.

I think learning any language is hard. The only way is to immerse yourself in it, whether it be by living in a place where you are forced to speak it, listening to tapes, or maybe even watching television in that language.

I'm Greek myself (parents both born there), and I find that the tv thing (Odyssey TV - Greek cable channel in Canada) has helped me improve my language skills. I find that expanding my vocabulary is the hardest thing.
When I was last there in 2002 I felt so retarded because my vocab is so rudimentary.

yea tv is good. all the Greeks here think they're still in Greece so we all have the sattelite channels to keep up with the shows. But the tv only helps if you already know alot of the language. If you really want to learn it and are in a major city, I think the best thing to do is take formal classes. In nyc (esp Queens) they're easy to find.

I'm addicted to the show "Erotas"

Yeah, formal classes are good as well...as long as they force you to speak.

haha I love "Kafe tns Xapas" among otherss.
2002 is too long ago you should go backkkkk

My parents love that one. I don't have time to watch too much tv.

You're right that 2002 is too long ago. I think I'll be going down next summer though.