# Learning Greek



## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Hi, can anyone advise please. I have been learning a little Greek at college and at home,slowly i might add.Basically I have heard that the Greek language that is spoken in Cyprus is different from say that on the Greek islands. My question is should i continue to learn or wait until i move to Cyprus and then learn there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

positive pam said:


> Hi, can anyone advise please. I have been learning a little Greek at college and at home,slowly i might add.Basically I have heard that the Greek language that is spoken in Cyprus is different from say that on the Greek islands. My question is should i continue to learn or wait until i move to Cyprus and then learn there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Hi Pam,
Welcome to the forum. (I know you from another forum) Can't name it here and my name on there is different.

The Greek spoken in Cyprus is a different dialect than the modern Greek which is taught. However it won't harm you to carry on learning it as you will be able to understand what is being said and you will soon learn the local dialect. However it is not absolutely necessary to speak Greek as most Cypriots speak English to some degree but they do love it when people make an effort. 

Regards
Veronica


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Veronica said:


> Hi Pam,
> Welcome to the forum. (I know you from another forum) Can't name it here and my name on there is different.
> 
> The Greek spoken in Cyprus is a different dialect than the modern Greek which is taught. However it won't harm you to carry on learning it as you will be able to understand what is being said and you will soon learn the local dialect. However it is not absolutely necessary to speak Greek as most Cypriots speak English to some degree but they do love it when people make an effort.
> ...


Hi Veronica, I did wonder. I will carry on then with the learning gosh its not the easiest language to learn but i think if you are moving to a country you should at least have a go, As you say, i think it is appreciated. I tried last time i visited Paphos and that was great but, unfortunately my husband does look Greek and we were answered in greek at a pretty fast tempo and we obviously hadnt covered that in the book. I can read what things say, just dont know what it all means ha ha. Still hopefully will get better a bit at a time.Thanks for advice again.
Best Wishes Pam.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

positive pam said:


> Hi Veronica, I did wonder. I will carry on then with the learning gosh its not the easiest language to learn but i think if you are moving to a country you should at least have a go, As you say, i think it is appreciated. I tried last time i visited Paphos and that was great but, unfortunately my husband does look Greek and we were answered in greek at a pretty fast tempo and we obviously hadnt covered that in the book. I can read what things say, just dont know what it all means ha ha. Still hopefully will get better a bit at a time.Thanks for advice again.
> Best Wishes Pam.


I have been tyrying to learn Greek but find it very difficult as the Cypriots tend to speak to us in English the moment they realise we are not Cypriot. On top of that I speak other languages and I think my brain has decided that at my age it really dosnt want to assimilate another one.


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## zin (Oct 28, 2010)

A friend of mine goes to Greek lessons in Cyprus with a teacher who teaches both Greek and Cypriot versions of words that explaining any differences. I think this is probably the best way.


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Veronica said:


> I have been tyrying to learn Greek but find it very difficult as the Cypriots tend to speak to us in English the moment they realise we are not Cypriot. On top of that I speak other languages and I think my brain has decided that at my age it really dosnt want to assimilate another one.


I totaly understand that one as well. I was learning French as well and i have to say got the two confused occasionly. I must admit french is a lot easier though i thought. But i will try and carry on at least if i can do some it might help. Hopefully when we come over we will be able to take lessons.I presume there are places that cater for this. Is it usual for people to have group lessons or indiviual ones?Gosh i just seem to have so many questions, i do apologise for that.
Best wishes Pam.


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

zin said:


> A friend of mine goes to Greek lessons in Cyprus with a teacher who teaches both Greek and Cypriot versions of words that explaining any differences. I think this is probably the best way.


Hi Zin well thanks for this because that just answers my last question and sounds a brilliant idea and something we would be really be interested in doing. Will definately keep in contact for that info.
Best wishes Pam


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

I find that I confuse both French and Spanish words with Greek ones occassionally
At least my German which I am fluent in dosn't get mixed up with Greek


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Veronica said:


> I find that I confuse both French and Spanish words with Greek ones occassionally
> At least my German which I am fluent in dosn't get mixed up with Greek


Gosh no wonder you get a bit muddled, that is amazing, you are lucky to be able to speak all those languages. I would love to speak German as my daugher in law is German and son and grandaughter live there, and of course are fluent. My other son lives in Beijing and is fluent in either Mandarin or Cantonese im afraid im not sure which. I thought German sounded difficult but Chinese is worse i think. I think i better just try and concentrate on learning Greek at the moment, dont think my brain will cope with too much ha ha.
Best wishes Pam


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## pearsews (Mar 15, 2011)

positive pam said:


> Hi, can anyone advise please. I have been learning a little Greek at college and at home,slowly i might add.Basically I have heard that the Greek language that is spoken in Cyprus is different from say that on the Greek islands. My question is should i continue to learn or wait until i move to Cyprus and then learn there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Hi Pam, CyBC do a series of 'Learn Greek Lessons' on line. I found them very helpful for learning Cypriot Greek.


