Guide to Learning Modern Greek

A — Why should I learn Modern Greek?

Maybe you love the culture.

Or maybe like me, you plan to use it to learn Ancient Greek eventually (see Kevin and James’s Ancient Greek Curriculum).

Either way, I hope these resources are helpful to you, as well.

B — How to start

B.1 — My recommended path

Months 1-3

Use these resources simultaneously. This will give you a broad start to learning the language, teaching you listening, speaking, and reading.

• Language Transfer’s Complete Greek Course
  • All-audio with listening and speaking
  • Gives a good base to understand the grammar
• Duolingo
  • Teaches the alphabet, reading, and a little writing

Months 3-6

Use these resources simultaneously. This will continue yo

• Pimsleur: Complete Greek
  • All-audio course with listening and speaking
• Use a graded reader, like Modern Greek for Classicists (see resource list, below)

After that…

Start using more comprehensible input, including readers and native content

• GreekPod 101 (see below)
• Language Input
• Language Reactor
• iTalki lessons (see below)
• The Routledge Modern Greek Reader (see below)¹
• Omilo

B.2 — Suggested paths by others

• “How to Learn Modern Greek Online” by Kelssey Ray Banerjee.
• “The Best Way To Learn Greek” by Danae Florou
• Classicist Carla Hurt on how she’s learning Modern Greek

C — Resources for Learners

C.1 — Text Book Courses

• Ellinika A and B
  • Immersive text book, all in Greek
  • Sources: Ellinika A / Greek 1 and Ellinika B / Greek 2
• «Φύγαμε για ελληνικά!» Off we go to learn Greek!
  • This language book is taught in many schools teaching Greek all over the world. It has been designed for adult students and covers the Intermediate B1 and B2 levels of the Modern Greek Language.
  • Sources: Φύγαμε για ελληνικά (printed edition) at Masaresi

C.2 — Video Courses

• TPRS Beginners Greek Course by Natural Languages (Alvaro Heras)
  • What: Free video course with comprehensible input
  • This is a cool way to see TPRS in action. TPRS stands for teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling
  • Sources: TPRS Beginners Greek Course from Natural Languages (YouTube)
• Greek AniBooks by BookBox
  • Animated books with Greek subtitles and spoken Greek.
  • Greek AniBooks by BookBox (YouTube)
• Slow Greek lessons from Linguatree
  • Speech is slow so it is understandable.
  • Slow Greek lessons from Linguatree (YouTube)
• Helinika’s Comprehensible Input Playlists
  • What: Comprehensible input video series. Introduces basic vocabulary, and also includes spoken stories with text.
  • Well made
  • Sources: Helinika’s Greek Input (YouTube playlist) and Stories to Learn Greek
• Easy Greek
  • Easy Greek (YouTube)
  • Greeks are interviewed in everyday language about their lives and interests. Every video has English and Greek subtitles.
  • Look for the episodes marked “Super Easy Greek” for easier content. Many of the super easy ones are in the Super Easy Greek playlist (YouTube).
• Comprehensible Greek Videos
  • This channel has videos where a man speaks in Greek describing children’s stories and other things like nature. His videos follow the natural approach to acquiring learning.
  • Comprehensible Greek (YouTube)

C.3 — Audio Courses

• Pimsleur Greek
  • What: All-audio course that can have a huge impact on your conversational skills
  • Price: Basic subscription begins at $14.95 per month (updated January 2023)
• Language Transfer Greek
  • What: All-audio with listening and speaking. Gives a good base to understand the grammar.
  • Price: Free
  • Sources: Language Transfer’s Complete Greek Course
• Learning Greek Podcasts from the Hellenic American Union
  • This extensive list of practice topics is great for getting used to the language. And free, which is a huge plus.
  • Sources:
    • Learning Greek Podcasts from the Hellenic American Union (Internet Archive)
    • Learning Greek Podcasts from the Hellenic American Union (Tune In)

C.4 — Web-based Courses

• GreekPod 101
  • What: Despite the crappy name, this is a very advanced and useful product
• LingQ from Steve Kaufmann
  • Lots of audio and texts in Greek for all levels. There is a free version and a paid version. With the paid version it is possible to look up translations for the words.
• Kypros.org’s Learn Greek
  • Free online course, but seems kind of dated with low audio quality

C.5 — Publishers of Books for Greek Learners

• Omilo Publications
  • What: Lots of books for learners
• Deltos Publishing
  • What: Many books including full courses

C.6 — Language Exchange and Tutors

• Preply
• iTalki
• HelloTalk
  • Great for getting notes corrected, even if you don’t have a lot of luck in the private chats.

C.7 — Readers

C.7.1 — Graded/Easy Readers

Graded readers are a type of reader, where texts in Greek are presented with increasing levels of difficulty. Used for learning Greek through reading. These are sorted from top to bottom, from highest recommended.

