# Department of Forests Cyprus



## Lori Anderson (Apr 1, 2010)

Hi, We are hoping to move to Cyprus.
My fiance is a Forestry Consultant here in Scotland and is keen to secure a position within the Dept. of Forests in Cyprus. We have writen directly to them and recieved a favourable reply stating that all vacancies are advertised during the first four months of the year and so far have not been advertised. This means that April 'should' be the month! We were advised that they are all advertised in the official Government Gazette, alas we cannot read Greek yet and cannot find an english translation. We have emailed the dept., the gazette and a friend of a friend in Nicosia but alas have had no replies.
Our questions are simple, we hope someone can help!
Will/do the Dept. of Forests in Cyprus employ non Greek speakers? ( we are at the very early stages of learning Greek)
Is the Gazette available in English? If not does anyone know if they advertise anywhere else?
We appreciate any help or advice. many thanks. Lori


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## zeebo (Nov 15, 2009)

Forrests in cyprus are used by the natives to 

1 -Hunt illegally
2 -Ride quad bikes
3 -Cook souvla
4 -Dump crap

However it looks like the state is sorting this out so you could be lucky.. Problem is a job like this will be a government job so will go to some dudes nephew..


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## theresoon (Apr 11, 2008)

Lori Anderson said:


> Hi, We are hoping to move to Cyprus.
> My fiance is a Forestry Consultant here in Scotland and is keen to secure a position within the Dept. of Forests in Cyprus. We have writen directly to them and recieved a favourable reply stating that all vacancies are advertised during the first four months of the year and so far have not been advertised. This means that April 'should' be the month! We were advised that they are all advertised in the official Government Gazette, alas we cannot read Greek yet and cannot find an english translation. We have emailed the dept., the gazette and a friend of a friend in Nicosia but alas have had no replies.
> Our questions are simple, we hope someone can help!
> Will/do the Dept. of Forests in Cyprus employ non Greek speakers? ( we are at the very early stages of learning Greek)
> ...


I couldn't find an English edition on line. But he would need to be at at least a very good level of Greek to compete for a gvt job like this as there are exams to be passed. The gazette comes out every week and I don't remember seeing a forestry department job.


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

theresoon said:


> I couldn't find an English edition on line. But he would need to be at at least a very good level of Greek to compete for a gvt job like this as there are exams to be passed. The gazette comes out every week and I don't remember seeing a forestry department job.


There are very few non-Cypriots in Government posts. I expect it would be impossible to secure such a position without being a near native speaker of Greek which is a huge challenge as the vast majority of courses focus on modern Greek, whilst in Cyprus a dialect is spoken which even native Greek speakers find challenging...


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## theresoon (Apr 11, 2008)

kimonas said:


> There are very few non-Cypriots in Government posts. I expect it would be impossible to secure such a position without being a near native speaker of Greek which is a huge challenge as the vast majority of courses focus on modern Greek, whilst in Cyprus a dialect is spoken which even native Greek speakers find challenging...


the government exams are in modern Greek.


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

theresoon said:


> the government exams are in modern Greek.


True but the interviews and the actual work dealing with village councils, forrestry workers, landowners etc and general day to day operations will be conducted in the regional dialect...


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## theresoon (Apr 11, 2008)

kimonas said:


> True but the interviews and the actual work dealing with village councils, forrestry workers, landowners etc and general day to day operations will be conducted in the regional dialect...


Yes of course you are right. So, First you learn modern Greek in order to pass the exam to get the job. Then you forget the modern Greek and learn the dialect in order to be able to actually do the job. With modern Greek they will be able to understand you but you wont be able to understand them.


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

theresoon said:


> Yes of course you are right. So, First you learn modern Greek in order to pass the exam to get the job. Then you forget the modern Greek and learn the dialect in order to be able to actually do the job. With modern Greek they will be able to understand you but you wont be able to understand them.


