LEARNING TO SPEAK GREEK

In between all that has been going on in my life with the book and Valentino, I have continued with my study of the Greek language. I must admit that it is not the first thing I do every day, but I do try to fit just a little learning in before bedtime.

If you are hoping to master the language, then do focus on learning something new every day, just one word. That way you will increase your vocabulary and be ready to takle the grammar when the time comes. As for grammar, don't be afraid of it!

Before you can learn another language it is essential that you know the basic grammar of your own language. That way, when the subject of verbs, nouns, adjectives etc. crop up, the concept will not be alien to you. It is not difficult, you have been using (or abusing) your own grammar all your life.

For instance, a verb is a 'doing word' like run, jump, cook, work, read, cry, give, take, learn. And somebody, or something 'does' whatever the verb says - I run, you jump, he cooks, she works, we read, they give, it takes and you learn (talking to more than one person). So make a list of all the words in your own language that you can think of as verbs.

THE NOW/PRESENT TENSE - I am running/I run. It is happening at this moment, now, at present.
EARLIER/PAST TENSE - I ran/I was running. It happened earlier, an hour ago, yesterday, last year etc. I ran, a straightforward action in the past. I was running, implies that something else was happening at the same time. I was running to the shop when I tripped and fell.
LATER/FUTURE TENSE - I will run. Obviously something that will happen in the future, it could be I will run to the shop in a minute, I will run for charity next year etc.

OTHER TENSES - Now, there are a few other tenses, but three are enough to be going on with. Learn these three tenses in Greek and you will be making giant strides to communication.

Look up the work 'run' in your dictionary - τρέχω, this means I run/I am running (NOW)

For starters learn the Present Tense in Greek. That is those words that are 'doing/action' words, in other words VERBS. Grammar is as simple as that, so go for it and you will be speaking Greek in no time (give or take a few years)!