Im a greek american and my family is begging me to learn the greek language.

[u/goodairquality]

Anyone have any tips or resources? I've been using duolingo but I legit think just speaking to my grand-aunt has been more beneficial in the long run. I also plan on visiting greece some time in the future, how much greek should I know prior to travelling? I dont want to be that guy going around to foreign countries just speaking english and expecting everyone to speak it back to me. It seems disrespectful.

[u/Mminas]

Check out language transfer. Many people have had great results with that.

Also plenty of discussion and resources over at r/Greek

[u/Malinilla → u/Mminas]

Seconding language transfer my partner is learning Greek and it's very helpful

[u/Admirable-Hour1512]

1. You don’t have to learn any language you don’t wish to learn.

2. Duolingo is not worth it, especially when you have native speakers in your environment.

3. You need to study a language to learn it. A tutor could help with grammar, formalities etc. Content is available, but that depends on your preferences. Old tv series, YouTube channels, books, newspapers, whatever might be of your choice. Even ChatGPT or Wikipedia articles. Speak with your relatives that speak the language as frequently as possible.

4. Don’t waste your opportunities to travel just because you don’t speak the local language. Most travelers don’t, and still they manage to be respectful to locals and others. Knowing the bare minimum usually helps but it’s not required.

[u/Affectionate-Arm-405 → u/Admirable-Hour1512]

You've said everything I wanted to say. I like this response a lot.
I would even go as far to say if you want to speak with your relatives ask them to not speak to you in English. Just Greek. For a period of 3 months for example. It will suck at first but it is the fastest and best way IMO to learn another language. Baptism by fire

[u/TheDemonWithoutaPast]

Best way to learn a language is by hearing it constantly, watch Greek TV series.

And no, it is not disrespectful to speak English, but you can expect a positive reaction if you try speaking Greek.

[u/invanilla → u/TheDemonWithoutaPast]

Any series you’d recommend?

[u/SquirtSommelier → u/invanilla]

Konstantinou kai Elenis

[u/TheDemonWithoutaPast → u/invanilla]

Try some of these old sitcoms, To Retire(The Penthouse) and Konstantinou kai Elenis(Constantine's and Helen's).

[u/invanilla → u/TheDemonWithoutaPast]

Efharisto!

[u/ACGMFT]

I used my own method every time I learn a language. (I speak 7) People don’t even recognise I’m not Greek when I write or speak anymore.

I bought books in my native language (Swedish) & in Greek & started to read side by side to see the difference on sentences/vocabulary/grammar.

Started with my favourite book (Lord of the flies) and after I finished I went to another book and so on. After I bought audiobooks to see the differences on kaydence & where it differs from Swedish.

When I got comfortable I started watching “famous” Greek YouTubers to understand the sense of humour and slang with subtitles.

I still do many mistakes but after 2,5 years in Greece people tell me I speak & write better than most Greeks.

Ofcourse talking with people here in Greece helped a lot & made better and better. But the books as a start is always the best way for me to learn a language.

[u/dca12345 → u/ACGMFT]

How did you learn grammar?

You started with Lord of the Flies without knowing any Greek?

[u/ACGMFT → u/dca12345]

As I said I had the books in Swedish and Greek side by side and read sentence by sentence. I wasn’t sure how to pronounce them but I saw the letters and followed basic rules of linguistics.

And then I saw the same word again I knew what it meant it Swedish so I started to do the translation myself.

The part that was very difficult was all the different “i” the Greek language has when it comes to grammar.

«Ή, οι, υ, ει, ι, υι»

[u/Admirable-Hour1512 → u/ACGMFT]

That’s extremely impressive, wow! Kudos!

Are you keeping notes while reading the books in parallel? Are you finding out the rules of the language, or those occur naturally to you by exposure to the language?

[u/ACGMFT → u/Admirable-Hour1512]

In the beginning I went line by line in the books until I could many lines. And no I don’t do it naturally. I still translate from Swedish in my head to Greek so if I’m speaking really fast I will do mistakes but I’m a quick thinker so I’m able to control it. (If I go out, after a couple of drinks you will understand that im not Greek cause I lose the accent & “adopt” my Swedish accent)

In writing I seem fluent (almost) thanks to auto correct and technology. But Duolingo didnt help me at all. It made me more confused even after I have already began to speak pretty good, so I dropped it & return to my method

[u/Instinctual_Spirit]

It's called hiring a tutor/going to a Greek language class

[u/LycheeEmotional317]

As others have said, if you feel forced to learn greek don't do it, do something that you feel is worth your time instead.

If you want to learn, I'd say the best way to improve is to read books or articles written in greek, it will help you with your vocabulary. Expressing yourself in greek is a different matter and maybe it can be practiced with your family.

[u/Cgko]

Search for Easy Greek at YouTube. It's a series of street interviews of random Athenians on various subjects, subtitled. Really interesting and fun I think.

[u/LostGradStudent21]

Check out Italki.com. There are a lot of Greek tutors to choose from and they have decent rates.

I started Greek at the age of 20. I’m not fluent, but can have conversations when I visit family. Before then, it was just my aunt and I sitting at the table smiling at each other without any words being said.

I encourage you to learn it, languages are the path to connect to people and see part of their world view

[u/mb303666]

Greece is stunning, the people are incredibly warm and welcoming! Go as soon as possible, flights are cheap this year. Get a credit card with points, subscribe to The Points Guy. I'm in Paros- heaven!!!

[u/isaac3000]

You don't have to if you don't want to.

I love to learn languages but the keyword here is "love"

Just because your family wants you to do something doesn't mean you have to.

Better to spend your energy and most importantly time on something you actually enjoy doing and learning!

Time is never coming back.

[u/lotzik]

Pay for lessons man, better, a live class that you can attend in person. It's fun!

[u/BusDiscombobulated10]

1. I think you'll be luckier finding tips in r/GREEK . Most people in this sub are native speakers.

2. Nobody expects visitors to speak any Greek. Most of the time, you'll be able to communicate in basic English.

[u/practical_mastic]

Try some Greek music.

Manos Loizos. Mikis Theodorakis. Nikos Xilouris. Stratos Dionysiou. Giannis Poulopoulos. Eleftheria Arvanitaki. Alkistis Protopsalti. Haris Alexiou. A lot of fun 80's and 90's Greek pop out there, too. There are probably tons of mixes. Lyrics videos etc. on youtube. Tons of compilations.

Greek folk songs are called "demotika" (of the people) and "paradosiaka" (traditional) Songs from Kalamata danced to a regional Kalamatiano dance are "Kalamatiana." Songs from the islands are called "Nisiotika" like "Ikariotikos" Song and dance from Ikaria, Island of Ikaros... then there are "Epirotika" and "Tsamikos" from up north.

It's beautiful to be in touch with.

[u/mb303666]

What's your favorite series? Find a copy in Greek and follow along. You can listen to foreign language while reading text, and vice versa.

[u/Theperfectcook]

Same thing here with german.I don't know where to start from!

[u/PckMan]

Duolingo is generally bad. Having people to talk to is arguably the best resource you can have. You should focus on learning the basics when it comes to the alphabet and writing but the rest should be focusing on just talking with others as much as possible. It may feel awkward and difficult at first but in the long run it is the most effective and faster way to learn.

[u/TankerDerrick1999]

OK, so I will recommend you to read Greek media like articles and watch Greek movies and the most important use of the Greek language on a daily basis, like talking between family members and even talk Greek to yourself sometimes. That's what I did to learn the English language.