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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4053 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes  Studies: German | Message 9 of 15 15 April 2015 at 10:06pm | IP Logged |
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Bolio,
Linguaphone: As it happens, Linguaphone U.S.A. has just announced one of their regular inventory reduction sales. While their Greek Complete course might exceed your present goals, as well as being a little too much to bite into a this time, you might wish to consider this course for future study. However, the Linguaphone sales are often of short duration. On the other hand, the Linguaphone PDQ courses are designed specifically with the needs of the traveller in mind. They're short (PDQ = Pretty Darn Quick) and amusing. You will not become bilingual with this type of course, but you will learn a some key "tourist vocabulary" and stock phrases. Pimsleur and Michel Thomas: I agree that with the recommendation concerning the Pimsleur and Michel Thomas courses. However, in both cases, the objective is to provide the user with what-I-would-call a "basic feel for" the target language and, in my opinion, neither of them would help you become as autonomous as many "phrase book" type courses. They're really just a first step. Given that you have only three months of study time before your trip, I recommend that you choose only ONE of these two courses and then move on to something with more vocabulary and structure. If you send me a Private Message, I will provide you with the coordinates of a reliable, low-priced "reseller" of these courses ... shame on me! Routledge Colloquial: My final recommendation, particularly for someone who has limited time (3 months) and realistic "tourist-speak" goals would be the Routledge Colloquial Greek. While I have not used it myself, I have used their Colloquial courses for German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Polish. The approach is quite conventional: realistic, short, situational dialogues accompanied by very brief explanations of the main points of grammar. Total vocabulary would be somewhere around 1,200 common "tourist-speak" words. The two CDs are often sold separately, so be careful what you order. However, you can buy the complete package directly from Routledge. Based on my own experience with the Colloquial series, you might find that the dialogues are delivered a little too quickly for a beginner. However, were you to work with either of the Pimsleur or Michel Thomas courses prior to working with the Routledge Colloquial course, while you would "still" find the dialogues fast, you should be able to adapt to the "native speed" (which is exactly what the natives will be using) more easily. Enjoy your trip! Edited by Speakeasy on 15 April 2015 at 10:14pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6598 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 10 of 15 16 April 2015 at 3:40am | IP Logged |
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I'd add that a pocket dictionary can be really useful. And practise the script until you can pronounce more or less anything you see.
For Polish I also learned some tongue-twisters, but I did have long-term plans for the language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4910 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 11 of 15 16 April 2015 at 11:22am | IP Logged |
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For a quick overview of the spoken language, I have found Teach Yourself's "Speak X with Confidence" courses to be very good. They used to be called "Teach Yourself X Conversation". They cover the basics of grammar while introducing you to the main types of "tourist" conversations you might have: asking directions, buying food, etc. I've used the Hindi, French and German versions and found them all to be helpful, but I can't specifically vouch for the Greek course. However, you can get a used (or even new) copy pretty cheap on Amazon.com:
Speak Greek with Confidence If the one poor review concerns you, have a look at the reviews on Amazon.co.uk. Over there I found out that this course is by the same author as Michel Thomas Greek, and the two courses seem to work together well. Michel Thomas for the grammar, and Speak Greek for applying it in touristy situations. I also think the Earworms are pretty good for covering touristy language, but in a more phrasebook style. The music helps make it more memorable, but it doesn't cover any grammar. I really like Iguanamon's list, and I think the best thing you could do would be to make your own version of the list, work on writing out mini dialogues for imaginary situations and then practice the heck out of them. In addition learn phrases like: * I've only been learning 3 months, but I love your language. * I've only been learning 3 months, please be patient/please speak more slowly. * What is this object? * What does that sign mean? * How do you say X in Greek? * Who is that man giving my wife strange looks? Edited by Jeffers on 16 April 2015 at 11:27am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4659 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 12 of 15 16 April 2015 at 6:20pm | IP Logged |
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* Who is that man giving my wife strange looks?