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

pearsews said:


> Hi Pam, CyBC do a series of 'Learn Greek Lessons' on line. I found them very helpful for learning Cypriot Greek.


Hi pearsews and thank you very much for that info that sounds a good idea and i am going to go and have a look at that. Is Cypriot Greek a lot different than Greek say that is spoken in the Greek islands then? I hadn't realised to start with that there actually was a difference. Once again thank you for your help, I will pop and check it out now.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Hi Pam, yes there is quite a bit of difference bewtween modern Greek and the dialect spoken in Cyprus.
I have also been doing the online lessons from Cybc. Here is the link to them.


Untitled Document

Veronica


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Veronica said:


> Hi Pam, yes there is quite a bit of difference bewtween modern Greek and the dialect spoken in Cyprus.
> I have also been doing the online lessons from Cybc. Here is the link to them.
> 
> 
> ...


Hi veronica, my computer is playing up so you might get this twice! Thank you very much for this link, i think it will be really good. Think i will just treat this as starting again, might get muddled trying to compare the two perhaps. As we have said the brain does not always want to comply with our wishes and store all the new data we would like it to ha ha. I will have a good look and hopefully get cracking.
Thanks again Veronic
Best wishes Pam.
Oh and i should definately bring some warm clothes on Wednesday!


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## Tanager (Mar 14, 2009)

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a go. I've just found the lessons here:
http://www.cybc.com.cy/html/learn_greek/Learn001.htm


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## Tanager (Mar 14, 2009)

Hi Pam,
We've been living here with my husband since May and to be honest we don't really speak any Greek, apart from the very basic language. Our biggest problem is that you can't really practice it here. We have English bakeries, shops etc and Cypriots speak good English as well. 
This is our second relocation, first we relocated to Ireland and we had to use the language in order to live and work. I also speak Danish and Swedish (bit Spanish). 
But I'm a bit confused here with the language and lazy too because there's very little to motivate to learn it.


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Tanager said:


> Hi Pam,
> We've been living here with my husband since May and to be honest we don't really speak any Greek, apart from the very basic language. Our biggest problem is that you can't really practice it here. We have English bakeries, shops etc and Cypriots speak good English as well.
> This is our second relocation, first we relocated to Ireland and we had to use the language in order to live and work. I also speak Danish and Swedish (bit Spanish).
> But I'm a bit confused here with the language and lazy too because there's very little to motivate to learn it.


Hi, Tanager, Thanks for that info, one or two people have said the same. In one way that makes it easier because you don't have to learn and in another not good because it does make you lazy but at least it gives you a choice. We have learned a little Greek, but , now found out that Cypriot Greek is a little different so think we had better start again. I think it is a really hard language to learn as well, don't know if you agree? Perhaps we may have learned some by the time we arrive(hopefully).
Thank you again, i appreciate any help and advice I can get.
Best wishes Pam


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## Tanager (Mar 14, 2009)

It's quite hard, I agree with you. The pronunciation is so different from Greek from Greece. We were there on holiday many times but that's a completely different story.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Its a bit like people who speak 'queens english' trying to understand broad Geordie. I certainly need an interpreter with anywho whose Geordie is very broad.
Similarly I speak 'Hoch Deutch' which is the German equivalent of Queens english and I cant understand people who come from Bavaria or other areas where they speak dialects (platt Deutch)


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## Tanager (Mar 14, 2009)

Veronica said:


> Its a bit like people who speak 'queens english' trying to understand broad Geordie. I certainly need an interpreter with anywho whose Geordie is very broad.
> Similarly I speak 'Hoch Deutch' which is the German equivalent of Queens english and I cant understand people who come from Bavaria or other areas where they speak dialects (platt Deutch)


Like Irish English and British English. Many native speaker - American, Canadian - told me that it's really hard to understand


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

Veronica said:


> Its a bit like people who speak 'queens english' trying to understand broad Geordie. I certainly need an interpreter with anywho whose Geordie is very broad.
> Similarly I speak 'Hoch Deutch' which is the German equivalent of Queens english and I cant understand people who come from Bavaria or other areas where they speak dialects (platt Deutch)


Working at the dog shelter, they are always ribbing me about my Yorkshire accent. I tell 'em it's the biggest, and best, county in England. !!


