Who Speaks Greek ?

[Pritch]

Wasn't sure whether to do this as a poll or not, but was wondering how many of us speak Greek ?
I have a very small vocabulary but enough to get by, and certainly only use English as a last resort even if whoever I'm talking to is using English.
Just curious as to whether when in the shops/bars/tavernas you would initiate Greek as the first language or not ?
Interested to find out.

Cheers

Neil

[compage]

Yes, I always speak Greek when initiating transactions in shops and tavernas.

I say: Kalimera (Good Morning) or Kalispera (Good Afternoon/Evening) before lapsing into my native tongue and hoping that mine host has made the effort to learn a foreign language, an enterprise in which I have so dismally and obviously failed.

I am full of admiration for the people I've met who can get by in a number of tongues.
We once met a young lad called Gerasimos in Kefalonia who seemed to be able to converse easily with whoever he met, English, Germans, Italians, Dutch, Spaniards...
Mind you, he did have the advantage of living and working in his Dad's taverna and thereby having the incentive and opportunity to take the plunge.
What is the saying?  Necessity is the mother of invention.  I would credit the author of this quote but no-one seems to know for sure.

I'd love to learn more Greek.
We've got various books and we've even been to night school classes but have found it so difficult.
I think that the only way I'm going to be able to do this is to go and live in Greece.
Now there is an idea...

[Ploppy]

I'm in the same boat as John. I hate being the typical Brit aboard, but at least I dont speak loudly or get so rat-arsed as to make a complete spectacle of myself.

I would like to learn Greek but I'm afraid it will have to get in line after Italian and thats not going too well either, much to Margheritas annoyance!

[compage]

Ploppy, your post above just made the Board Statistics counter go up to 1,000 but was actually post number 1,015.
I wonder if the 'lost' 15 are deleted posts?
No doubt Andy will find the answer soon.

[Graham_and_Karen]

Like the rest of you, it would be good to learn greek (maybe when we've retired and emigrated to Crete - I wish!). In the past we've only had 1 week in Greece each year so there hasn't been time to get into trying the language (other than the absolute basics) and each year I start from sctrach. Maybe this year some words will stick in my brain  

[Ploppy]

Yes that would make sense, don't posts in the test forum get deleted periodically?

[compage]

Yes Paul, I think they do.
And there is always the possibility that the administrators have deleted posts for some other reason.
I suppose it all depends on how the Board Statistics are calculated and Andy is in the best place to find out as he works for the makers of the board, Invision.

[alisos]

I was lucky enough to spend 8 years living in Kefallonia in my twenties.  My brother and I went to spend a summer there with some friends and ended up staying.

 There were no other english speakers there in the winter (at that time) so we had to learn greek. It took a frustrating two years of speaking pigeon greek before I felt I could hold a more involved conversation.  Please don't let this put you off.  My friends were really patient with me and we had great times laughing at my mistakes. Once I went into a stationers and asked for some kolo (bum) instead of kolla (glue).

 I have never had a bad reaction from anyone who had to put up with my bad grammar and poor pronunciation, instead they encouraged me and praised my efforts to learn their language.  I also found it to be a great ice-breaker and made lots of friends through my efforts.  You will also find that your greek improves most evenings after the first apperitif!!! or is it that you lose your inhibitions ?

I can't recommend enough just opening your mouth and having a go.

[ostraco]

I agree with Alisos. The only way to even start to speak the language is give it a try.
There are plenty of guides available - and you only need a few words to get started.
The locals are usually amused or confused - but never upset - when you have a go.
And I have found in the past that when you order drinks in Greek they seem to be a little cheaper - which only reflects the fact that they are pleased if you have a go.

[Pritch]

Live by the old maxim 'when in Rome....'
Also, to me its only pure politeness and respect to have a go, if the boot was on the other foot.......
Neil

[alisos]

We arrived back home this afternoon after our week in the sun (mind you, looking at the size of some of the clouds that were gathering, we may have just timed it right for once).

On the subject of greek speaking, I got chatting to the chat who rents the sunbeds for the Alianthos - we don't know his name, so we have decided to call him Terry.  He said he moved to Myrthios 3 years ago after holidaying in Plakias for 20 years.  I was a bit surprised that he only seems to have picked up 3 words of Greek in all that time - "Nai", "Oxi" and "Ela".  He said that he spent his evenings and winters primarily with the ex-pat brigade in Myrthios/Selia - I suppose this means he didn't bother to learn the language.  What a shame/disgrace (I will let you take your pick)

The reason we had such a satisfying experience in Kefalonia, was because we learnt the language and were able, therefore, to mix on a more equal footing with the locals.

[Karen T]

I went to classes to learn Greek for a number of years, took a few exams and got qualifications from The Greek Institute which were equivalent to an 'O' level but I've found that unless you use the language regularly you lose it so quickly.  Going on holiday to Greece for 2 weeks in ayear just isn't enough.  Nowadays I find I can order a meal and drinks in Greek but conversations which were always difficult in the first place, are now beyond me.  Odd words surface in the memory but isn't it always the way when you're desperately searching the depths of your memory for a word in one language, that you can think of it perfectly easily in several others??  

I've found though, that even a fumbled attempt at speaking Greek is seen by the locals as a nice gesture, particularly in the villages where I've had several "conversations" using a mixture of odd words, pigeon-Greek and sign language with old guys at kafenions or old women collecting horta at the roadside.  In tavernas, when I'm ordering, everyone has always been very patient over the multitude of mistakes I must be making.  All in all I think they appreciate the attempt however poor the grammar or pronunciation.

[Stuart]

I agree with you, Karen.

We found it quite a struggle in the first 18 months or so, even though we were living there fulltime, so I can see how difficult it can be trying to pick the phrases up again if you only get one or two weeks a year to have a go.

The way I looked at it was that, if a foreign tourist came to the UK, there was little chance of them finding someone who spoke their mother tongue, so they were forced to try English and it would be only the most ignorant/stupid salesperson who would make fun of their efforts.  It is the same in Greece - they might smile at some of the accents or mispronunciations, but they are genuinely pleased that some of us do make the attempt.

Kali tihi s'olous sas (good luck to you all)

Stuart

[ostraco]

Alisos - the guy that does the Alianthios sunbeds is called John  (how many more of us?)

I agree Karen - I've doen classes too - and although I can remember bits, I need practice!

[Greecemad]

Wasn't sure whether to do this as a poll or not, but was wondering how many of us speak Greek ?
I have a very small vocabulary but enough to get by, and certainly only use English as a last resort even if whoever I'm talking to is using English.
Just curious as to whether when in the shops/bars/tavernas you would initiate Greek as the first language or not ?
Interested to find out.

Cheers

Neil

When in shops/bars/tavernas I almost always initiate the conversation in Greek. After picking up quite a bit over the last 17 years, I've been learning Greek at evening classes for 2 years so I want to practise it as often as possible. I managed some conversation with the owner of the Kyriakos Pension and a taxi driver, neither of whom could speak English much.

When I was on Skiathos last June the reply to my Greek was almost always in English. In Crete this year, this was less so. This could be because my Greek has improved, although I suspect it has more to do with the fact that Skiathos is full of British tourists and therefore their English is a lot better. However, in Plakias, a lot of bar staff don't understand you if you speak Greek because they are Czech! And on other islands I have begun to realise how many Albanian and Bulgarian staff there are in Greece, because they don't understand my Greek either!    

Greecemad