• Deltos Greek Easy Readers
  • Over a dozen easy readers from level 1 to 5
  • https://deltos.gr/en/books/greek-easy-readers/
• Lydia: A Summer in Greece
  • Detailed explanation: Read Your First Greek Book, The Easy Reader “Lydia”
  • Purchase at: Lydia (Omilo)
• Modern Greek for Classicists by Ilias Kolokouris
  • Read my full review at Book Review — Modern Greek For Classicists by Ilias Kolokouris
  • Purchase at: Modern Greek for Classicists (Paideia Institute), Modern Greek for Classicists (Amazon)
  • Modern Greek for Classicists online course at Paideia Institute
  • Supporting grammar videos by the author (YouTube)
  • Animated videos of each lesson, from the author (YouTube)
• The Routledge Modern Greek Reader: Greek Folktales for Learning Modern Greek
  • This reader, composed of folktales, includes reading comprehension questions. It’s great if you’re out of the A1-A2 phase and want a challenge.
  • Purchase at: The Routledge Modern Greek Reader, Greek Folktales for Learning Modern Greek
• Adventure in Greece: A Bilingual Story by Athina Veloudou and Hugh Finlayson
  • Advanced beginner to intermediate level
  • Purchase at: Amazon
• Tiny Stories for Greek Learners by Adonis Demetriou
  • Purchase at: Amazon
• Short Stories in Greek for Beginners and Intermediate Learners: A2-B1, Greek-English Parallel by Constantine Eliades
  • Purchase at: Amazon

C.7.2 — Bilingual Books

• Interlinear Books
  • https://interlinearbooks.com/
  • Read The Clockmaster by Roubina Gouyoumtzian in Greek
  • Read The Crack on the Hourglass by Roubina Gouyoumtzian in Greek
  • Read a Selection of Short Literary Works in Greek

C.7.3 — Adapted Literature

• Adapted novels by Margarita Ioannidou
  • A series of adapted novels for the intermediate reader
  • https://www.alphabetagreek.com/blog/3-best-resources-to-learn-greek-easy-to-read-novels-an-interview-with-margarita-ioannidou

C.8 — Flashcard Tools

• Anki
• Duolingo
  • Pros: Great gamified experience keeps you engaged
  • Cons: Duolingo’s Greek offering uses a synthetic voice and lacks the unique characters and stories that make their bigger language courses (like German and French) so exciting.

C.9 — Reference Books

C.9.1 — Dictionaries

• Triantafyllides Online Dictionary
  • Triantafyllides Online Dictionary

C.9.2 — Reference Grammars

• Greek: An Essential Grammar of the Modern Language by Routledge
  • Buy at Amazon.
• Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Language by Routledge
  • Buy at Amazon.
• Concise Modern Greek Grammar by M. Triandaphyllidis
  • This is a translation from native Greek, so this is not great for beginners.
  • Buy at The Institute of Modern Greek Studies

D — Native Content

D.1 — Children’s Videos

• Viampro Kids Music Videos
  • Cute and catchy Greek songs for kids with subtitles in Greek.
  • Viampro Παιδικά Τραγούδια (YouTube Playlist)
• Caillou
  • Caillou playlist (YouTube)
  • A children’s cartoon in Greek. It has a lot of basic language. I think only the traditional cartoons are in Greek, the 3D animated ones seem to have no speech.
• Sevasti Ziogas Varitimidis
  • Sevasti Ziogas Varitimidis (YouTube channel)
  • This channel has very basic comprehensible input aimed at children introducing basic concepts.

D.2 — Videos

• Μηχανή του Χρόνου (“Time Machine”)
  • Documentary series on history
  • Μηχανή του Χρόνου (YouTube playlist)

D.3 — Podcasts

• Onassis Podcasts
  • https://www.onassis.org/el/initiatives/onassis-podcasts
• Lifo Podcasts
  • https://www.lifo.gr/podcasts

D.4 — TV Series and Films

• Ertflix
  • The Netflix of Greece
  • Many shows have Greek subtitles as well
• Greek-Movies.com

Best Greek tv-series, recommended by Helinika:²

• Δεληγιάννειον Παρθεναγωγείον — available free on YouTube
• Εγκλήματα
• Δύο Ξένοι — available free on YouTube
• Περί Ανέμων και Υδάτων
• Το Νησί

Best Greek movies, recommended by Helinika:³

• Ποτέ την Κυριακή
• Πολίτικη Κουζίνα
• Νύφες
• Αν…
• Κυνόδοντας

D.4.1 — TV & Films dubbed into Greek

Many of the shows from this list were gathered by Reddit user /u/Legoless01.⁴

• Netflix
  • Movies:
    • Shrek 1, 2, and 3
    • How to Train your Dragon
    • Madagascar 1
    • Don’t Look up
    • Spongebob Movie
  • Shows:
    • Arcane
    • Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous
    • Blood of Zeus
    • The Cuphead Show
    • She-Ra
    • Carmen Sandiego
    • Heartstopper
  • Find more at uNoGS.com, which can find films on Netflix which are in a certain language. Greek language films on Netflix, according to uNoGS.
• Disney Plus
  • Movies:
    • Nemo
    • Moana
    • Hercules
    • Wall-E
    • Toy Story 1, Toy Story 2, and Toy Story 3
    • Lightyear
    • Frozen 1, Frozen 2
    • Aladdin (Live Action)
    • Beauty and the Beast
    • Peter Pan
    • The Little Mermaid
    • Hocus Pocus 1
    • Big Hero 6
    • Tangled
    • Strange World
  • Shows:
    • Bluey
    • Baymax!
    • Star Wars: The Clone Wars
    • Star Wars: Bad Batch
    • Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi
    • Star Wars Rebels
• Amazon Prime
  • Movies:
    • Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power
    • Samaritan
    • The Peripheral

D.5 — Other

• Digital school (Ψηφιακό Σχολείο) from the Greek Ministry of Education
  • Find all schoolbooks used in Greek schools!
  • Reddit post describing Ψηφιακό Σχολείο and how to use it

E — References