Society

Language
Modern Greek derives from the same idiom used by Homer and other renowned Greek poets and writers more than 3,000 years ago. Greek was the language of the Gospels and has made a major contribution to all western languages. It is considered one of the oldest languages. Thousands of English words come from the Greek language, sometimes via the Roman adaptation into Latin and then to English.

The Greek Alphabet
Α α Alpha
Β β Beta
Γ γ Gamma
Δ δ Delta
Ε ε Epsilon
Ζ ζ Zeta
Η η Eta
Θ θ Theta
Ι ι Iota
Κ κ Kappa
Λ λ Lambda
Μ μ Mu
Ν ν Nu
Ξ ξ Xi
Ο ο Omicron
Π π Pi
Ρ ρ Rho
Σ σ Sigma
Τ τ Tau
Υ υ Upsilon
Φ φ Phi
Χ χ Chi
Ψ ψ Psi
Ω ω Omega

Learning Greek
The Greek language can be studied through courses offered in Greek universities, state-run institutions, summer schools, private schools and online programs, all of them contributing to the fostering and promotion of Greek language within and outside Greece, offering at the same time an invaluable insight of Greek culture.

• The Center for Greek Language is an academic institution dedicated to the description and documentation of trends in the Modern Greek language at home and abroad. The Center is particularly concerned with the linguistic support of return migrants and Greeks abroad, especially those in the Black Sea region. It is situated in Thessaloniki and is supervised and financed by the Ministry of National Education.

• The Greek Language School of the Intercultural Education Centre of the Department of Primary Education at the University of Patras offers since 1992 courses of Modern Greek language for students, teachers and individuals, repatriates, Greeks living abroad and foreigners from the EU and around the world.

• The School of Modern Greek Language was founded at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1970 and has been operating ever since under the supervision of the Faculty of Philosophy. It offers courses in Greek language and culture to foreign students and also to students of Greek origin, who intend to study in Greek Educational Institutions, or wish to familiarize with Greece and its culture.

• The Greek House - Elliniki Estia is a center for Greek language lessons and culture manifestations, created in 1999 in Athens, aiming to provide students with a grasp on language, while exploring Greek culture through dance, cuisine, mythology and history.

• The “Alexander the Great" Hellenic Language School offers courses to foreigners with either business or scientific orientation. The school has branches in Thessaloniki and Chania in Greece, in Sophia and Philipoupolis (Plovdiv), Bulgaria, in Skopjie, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Tirana, Albania.

• The Center of Intercultural & Migration Studies operates in the Crete University at Rethymno implementing the project of Educating the Greeks of Diaspora.

• The Modern Greek Language Teaching Center of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens offers teaching courses of Modern Greek as a foreign language.

• Seasonal language courses are offered by the Institute of Balkan Studies (IMXA), in Thessaloniki.

• The State Scholarships Foundation (I.K.Y.) grants scholarships for postgraduate or postdoctoral studies in Greece to all foreigners as well as scholarships for the attendance of lessons and seminars of Modern Greek Language and Culture.

• DIAS International Academic Studies is a non-profit organization dedicated to making the necessary arrangements for students from all over the world to attend accredited summer courses at Greek universities. Students are given the opportunity to feel the timeless legacy of Greece and study the roots of the Western Civilization at its birthplace.

• The Filoglossia+ is a series of four educational multimedia CD-ROMs for learning Greek as a foreign language, addressed to beginners. The program is mainly based on the communicative approach and focuses on the production and comprehension of both oral and written speech.


Greek News Agenda: Learn Greek in Greece

Foreign languages education is widespread. The proportion of people who can speak English well enough to take part in a conversation has increased in Greece significantly (37%, 2nd in EU ranking). In 2006, a Special Euro-barometer survey indicated that 57% of Greeks claimed to speak one foreign language (at least at a conversational level), and 19% two languages.