Don't you just love Cyprus! :clap2::clap2:


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

BabsM said:


> Don't you just love Cyprus! :clap2::clap2:


It's a wonderful place to live if you can get your head around all the anomalies and the strange way that the Cypriots think. 
Don't get me wrong, I like the Cypriots very much (most of them anyway) but they do have some very odd ideas and strange ways of doing things
Many Brits just cannot get their heads around the differences and find it hard to adapt to life here for that reason. If you are adaptable and willing to accept that things are not done in the same way as in the Uk then Cyprus is brilliant but for anyone who is looking for Enlgand in the sun this is not the place to be. Far better to stay in t he UK and buy a sunbed


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

Veronica said:


> It's a wonderful place to live if you can get your head around all the anomalies and the strange way that the Cypriots think.
> Don't get me wrong, I like the Cypriots very much (most of them anyway) but they do have some very odd ideas and strange ways of doing things
> Many Brits just cannot get their heads around the differences and find it hard to adapt to life here for that reason. If you are adaptable and willing to accept that things are not done in the same way as in the Uk then Cyprus is brilliant but for anyone who is looking for Enlgand in the sun this is not the place to be. Far better to stay in t he UK and buy a sunbed


I do agree about some finding it difficult to adapt because they can't come to terms with the differences. Personally I find the idiosyncracies amusing! :juggle:

As a Linguistics graduate I find the relationship between mainland Greek and Cypriot fascinating :eyebrows:


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## christineb (Nov 3, 2009)

I have been studying Modern Greek like crazy, but when I watch the online Cypriot News channel, I can barely catch a word. Keep in mind, My Aunt's Greek mother-in-law (my great aunt by marriage?) can speak Athens Greek to me and I can understand but not speak back. I can listen to short Modern Greek passages and speak short phrases, but not well. I can read some packages and signs. I can translate passages in ancient (Attic, not Homeric) Greek, for all the good that does me -- it only helps me make mistakes in modern pronunciation and spelling.

I will be living among expats, mostly from the UK (my friend is American and mostly hangs out with UK'ers - she now has a Southern US accent with British inflection. It is SO weird!) My friend in Cyprus and my aunt in Athens have both been where they are for 13 years or so, and neither of them truly speaks the language (My aunt works for CocaCola and they all speak English). I'm still going to try to learn the dialect, if I can, though. 

Lori, has your husband had any luck?


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

christineb said:


> I have been studying Modern Greek like crazy, but when I watch the online Cypriot News channel, I can barely catch a word. Keep in mind, My Aunt's Greek mother-in-law (my great aunt by marriage?) can speak Athens Greek to me and I can understand but not speak back. I can listen to short Modern Greek passages and speak short phrases, but not well. I can read some packages and signs. I can translate passages in ancient (Attic, not Homeric) Greek, for all the good that does me -- it only helps me make mistakes in modern pronunciation and spelling.
> 
> I will be living among expats, mostly from the UK (my friend is American and mostly hangs out with UK'ers - she now has a Southern US accent with British inflection. It is SO weird!) My friend in Cyprus and my aunt in Athens have both been where they are for 13 years or so, and neither of them truly speaks the language (My aunt works for CocaCola and they all speak English). I'm still going to try to learn the dialect, if I can, though.


You will have little problem living here if you speak no Greek at all, dialect or mainland. The issue is whether or not you could study for the job and carry out day-to-day work. I started studying Greek on distance learning before we came out but found local people did not understand me. I realised I had to learn the dialect. So I decided to give up and attend a language course when we got here. The course gave me a flavour of the differences between Greek and Cypriot Greek. .... that approach has been more successful but I still can't 'speak' Cypriot to any meaningful level.

Being realistic, its going to take a long time before you can speak enough Greek to be able to take and pass the exams, let alone learning Cypriot to communicate. Even if you just stick to learning written Greek just for the exams. Is the plan of applying for this job really feasible?


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## christineb (Nov 3, 2009)

BabsM said:


> You will have little problem living here if you speak no Greek at all, dialect or mainland. The issue is whether or not you could study for the job and carry out day-to-day work. I started studying Greek on distance learning before we came out but found local people did not understand me. I realised I had to learn the dialect. So I decided to give up and attend a language course when we got here. The course gave me a flavour of the differences between Greek and Cypriot Greek. .... that approach has been more successful but I still can't 'speak' Cypriot to any meaningful level.
> 
> Being realistic, its going to take a long time before you can speak enough Greek to be able to take and pass the exams, let alone learning Cypriot to communicate. Even if you just stick to learning written Greek just for the exams. Is the plan of applying for this job really feasible?


I was just commenting on the language issue, because I think languages are neat. I don't know if Lori's husband has been able to apply for the job or not. The job I am looking at is one where everyone speaks English, although I would like to be able to at least show I made an effort.


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