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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4656 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 15 14 April 2015 at 9:09pm | IP Logged |
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So, my family and I are traveling to Greece in three months(booked it today) and want to enjoy the trip even more by learning some very basic things about the language such as ordering food, wine and ask for directions, etc. This will be in addition to my Spanish studies which I am feeling more and more comfortable with day by day. I can spend 45 minutes to an hour a day on Greek
I started the first lesson of Language Transfer's 87 lessons. They are between 5-15 minute lessons and plan to listen to them 2-3 times each. I would like to hear HTLAL's opinion on what they would do to learn as much "usable" Greek as they could before a trip. Thanks in advance, BOLIO 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5260 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 15 14 April 2015 at 10:08pm | IP Logged |
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The thing about languages is, you can't learn them all- though it seems like some try. I would want to be able to do at least the following if I were traveling:
a) have basic greetings and pleasantries down, it's just common courtesy to be able to greet people and thank them. b) know my numbers for shopping and buying and paying for things c) as a vegetarian, I'd want to be familiar with food vocabulary (including meats so I can avoid them) d) this leads to being able to order in a restaurant/bar e) be able to introduce myself and my family f) basic "who, what, where, when, how" question vocabulary- especially and most importantly: "where" g) telling time, very useful for schedules and opening/closing hours h) basic directions i) the alphabet can be learned very quickly and can be useful for signs and labels. j) hotel/taxi/bus vocabulary Since I can't learn all the languages for every "one-off" country I may go to, that's enough to get me functioning in a place where English, or one of my other languages isn't spoken. These things can be learned quickly and relatively easily a few weeks before the trip and won't take away from my main language priorities. I'd probably do something like Earworms Rapid Greek Vol 1 & 2 and Lonely Planet Greek Phrasebook/Dictionary. If I could get Pimsleur Greek 30 lesson volume 1 free from a library, I might would do that a month before, but that's as far as I would go. To me it's all about cost vs benefit. If I were with my family, I'd be mostly speaking English with them and my interactions with TL speakers would be minimal but also crucial when I needed to know things. If I were on my own, that could be different, but still I would have to weigh my time investment, especially if I never intended to return to the country or delve into its literature and media. Still, a country like Greece is heavily visited and many Greeks have either lived in the UK, Ireland, North America or Australia- or have family there. There will almost always be someone who speaks English. For me, speaking only for myself, I am not going to invest major time to learn the grammar and go through the steps I did for my other languages for a one-off trip to a country, just to forget it all when I get back home. The motivation would be wrong for me as I would need more than that to invest the time necessary and justify the time taken away from my other language interests. A basic tourist level as I have described would be sufficient for me. It would show courtesy and make my visit more enjoyable. Edited by iguanamon on 14 April 2015 at 10:16pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4656 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 15 14 April 2015 at 10:37pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks I-mon. Yeah, I am really thinking along the lines of "phrase book" learning.
As far as coming between me and Spanish, it will not happen. I knock out 1 hour every day before leaving for work without exception. I then spend my entire lunch break reading and or listening to Spanish. This would be taking time from the hour plus I spend every night in front of the TV. But I understand exactly what you are saying. If I were going to Russia then I would be all in and try to overlap the studies because that is the next step in my personal language map. But, Greek would be just a side "trist" unless I fell in love. :) I'll see what audio programs my library has and pick up the phrasebook/dictionary you listed. Also, I like the idea of building the Greek island you mentioned (A-J). That will be a neat goal even if it would more than likely be a monologue for the most part but could win over some favor with the locals for trying. As always, thanks for the direction. Edited by BOLIO on 14 April 2015 at 10:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| SomeGuy Groupie Germany Joined 5098 days ago 56 posts - 75 votes Speaks: German* Studies: Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin | Message 4 of 15 14 April 2015 at 11:59pm | IP Logged |
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i would simply work through 'language transfer' and rush through Teach Yourself Greek, i think that would be enough.
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| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4656 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 15 15 April 2015 at 12:01am | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the reply Someguy. It is appreciated.
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| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4887 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 6 of 15 15 April 2015 at 12:31am | IP Logged |
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Three months is exactly how much time I'll spend on one-off / "vacation" languages. I
definitely won't spend as much money on books or the big courses, though. My go-to beginner courses are Pimsleur & Michel Thomas (if you can get them cheaply or at the library) and a grammar book like Living Language or Teach Yourself (both are worth the cost, even for a one-off language). I wouldn't bother with Assimil; it's designed for longer term study. FSI is your call. It's free, but intensive. A few chapters might be good, though I wouldn't bother going past the first four or five sections. Unless you fall in love, of course. I'd be curious to hear how Language Transfer or Earworms works for you. I haven't tried them. ------------------ As for speaking Greek in Greece, I spent some time with the Lonely Planet phrasebook before a trip to Mykonos. I probably learned ten phrases, which wasn't much ... but it was appreciated even on this super-touristed island. Hello, how are you, please, and thank-you go a long way in this world. Even just being able to pronounce things properly goes a long way. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4656 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 15 15 April 2015 at 4:24pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks Kanewai for the response.
I am breaking away today from my office to snoop around at my local library to see which, if any, audio courses are available. I may get lucky and find a TY or LL program too. As far as Language Transfer goes, if a person likes Michel Thomas then they will like this course even better (speaking from experience with the Spanish course). I am on lesson 5 of the Greek course and it is very nice. However, the student has more abilities than I do. I will give updates as I move through the course. "Hello, how are you, please, and thank-you go a long way in this world." I think this one sentence encompasses the entire reason for me wanting to learn languages. Learning languages is a gift of effort to make the world smaller. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5260 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 8 of 15 15 April 2015 at 5:17pm | IP Logged |
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If you are looking for a specific resource in your local library and it is not available, you can ask for an "inter-library loan" and they can get it for you. Edited by iguanamon on 15 April 2015 at 5:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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