Greek
Greek — Indo-European family, about 13 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: the Greek alphabet, 24 letters — the ancestor of Latin and Cyrillic. This site has 4008 words and 37 letters with audio.
Where to start
First words
Every conversation starts with them — and so does the first impression: one greeting in the local language and you stop being a stranger within a second.
- Γειαyahione stressed beat, on ya: short and light
- Γεια σαςya sashellosas means 'to you': one form for the polite you and for several people at once. To friends you say yia sou instead
- Καλημέραkaliméragood morningkalí (good) + méra (day) fused into one word — ka-lee-MEH-ra. Used until midday, and in casual speech often into the early afternoon
- Καλησπέραkalispéragood eveningthe same kalí + espéra, evening: ka-lee-SPE-ra. After midday kaliméra is out and kalispéra takes over
- Καληνύχταkaliníkhtagood nighta third greeting built the same way: kali + nýhta, good + night. Said only when parting for sleep, never as an evening hello
- Αντίοantíogoodbyeborrowed from Italian addio. Everyday farewells usually reuse the greeting — yia sou serves both directions
- Ευχαριστώefkharistóthank youfour syllables, stress on the last: ef-kha-ri-STOH
- Παρακαλώparakalópleaseone word, three jobs: please with a request, don't mention it after a thank you, and the answer when picking up the phone
How it sounds
Five words spoken aloud: click the speaker and pick the translation. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.
- What is this word?
It is Γεια (ya) — hi.
- What is this word?
It is Παρακαλώ (parakaló) — please.
- What is this word?
It is Άσχημα (áskhima) — bad.
- What is this word?
It is αυτοί (aftí) — they.
- What is this word?
It is Καληνύχτα (kaliníkhta) — good night.
About the language
| Native name | Ελληνικά · elliniká |
| Official in | Greece, Cyprus and the EU |
| Also spoken in | Albania, Germany, the USA, Australia and Russia |
| How many speakers | about 13 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue) |
| Family | Indo-European family, its own branch with no close relatives |
| Writing | the Greek alphabet, 24 letters — the ancestor of Latin and Cyrillic |
| Writing direction | left to right |
Hard: familiar letters with unfamiliar sounds, four cases and no infinitive.
Easy: half the letters are recognizable at once, and stress is always marked in writing.
What Russian speakers most often take it up for: moving and working in Greece and Cyprus, property, the sea and the islands.
How lessons work
A lesson is up to half an hour a day, split into three to five short sessions. A word comes back not on the course's schedule but at the moment you are about to forget it: the interval is computed by an algorithm from your own answers.
- The longer you want to keep a word, the rarer its repetitions should be. To hold it for a week, review every day; to hold it for a year, about once a month.checked many timesCepeda et al., 2008, Psychological Science 19(11) · Over 1,350 participants, tested after delays of up to a year. The best gap is about 20% of the target interval on a horizon of weeks, and 5–10% on a horizon of a year.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Pay someone to study and they study less, not more. Praise and a clear explanation of their mistakes do the opposite — they help.checked many timesDeci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, Psychological Bulletin 125(6) · 128 experiments. Material reward: d = −0.40 for taking part, −0.36 for finishing. Praise and feedback: +0.33.
Frequently asked
Where to start learning Greek?
With the script: 37 letters are worked through in a week or two, and after that words stop being pictures.
How many people speak it in Greek?
About 13 million speakers — an estimate from Ethnologue. Nobody runs an exact census of languages, and sources disagree by noticeable amounts.
Is Greek hard?
Familiar letters with unfamiliar sounds, four cases and no infinitive. At the same time, half the letters are recognizable at once, and stress is always marked in writing.
Where is it spoken in Greek?
An official language in: Greece, Cyprus and the EU. Noticeable communities: Albania, Germany, the USA, Australia and Russia.