Learning greek

[Greekhooligan]

Originally Posted by DespoThessalo
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Its a hard language. I still have problems typing in Greek

I am with Despo...When I type e-mails to family in Greece...Im to lazy to look up the proper spellings in the dictionary, so I sound it out.....with the English alphabet that is.

[Cg10]

i find greek very complex because when i watch the tv i understand "cyprus tv " more then
i undertand tv from greece
i really dont understand why.
i think its because of the acsents

[Ellinas]

Originally Posted by Cg10
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i find greek very complex because when i watch the tv i understand "cyprus tv " more then
i undertand tv from greece
i really dont understand why.
i think its because of the acsents

I don't know if this is related with the English occupation of Cyprus and its influence, but I notice too that many pronounciations of the Cypriot accent are closer to the English accent, while the literate Demotic Greek accent is more phonetic.

An example can be the word άγγελος, which means "angel" in Demotic Greek and it is a male name as well:
In the Cypriot accent the γγ is pronounced like the ng in the English word "angel" while in the literate Demotic Greek accent the γγ is pronounced like the g in the word "gate".

This happens with other consonants and dipthnogs too. And another characteristic of the Cypriot accent similar to the English one is that the speakers tend to "drag" the vowels more (always compared to the literate Demotic Greek accent).

The conclusion is that it is easier for an English speaker to pronounce Greek words with the Cypriot accent. And easier to understand words when hearing as well. I can't say for sure if though it's good for a learner of Greek to have Cypriot or Demotic as a basis. MAYBE the Cypriot accent is a way for English speakers to start learning Greek words more easily - a way can be learning the language like that and then try to adopt the literate Demotic Greek accent, which is the commonly understandable Greek accent today.

[half greek]

Originally Posted by Cg10
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i find greek very complex because when i watch the tv i understand "cyprus tv " more then
i undertand tv from greece
i really dont understand why.
i think its because of the acsents

I think its because Cypriots tend to speak slower than Greeks from Greece.

[really]

Yes, Hellinika, French actually has more Greek roots than English. If you look at a French dictionary, the words almost always have the roots (Greek, Latin or other) at the beginning of the definitions, with the Greek word and the explanation for it. And if you know Greek and try to learn French or English, you will be better spellers than other people.

Interesting this difference between Greek and Cyprus Greek. It is like we say learning American English or Canadian English. Canadian English is spoken more slowly and is easier to learn.

I think whatever works better for a person to learn, if by listening to Cyprus Greek, you can learn Greek, by all means do learn the basic Greek language that way. Then, when you are more familiar, you can switch to regular Greek to change your accent or talk faster.

[Aniet]

Well you should try the bbc website for foreign languages that has some good audio clips that help you. Other than that you can probably search for a Greek to teach you some Greek although you may have to pay. I'm going to start teaching a Greek Cypriot couple after the holidays together with my mum for some experience in teaching since I want to become a teacher so I'm sure that there's someone who's willing to teach you.

[Female]

Ive had my 4th lesson now and I know the Alpha Wita Gamma by now and i can also read a bit, but that doesnt know I know what I read hahahahaha but its difficult but I will learn!