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Popularity of Modern Greek | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Merv Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5274 days ago 414 posts - 749 votes  Speaks: English*, Serbo-Croatian* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 9 of 25 30 September 2010 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
It's no more than the usual we get from the French. ;) But I have noticed a trend that "ancient peoples" with recorded (and fascinating) histories stretching back many thousands of years, here defined as Greeks, Jews, Copts, Armenians, Iranians, Indians, Chinese, and few other "elite" have a tendency of looking down on all the rest of us, whom they like to remind were barbarians until 1500 years ago... 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6143 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 10 of 25 30 September 2010 at 2:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
Uh, okay. That was a little harsh, especially considering that this thread is discussing the merits of Greek. But whatever, don't learn Greek if you don't want to. Yes, Greeks tend to be extremely elitist, but believe me, my grandmother is ten times (at least) worse in this respect than me. She actually makes me feel anti-Greek. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6035 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 11 of 25 01 October 2010 at 12:51am | IP Logged | |||||
Perhaps using you post as an example was a bit unfair. Sorry about that. But it is a fact Greek people have a tendency to view their nation as the centre (and origin) of the universe. I find that unpleasant, perhaps it is not so relevant to everybody. In any case as an aspect of the language learning experience it is worth a mention (along with all the good things). Edited by Sennin on 01 October 2010 at 12:53am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5767 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 12 of 25 01 October 2010 at 1:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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The relative lack in popularity of Modern Greek is surprising to me. I have also been to Crete and some of the other Greek islands a few times and even though I could already read the script, I was still in awe of it. The Greek script is the only one I can read that hasn't somehow become mundane after learning to read it fairly well. I remember thinking how wonderful Russian Cyrillic looked while I was learning to read that and yet now, I am pretty indifferent to it. Modern Greek is actually the next language I am going to start learning. I won't need a dabbling stage; I've wanted to learn it for years and I ordered a pretty comprehensive-looking grammar book for it yesterday. I expect the Ancient Greek I did in school will clear up the grammar quite well for me, but it's still nice to have a reference if not just to be absolutely sure or if not even that, just to fill another space on my bookshelf. I plan to start in May of next year if I'm not tempted to start the second my grammar book arrives hopefully tomorrow :P
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| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6143 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 13 of 25 01 October 2010 at 2:25am | IP Logged | |||||
I know the feeling. :P That's what happened with Swahili and Persian and what very nearly happened with Georgian. :) Edited by ellasevia on 01 October 2010 at 2:25am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5767 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 14 of 25 01 October 2010 at 2:46am | IP Logged | |||||
I reckon that I will start, slowly, when my book arrives soon. I'll probably go through that stage where I am content with scribbling random Greek words and sentences at the back of one of my folders or notebooks but I don't know how long that stage will last. Vocabulary is always the major problem for me with any language so I will concentrate on that. Wordreference is going to be my best friend for that. Speaking comes with practise and for me my ability to speak tends to go through the roof once I become 100% confident reading. I'm actually really looking forward to starting now - and as I write this, I've decided - I'm starting when the book arrives :P 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| chucknorrisman Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5449 days ago 321 posts - 435 votes Speaks: Korean*, English, Spanish Studies: Russian, Mandarin, Lithuanian, French | Message 15 of 25 05 October 2010 at 1:52am | IP Logged | |||||
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I like collecting old LP music records, mostly from 60s and 70s. Were most printing materials back then in Katharevousa or Dhimotki (aka the modern Greek spoken now)? Edited by chucknorrisman on 05 October 2010 at 1:52am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 6143 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 16 of 25 05 October 2010 at 2:16am | IP Logged | |||||
Katharevousa was the official language of Greece up until 1976, when Dhimotiki replaced it, so I'd guess that what you have is probably written in Katharevousa. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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