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Geraldine said:


> Working at the dog shelter, they are always ribbing me about my Yorkshire accent. I tell 'em it's the biggest, and best, county in England. !!


When I first met my hubby although he dosnt have a really broad Yorkshire accent some of the older members of his family and older family friends spoke in a language that was totally incomprehensible to me.  Took me ages to work out what on earth they were saying to me.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

Also Geraldine your accent is not that broad. Or maybe its just that I have got used to the Yorkshire accent after over 20 years with Dennis


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Geraldine said:


> Working at the dog shelter, they are always ribbing me about my Yorkshire accent. I tell 'em it's the biggest, and best, county in England. !!


Absolutely, although my mum came from lancashire and so was devastated when we moved to yorkshire! I think its a great accent Geraldine.


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## pearsews (Mar 15, 2011)

On the subject of the CyBC radio programmes, there were three books that went with the series, virtually written versions of the lessons. Don't know if these are still available but they are a big help. I bought the last one of the series about two years ago in the bookshop in Limassol. As for accents, living in Scotland at the moment, and some of the locals accents could be a foreign language to me!!


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

pearsews said:


> On the subject of the CyBC radio programmes, there were three books that went with the series, virtually written versions of the lessons. Don't know if these are still available but they are a big help. I bought the last one of the series about two years ago in the bookshop in Limassol. As for accents, living in Scotland at the moment, and some of the locals accents could be a foreign language to me!!


Hi pearsews, thank you for the information, i am definately going to look in to that, i think it would help to have a book with the audio. Back to the accents, We lived in Dudley in the West Midlands for some years and when we moved there i couldn't understand a word, it was like a foreign language too. We moved to Yorkshire some years ago and i found that a lot easier. I think it's great that we have so many dialects in such a small island.


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## pearsews (Mar 15, 2011)

positive pam said:


> Hi pearsews, thank you for the information, i am definately going to look in to that, i think it would help to have a book with the audio. Back to the accents, We lived in Dudley in the West Midlands for some years and when we moved there i couldn't understand a word, it was like a foreign language too. We moved to Yorkshire some years ago and i found that a lot easier. I think it's great that we have so many dialects in such a small island.


Gosh, small world, I grew up in the Midlands just out Walsall! I helped my landlady in Cyprus with her English while stationed there, and the subsequent tennant said she spoke 'very good English, with a Staffordshire accent!'


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

pearsews said:


> Gosh, small world, I grew up in the Midlands just out Walsall! I helped my landlady in Cyprus with her English while stationed there, and the subsequent tennant said she spoke 'very good English, with a Staffordshire accent!'


Hi again, well I was actually born and bred in Sutton Colfield so used to go to Walsall quite often, such a great market there! My hysband Roy was born in Hednesford near Cannock. I think the staffs accent is very different to the black country though.
Best wishes Pam


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## pearsews (Mar 15, 2011)

positive pam said:


> Hi again, well I was actually born and bred in Sutton Colfield so used to go to Walsall quite often, such a great market there! My hysband Roy was born in Hednesford near Cannock. I think the staffs accent is very different to the black country though.
> Best wishes Pam


Hi Pam, I went
to Sutton Park often, even the Scout Jubilee Jambouree held there in the year dot ... I used to get cross with people saying I was from Birmingham! Totally different accent!
Kind regards, Pearsews


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

pearsews said:


> Hi Pam, I went
> to Sutton Park often, even the Scout Jubilee Jambouree held there in the year dot ... I used to get cross with people saying I was from Birmingham! Totally different accent!
> Kind regards, Pearsews


Hi pearsews, oh my goodness so much of my childhood was spent in sutton park and think went to a scout jambouree with my brother who is ten years older than me. I have vague recolections of the queen attending one. And yes it used to be a real insult if you were said to have come from b'ham and actually were from sutton ha ha. I can remember my mum and dad getting very upset about it. Can't believe it now. Have you been back at all?, it is many years since i went.
Best wishes Pam.