HAHA. That's great! I've ordered the TY program you mentioned and when I return from Chiapas, Mexico in two weeks, I will go to work on it. Thanks again. For those who may have interest, the Language Transfer Greek program is harder than the Spanish. I know my level of Spanish is light years from Greek but what I really mean to say is the student in Greek is a parrot and the Spanish student is normal. The Greek student is better than I am by a mile. She spits the conversation back at the instructor while I am in a fog. I am sure those of you who have mastered many languages would laugh at the recordings and get everything correct at the first go. However, for us who are more "pedestrian" in our abilities, we will find it more difficult. Thanks again for all the advice in the thread! BOLIO 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6598 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 13 of 15 17 April 2015 at 4:06am | IP Logged |
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Maybe the system works better for false beginners? And I don't think a polyglot would get everything right from the beginning. They would just worry less about being wrong.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ETS Newbie Australia null.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 3597 days ago 1 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Greek, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin | Message 14 of 15 17 April 2015 at 8:11am | IP Logged |
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Bolio
Your question has inspired me to submit my first post. While you seem to have a three month time-frame, I would hope that you are charmed by the Greek language and continue to develop your skills after your trip. It is true that Greek is no longer the dominant language of Europe and Western Asia, however, as an intellectual exercise, it is a wonderful language to learn. 1. Greek has massively influenced the development of Latin based languages. The Latin languages in turn have massively influenced the development of English and other languages. As I dabble in French and Spanish, I find many Greek words, which makes my study of those Latin languages easier. 2. You mentioned that Russian is on your roadmap of languages. Well, you will see that Greek characters play an important role in Russian script. For many Greeks, learning to read in Russian is quite easy (admittedly, comprehension is something else). So learning to read and write in Greek will directly assist your future Russian studies. You probably also know that the Byzantine Empire was a Greek speaking empire, which had many ties to Slavic States including Russia. So you will find many words in Russian that were borrowed from Greek. Ancient Greek settlements also extended beyond the Black Sea into present day Russia influencing Slavic languages. 3. It's almost a proverb that the No.1 export of Greece was their people. You will find lively Greek communities in many cities of the world giving you an opportunity to enjoy your hard earned skills. Many Greek speakers (outside of Greece and Cyprus) find it novel to meet a non-Greek speaking their language. Many Greeks will make quality time for you as you honour their culture. 4. IMO, Greek is the most chic Indo-European language to learn. Some may argue that Latin is the language of scholars, but for me, Greek is my scholars' language of choice. There is a reason why it is said that, "It's all Greek to me!". Yes, it's difficult, but that adds to the chic. To be able to sit on a Greek island, look upon the Aegean Sea and be able to speak the directly descended language of the cradle of European civilisation is priceless. So I encourage you not to view Greek as a three month project... see it as your gateway to Latin and Slavic languages. See it as your gateway to European and West Asian history. Embrace Greek and You will truly learn skills that will take your language learning and intellect further. My 2 cents. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BOLIO Senior Member United States Joined 4659 days ago 253 posts - 366 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 15 of 15 17 April 2015 at 5:46pm | IP Logged |
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@ Serpent It is interesting that you said you and others would worry less about being wrong. I do WORRY about what I say and if it will be wrong even in drills when I am by myself. Weird. Imagine how I am when I am speaking Spanish to people! :(
@ETS If this is all it took to get you to comment then this post was a success indeed. What a wonderful post! I had fear of trying to learn Russian do to the Cyrillic alphabet. I assumed it was hard before I even tried. Last month I took a two hour break from Spanish and played mnemonic games to help me with the unfamiliar script and I was done. I really had worried about nothing. I could not help to notice some of the similarities of the Greek and Russian alphabets. Γ θ ω π seem to share a history with their Russian counterparts. I agree that Greek could be a platform for other languages and that is a good thing. As far as the Greek exporting their people, that is the case where I live here in the US. It is not as common as New York but we have several pockets of Greek people and many many restaurants owned by Greek families. These can provide endless numbers of people to speak with on a day to day basis if one wanted. Also you mentioned the Greek peoples' response to hearing a non-Greek speaking to them in their language. I live in an area that is 25-30% Hispanic and they are amazed that the "white guy" has taken the time to learn some Spanish...I could only imagine if I walked into a Greek establishment and spoke to them in Greek??? They might make me a minority owner of the place!! I am keeping an open mind. I have ordered a couple of the recommended items in this thread by Iguanamon, Speakeasy and Jeffers and have started the Language Transfer as I mentioned before. It will be a good experience and it could help me take a different look at what languages I will want to learn in the future. And of course, I could fall in Love and decide to spend the next couple of years learning Greek. Thanks again for the post. Please do so more often. BOLIO 1 person has voted this message useful |
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