Eλληνικά II

Τι κάνετε?

Greek, Greek, Greek. A language of the gods, Athens, Thessaloniki, Santorini, and more gorgeous places that have stood the test of time. It is a BEAUTIFUL language, and I'm glad I'm getting the exposure to it, because honestly, when I was younger, I had no idea what Greek sounded like. Here I am, years later, speaking it, as well as writing it.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my previous Greek entry, but in this language, there are a lot of s, k, th, and l sounds that sometimes trip me up like a tongue twister. It happens because in English, we typically don't have a 'th' sound close to a 'k' sound with another word using similar sounds right after that. I'm not complaining at all; it's just something I have to work at, ξέρετε?

I got to work more on conditional phrases like "where" and "when" (πού και πότε), "now" and "later"(τώρα και πιο αργά) , "not now" and "not later" (Όχι τώρα και Όχι πιο αργά) , etc. I also got to work on locations, like your place (Σπίτι μου)  and my place (Σπίτι σας).

The biggest thing (though some of you might think it to be small) I got to learn is how to say "restaurant" (Εστιατόριο). This will be heavily important, especially to me, because when I go to Greece, I plan on getting fed CONSTANTLY with my girlfriend right by my side. I'll need to know where every single restaurant in a 5 mile radius is. It's mandatory, lol. So some of you may have guessed by now, that because I learned how to say "restaurant", that I learned how to say some words of things you'd find in a restaurant, like beer (μπύρα) and wine (κρασί). That doesn't help me because neither she or I drink, but hell, I guess it's good to know, ναι?

I learned that the word for wine is a neutered word, meaning that the article that precedes it is not masculine (I think I got that right). So:

Some wine: Λίγο κρασί
Some beer: Λίγη μπύρα

Writing in Greek has become a ton easier. I had already known the Greek alphabet because I knew a bunch of people in fraternities and sororities, and they would need to know the alphabet, so consequently, I would hear it. A lot. Now that I think about it, I could probably read the letters on their shields if they were words, or if I really wanted to delve into their secrets, which I don't lol. I've got enough to deal with. Back to the initial thought, though. I'm putting together words in Greek without looking at a dictionary, and only using Google Translate to check my spelling, which so far has been almost spot on. I'm not cocky, but I am so proud of myself for making it this far. I love Greek, and I hope that when I travel there, that the people see how much I appreciate their language!

Constructive comments, tips, and advice are always welcome!

Aντίο,

Your Favorite Polyglot
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