Learn to Speak Greek

With the foundations of Western civilization originating in Greece and Classic literature written in the language, there is definitely an appeal to trying to learn Greek. How better to impress your scholarly friends than by reading Plato in its original Greek? Or maybe you just want to hang out on the Greek islands, get a tan and be able to order your falafel in Greek. Whatever your reason for wanting to learn the language, today Greek is spoken by about 20 million people and has the longest documented history of all Indo-European languages, spanning 34 centuries. With the foundations of Latin based in the language and its influence still predominate today, it is a useful and worthwhile language to know even if you don't plan on moving to Athens.

Because ancient Greece had such a huge impact on Western Civilization, particularly Roman civilization which spread Latin and language groups throughout Europe, Greek words have been widely borrowed by European languages and there is a large amount of English words of Greek origin. This means that there will be many words and word groupings you will already recognize as you begin to learn he language. In Greek every letter also corresponds to one distinct sound, giving the language a easy-to-learn characteristic. The most difficult part in learning Greek, however, is that unlike the semi-related other European languages, Greek does not use a Roman alphabet, but rather has its one alphabet (most seen here in the U.S. in names of fraternities and sororities on college campuses). This adds another dimension of complexity for English speakers learning the language, but because each letter has such a distinct sound, once you master the basic principals, the language is fairly easy to pick up on.

There are many ways to learn Greek. While you may have some trouble finding a community college or private institution in your area where Greek is taught, if there is a course available this is great way to start learning the language. You can also hire a private tutor to help you get started. Of course, the best way to learn Greek (or any language for that matter) is to travel to Greece and immerse yourself in the language. Not only will using the language in a cultural context make it stick faster, communicating on a daily basis in Greek for just a few weeks can be worth more than a year in a classroom. If traveling to Greece is not an option, you can also purchase a program like Rosetta Stone to help you learn basic pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.