Modern Greek Learning Journey

Did you ever work on learning something new and then realize that some old knowledge had been “broken” in the process? If so, you are not alone.

Recently I’ve been concentrating on my use of Greek verbs in the past tense, with a special focus on the momentary vs continuous past. I’ve done countless practice exercises, written example sentences, watched videos, and worked with my tutor on the topic. The good news is that I feel like this skill is becoming easier and more understandable. The bad news — I seem to have forgotten how to use Greek verbs in the present tense!

Do I think that I’ve permanently forgotten the present tense? No! In fact, I would argue that this is a normal part of learning. I expect that once I become comfortable with verbs in the past tense, I’ll notice that I am using the present tense correctly again.

I think it is easy to imagine learning as a linear process where there is smooth constant growth. Learning is anything but that.

Knowing even just a few words in Greek can open up interesting conversations and experiences while traveling in Greece!

A few months before my first trip to Greece, I decided that I wanted to learn a few words in the language such as “hello”, “please”, “thank you”, and the like. So I went out and bought Rosetta Stone Greek – on a CD! Yep, went to a store and purchased a CD. Weird right? Not so weird then – the online app didn’t exist yet. But, I digress.

With the program, I learned the words for “man”, “woman”, “boy” and “girl”. It later moved onto important words like “coffee” and “toilet”. One phrase I remember learning early on was “το καπέλο μου” (my hat). At the time, I wondered about the value of that particular phrase..

That phrase ended up proving its worth in Piraeus!