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

positive pam said:


> Hi pearsews, oh my goodness so much of my childhood was spent in sutton park and think went to a scout jambouree with my brother who is ten years older than me. I have vague recolections of the queen attending one. And yes it used to be a real insult if you were said to have come from b'ham and actually were from sutton ha ha. I can remember my mum and dad getting very upset about it. Can't believe it now. Have you been back at all?, it is many years since i went.
> Best wishes Pam.


My mum was born in Dudley, Priory Road.


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

Geraldine said:


> My mum was born in Dudley, Priory Road.


Hi Geraldine, no way! well its getting an even smaller world. My children used to go to Priory primary school and then the Dudley school that became castle high. My daughter that just emigrated to New Zealand lived in Sedgley till just over a month ago. Wow how spooky is that ha ha?
Best wishes Pam


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## totorama (Jun 12, 2010)

Geraldine said:


> My mum was born in Dudley, Priory Road.


Hi. Geraldine,

I was also born in Dudley, Foxglove road to be precise, Spent most of my early years in and around the midlands, my folks were landlords of pubs and clubs in Netherton, Pensnett and Brownhills area. Finally moved down south to Berkshire, then across the pond to California and now retired to Cyprus. Getting back to topic, :focus: I think I'm too old now to learn a new language, it's taken me long enough to shake of the old 'black-country' accent.


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

:


totorama said:


> Hi. Geraldine,
> 
> I was also born in Dudley, Foxglove road to be precise, Spent most of my early years in and around the midlands, my folks were landlords of pubs and clubs in Netherton, Pensnett and Brownhills area. Finally moved down south to Berkshire, then across the pond to California and now retired to Cyprus. Getting back to topic, :focus: I think I'm too old now to learn a new language, it's taken me long enough to shake of the old 'black-country' accent.


Hi Totorama, i know Foxglove road. We lived in Salop street at the top of Nith place near The Struggling Man. This is great and have you really managed to lose the accent its so strong, i quite often slip in to it and my daughter who just left Sedgley definately still has it. Three of my children were born at Wordsley hosp. and one at the Rosemary Ednam. Do you remember all those? I wasnt born there but found the accent quite addictive and like a foreign language when we first moved there. Hve you ever been back?
Best Wishes Pam


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## positive pam (Aug 24, 2011)

positive pam said:


> :
> 
> Hi Totorama, i know Foxglove road. We lived in Salop street at the top of Nith place near The Struggling Man. This is great and have you really managed to lose the accent its so strong, i quite often slip in to it and my daughter who just left Sedgley definately still has it. Three of my children were born at Wordsley hosp. and one at the Rosemary Ednam. Do you remember all those? I wasnt born there but found the accent quite addictive and like a foreign language when we first moved there. Hve you ever been back?
> Best Wishes Pam


:focus:And you are never too old for anything, we just take a little longer. Sorry about getting off the subject, was just getting excited. 
Best Wishes Pam


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## totorama (Jun 12, 2010)

positive pam said:


> :
> 
> Hi Totorama, i know Foxglove road. We lived in Salop street at the top of Nith place near The Struggling Man. This is great and have you really managed to lose the accent its so strong, i quite often slip in to it and my daughter who just left Sedgley definately still has it. Three of my children were born at Wordsley hosp. and one at the Rosemary Ednam. Do you remember all those? I wasnt born there but found the accent quite addictive and like a foreign language when we first moved there. Hve you ever been back?
> Best Wishes Pam


Hi. Pam,

Yes I know all those places.. Are you in Cyprus yet, or still planning your move? Contact me by PM if you can, maybe all we 'Black-countites' could meet up sometime.
Better to use a PM, otherwise I will get a slapped wrist from Veronica for Highjacking the thread and going off topic... :behindsofa:


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## Geraldine (Jan 3, 2009)

totorama said:


> Hi. Pam,
> 
> Yes I know all those places.. Are you in Cyprus yet, or still planning your move? Contact me by PM if you can, maybe all we 'Black-countites' could meet up sometime.
> Better to use a PM, otherwise I will get a slapped wrist from Veronica for Highjacking the thread and going off topic... :behindsofa:


Brilliant!!:clap2::clap2:


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