Flashback to last year’s summer vacation. The Mexican restaurant was close by and had good reviews, so my family and I decided to stop in for dinner. As we entered the restaurant, the host greeted us in Spanish. I know some rudimentary Spanish and this is how the conversation went:

(In Spanish)
The Host: Welcome to the restaurant. How are you?
Me: Very good, thank you
The Host: How many people?
Me: Three

Pretty easy so far and I felt good. I hadn’t tried Spanish in years. So where does the Greek come in? Here’s what happened next:

The Host (still in Spanish) asked a yes or no question
Me: Ναι. Not yes, not sí, but Ναι
The Host: *Totally confused*

I explained (in English) that I study Greek and then quickly changed my answer to sí and the conversation was done.

That small mistake made me very happy! Why?? My automatic response was “Ναι”. I didn’t have to think or translate, it just happened. My go-to response when my brain was in “language other than English mode” was in Greek! The spontaneity of the response felt great and means to me that my efforts to think in Greek are paying off.

Here’s to automated responses!

PS: If you are new to Greek and find it difficult to remember that Ναι means “yes” and όχι means “no”, don’t worry – you are not alone! It took a concerted effort when I was first learning to remember those two little, but important, words.