Lingua Critic - Greek

Language Reviews

Greek is an Indo-European language native to the southern Balkan peninsula. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical Ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In its modern form, it is the official language of Greece and Cyprus, and spoken by approximately 20 million people (first language for ca. 15 million), including minority and emigrant communities in numerous parts of the world. Its written form uses the Greek alphabet.

	Michel Thomas ( by Michel Thomas)  No memorizing, no text books, no drills, no homework!
	Michel Thomas Greek is another course produced after his passing and remains true to his method despite the difficulty of the language. The format is still the same in that two novice students are used in the teaching program. This is a very effective course for learning the language and it should be your first stop to get acquainted with Greek. There is now an Advanced course.

	Complete Greek ( by Aristarhos Matsukas)
	The latest edition from the Teach Yourself range. This course is not in colour but it has all the elements for successful Greek learning. Each chapter is based upon a theme and associated conversations. The chapters progress at a good pace to ensure that, by the end of the course you have a reasonable fluency in the language. For those who do not have the time to study too long there are quick introductions and a summary of the key principles involved in the lesson, but we strongly recommend you work through no more than one full chapter a week, so you understand fully before moving on. This course needs to be followed chapter by chapter. Complete Greek focuses mainly on conversation and is designed to take you to B2 Level of the Common European Framework for Languages

Pimsleur

Pimsleur start you off immediately speaking and responding in Greek. These courses are excellent but they are expensive and you may not be suited to this way of learning. These are all audio courses and teach conversational Greek, by using them for 30 minutes each day. No explanations regarding verb conjugations though but there is an English speaking host who guides, prompts and gives you not much more than word meanings. However it is an extremely effective method (timed repetition) and has been used extensively within Govt and educational establishments. The price is however quite high ~£200 per level. You can read about the method here. Download more detailed information on course content here (PDF) Level 2 - Click Here

Rosetta Stone

There are very few courses for effectively learning the Greek language on the market but for total immersion we can recommend the Rosetta Stone Greek course. As said before the environment asks that you match up words or phrases to the relevant pictures. It is an effective learning method and you will achieve a strong level of fluency with it. It is however expensive. We have provided a link to the Amazon website which is about the cheapest place to buy it from. The course took some 2 months to complete and the reviewer was more than happy with his progress. Please note that this is version 4 and you need to check compatibility with your computer.

Euro Talk ( by Euro Talk Ltd)

Euro Talk software has been around for a long time and is a great favourite for many people. This kit contains everything you need to go from beginner to advanced in a few months. It covers the entire spectrum of Greek from Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. The Greek ones can sell out fast so be quick if you want this. All Euro Talk products carry a 90 day guarantee so you can get a refund if it doesn't work for you. This is a very good value product and would be a cheaper alternative to Rosetta Stone. **Complete Arabic and Greek include Talk More! bonus disc instead of Movie Talk**

	Earworms ( by Marlon Lodge)
	Earworms is the best way to get a feel for the language without working too hard at it. The Greek version has the same format as the others in the range in that you have an English man speaking to a native (Greek) woman. The Greek translations of the mans questions are said to the backdrop of rhythmic beats, designed to stay in your mind like a catchy song. We can say that it definitely works but you will only learn the most basic of phrases. There is also a Volume 2 for more practice.