Greek with the International Set

Gary gave his little précis on his Greek lessons, and mine go on as well.  I was uncertain as to which class I should take:  I had Greek lessons on and off in 1984-85 with a wonderful little old lady who lived just down the street from the American School.  Her name was Kyria Zykou, and she taught from her own xeroxed lesson book, which was quite systematic and comprehensive.  She would serve tea and baklava, and we would work on our Greek together with another beginning student or two.  But that was almost twenty years ago (although I learned this week to my amazement that she only died last year), and there was precious little of those lessons still floating around in my head, although  I was confident that once I was exposed to the language on a daily basis it would all come back to me.  I did remember a few crucial phrases:  "Where is the bus stop, please?" and "Three kilos for 100 (drachmas)" after all, so I knew that something must still be there. 

Well, I am here to tell you that twenty years DO make a difference in the grey matter.  The verbs and nouns did NOT come dancing obligingly back when needed, and it's been a long struggle to get to the point where I can understand (much less participate in!) the simplest exchange at the supermarket.  However, after spending one day in the Level I class, the teacher and I decided that I did not need to spend my time relearning the alphabet and practicing "What is your name?" and present-tense verb conjugations.  So I took a deep breath and moved to the Level II class.  It's been a struggle, particularly since I've had awful insomnia problems and have been going around in a stupor most of the time we've been here.  The beginning of the class was particularly difficult as it was a review of all the Level I material, which most of the students had just studied recently and remembered well, as opposed to me.  However, I've persevered for the first four weeks, and things seem to be going OK.  

The lessons themselves are very well taught.  Our teacher is a guy named Alexei, in his mid- to late- 30's, I would guess, and very good at getting at what you know without making you feel like a fool for all your mistakes.  And my classmates are very interesting, and a nice mix of nationalities.  There is Hodor (actually not the correct spelling, but that is how you pronounce it) who is Dutch but just moved to Athens from Switzerland, where he had some big marketing job with Proctor & Gamble, because his girlfriend got an even bigger job in Athens.  Now he is interviewing with various companies, and I am sure will come up with some very good and well-paying job.  There are Werner, an unemployed German economist with a twin brother in Florida, Chikokou (Japanese), who is probably the best student and who knows Hodor from the gym where they both work out, and Hailey (English), who has a Greek musician boyfriend and appears to be Princess Diana's close relation.  The latter three all have Greek spouses or boyfriends so they already have pretty good spoken colloquial Greek.  There is Ruby who is from Taiwan, and seems to be the last of the Taiwanese hippies or else just has a nice independent income, as she just seems to move around the world visiting friends and living wherever strikes her -- her Dutch is pretty good from a few years living in the Netherlands.  There is Ninette, who is the wife of the Swiss ambassador, and like me is trying to revive her Greek from years ago when they were last posted in Athens, all the while trying to restore the garden of the ambassador's Residenz.  And there is Susanna (English), whose American husband works in some capacity at the American Embassy and travels a lot.   It's an interesting and friendly group, and every class we have to give a little story to practice our verbs, where we tell what happened to us since the last class, what problems we've encountered, or what we plan on doing.  There are lots of stories of problems getting household goods out of storage or customs or the post office, lots of struggles to get the right haircut or the right bus or the right plant at the garden center.  So it's all useful basic stuff.

 Interestingly, English is the language of instruction for anything in which our Greek is not sufficient; it's assumed that everyone knows English, and everyone in the class is at least moderately fluent in English.  Most people know some French and some German as well, which is helpful when you get to concepts that English doesn't have, like reflexive verbs and neuter gender.  During the break, we all sit around the pretty courtyard decorated with Greek sculptures and wall tiles, drink coffee and immediately lapse back into English. 

Alexei is good at making the right comparisons between languages but doesn't dwell on them; he also brings in the ancient Greek words or roots when applicable, for those of us with an interest in those matters.  It's fun for me, as it revives an old interest, mostly dormant since high school, in the roots of the Indo-European languages.  However, with my middle-aged memory being what it is, I don't think I'm about to embark on a new career as a comparative linguist!  I will be happy if I can remember enough verbs to finish my homework assignment. 

I think I've made a breakthrough, though:  today, while I tried to do my homework while the kids watched the Powerpuff Girls and Pokemon on TV, I actually started to recognize the odd word or phrase:  "Let's go!" "You're finished!" "That's right!"  So something must be sinking in.  Our last day of class is October 22.  I have to decide whether to go on to Level III or to take some time off and take Level III in the spring.  My original plan was to stop now, and start up again after the new year, but Alexei recommends finishing Level III before taking a break.  So I may just have to postpone my life of idleness until after Christmas.  Of course, it all may be decided for me if I flounder enough in Level II!  It's humbling and gives me a great deal more empathy with my kids.  --Edie Folta, October 4, 2003