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What comes to your mind first when you think of Greece? A bunch of happy people smiling, speaking very loudly and fast? Maybe you think of Ancient Greece, the land of Gods and Goddesses, Zeus, Athens, Hera, and co? Perhaps you can smell the sea at the thought of Greece and hear bouzouki somewhere in the background? Or is it rather the famous souvlaki, giros, Ouzo, olives that come to your mind?
If you combine all the things mentioned above, you get an amazing country with amazing people and a unique language.
Not only that this language is so unique, but their history, philosophy, literature, mythology, food are also exceptional.
Now you are surely wondering what all this has to do with learning Greek?
Maybe if you read the following interesting facts about Greece and the Greek language, you will have your answer.
Greek food… have you tried it?
You have to admit that food is very important. Learning a language on an empty stomach is not productive. And how could it be when all you can think of is food. That’s why I want to introduce you to delicious Greek cuisine and its traditional dishes such as Tzatziki, Feta Cheese, Moussaka, Gyros, Spanakopita, Souvlaki, Greek Salad, Calamari. You have to try it, and when you do, learning Greek will be so much easier. Take a walk and see if there are any Greek restaurants in your neighborhood or town. If you want to, you can also take a bus or a plane and go right to Greece. It will be worth it, believe me.
The cradle of democracy
When you finish eating, you should get into learning some of the basic facts that are important for Greece – not only for Greece but for the whole world. I’m sure you know that Ancient Greece is the cradle of democracy, philosophy, poetry and literature, and a very strong economy. Today, the whole world can thank Ancient Greeks for their efforts to make the world as modern as it is today and to make people’s minds as open as they are nowadays.
Who doesn’t like Greek mythology and literature?
Who doesn’t like or isn’t familiar with Zeus, Athens, Hera, Pandora, and others? Greek Gods and Goddesses who live on the Olymp mountain are known all around the world. Open your box, like Pandora, but let that box be empty so you can fill it up with knowledge and every little interesting detail about mythology.
Oh! Don’t forget about the Odyssey or the Trojan horse! If you are interested, you could make a play with your friends, and you could choose one of the stories from Greek literature. After all, the theatre was invented in Greece.
Opa! Throwing plates and spitting are all part of the Greek culture
The country has a very interesting tradition where one of them is especially unique. Greek people are known for being very happy and friendly, and usually, at weddings, you can see them throwing plates while dancing and shouting Opa! Even though today this tradition is not so popular as it used to be, you still can see it.
Another quite interesting thing that the Greeks do is spit for good luck or to give compliments. They believe that this protects you from evil, so don’t be offended if a Greek spits on you, be happy about it. It means he wishes you good.
The Greek language is indeed one of a kind
What kind of language blog article would this be if we didn’t share some interesting details about the language itself? Surely, there are plenty of interesting things about the Greek language, but the following ones are the most important, in my opinion.
- The uniqueness of the Greek language can be recognized in the fact that this language does not belong to any language family. These kinds of languages are called language isolates. Maybe this wasn’t so hard to guess, or was it? The Greek language is the language that speaks for itself. For example:
- The word alphabet comes from the Greek alphabet. The first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha- α and beta- β, refer to the Greek alphabet.
- You don’t get to learn these kinds of details every day. There are singular and plural numbers, and Classical Greek has dual numbers, too. Pretty amazing, right? The Greek language has three genders: Masculine, feminine, and neuter. Not many languages have three genders, let alone articles in genders. For example, the definite article “the” has the masculine form- o, the feminine form is η, and in the neuter form, it is το. When you want to say the word gyros, which is a masculine, you will say o γύρος( o gyros), for feminine the potato is η πατάτα and for neuter gender the example can be souvlaki- το σουβλάκι because this is the neuter word.
- Around 13% of English words come from Greek roots. Greek impact on the English language is huge, especially on scientific and technical terms. Interestingly, every word in English that starts with ph like philosophy, photography, phobia, etc. comes from the Greek language.
The last but not least interesting fact, especially for you, language lovers out there, is that the word polyglot comes from the Greek language- poly, which means many and –glot, which means tongue. So if you want to be a polyglot, you can practice your Greek skills with Justlearn Greek tutors. I’m sure they will introduce you to the beauty of Greece and help you learn Greek more than this article. Let us know how your lessons are going and good luck!
