A stroll through modern Greek

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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:27 am

Assimil lesson 89 today, Πού κοιμούνται οι γκρινιάρες; (= Where do whiners sleep?). Also reviewed lessons 84, 79, and 74. Added 31 cards from lesson 74 to Anki (1081 cards total).

Total time spent on Greek: 140 hours, 30 minutes (in 107 days)

Ten more lessons to go! The end is nigh.
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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:03 pm

Assimil lesson 90 today, Αφού το λένε τα άστρα (= Because the stars say so). This one was pretty tough, the speaking pace was quick and there was a decent number of unfamiliar words. Also reviewed lessons 85, 80, and 75.

Some nice vocab from this morning's lesson that caught my eye:

πρωτότυπος -η -ο: original; prototype
η συνεργασία: collaboration
η κάθοδος: descent [η κάθοδος του Οδυσσέα στον Άδη = the descent of Odysseus into Hades]
ο τρόπος: method, style, manner
εύχομαι: to wish (wondering what the distinction is between this verb and ελπίζω)
η ηλεκτρική σκούπα: vacuum cleaner [lit. "electric broom", I love that :-)]
τρελαίνομαι: to go crazy
η αργοπορία: delay, lateness
αγχώνω: to stress out, make anxious

In the month of May I added 579 cards to Anki, about 18.5 cards per day. Not too shabby!

I've studied about an hour today so far, so that brings me to: 141 hours, 30 minutes (in 108 days).
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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:30 am

Assimil lesson 91 today, another επανάληψη (= review) lesson. Pretty simple stuff, a review of some of the remaining less common noun and adjective declension patterns like masculine in -ης. Also reviewed lessons 86, 81, and 76. Added 23 cards to Anki for a total of 1123 cards in my Greek deck.

Studied about 90 minutes today, which brings me to a total time of: 143 hours (in 109 days)
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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Sat Jun 03, 2023 8:00 pm

Lesson 92 today, Σώθηκε χάρη στα κουνούπια (= She was saved by ["thanks to"] mosquitos). Another tough one, pretty long and quickly spoken. Had a decent number of new words, among which:

σώζω: to save
πηγαίνω για τρέξιμο: to go jogging
η χαλάρωση: relaxation
βιώνω: to live (through something), experience
έχω ανάγκη να...: to need to (avoir besoin de)
χθεσινός -ό -ή: yesterday [adj.] (or more generally "past, previous")
η παράσταση: performance; representation
χαλαρώνω: to relax (trans.)
μαίνω στο νόημα: to understand
το νόημα: meaning, sense
εξηγώ: to explain
σκάω, έσκαγα, έσκασα: to burst
σκάω στα γέλια: to burst into laughter
τολμάω, τολμούσα, τόλμησα: to dare (to do smth.)

Also reviewed lessons 87, 82, and 77. Wow! Just one more week of new Assimil lessons left. I'll still be doing my reviews for another few weeks, though.

About an hour and a half of study so far today, putting me at: 144 hours, 30 minutes (in 110 days)
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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Tue Jun 06, 2023 9:23 pm

Didn't log the past two days but I still did my usual one Assimil lesson per day. :-)

This morning was Assimi lesson 95, Η ποδοσφαιρική ομάδα (= The soccer team). Not the most interesting as I'm not much of a sports watcher but some of the vocabulary should still be useful, like η ομάδα (= team) and προσπαθώ (= to attempt, try).

πραγματικά is one of those false friends that trip me up repeatedly: my brain thinks "pragmatically" but it means "truly." WordReference has πραγματιστής for "pragmatic."

Greek deck in Anki is sitting at 1165 cards now.

Time spent on Greek: 150 hours (in 113 days)
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Wed Jun 07, 2023 11:49 am

Today's Assimil lesson is number 96, Ο Δεκαπενταύγουστος στη λαϊκή παράδοση (= The 15th August in popular tradition), a cultural lesson about the celebrations around the Orthodox holiday devoted to "the dormition of the mother of God" (Κοίμηση της Θεοτόκου /'ki.mi.si ti sθe.o.'to.ku/).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition ... her_of_God

Some religious vocabulary, which I found interesting. I'm not a religious person myself but find the beliefs and rituals can be fascinating.

Also reviewing lessons 91, 86, and 81.

Time spent on Greek: 151 hours (in 114 days)
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Thu Jun 08, 2023 12:30 pm

Assimil lesson 97 this morning, Μια νύχτα στο καλυβάκι (= A night in the cabin), a pretty vivid description of a nightmare. The longest one of them all! I counted 40 (!) brand spanking new words introduced in the space of the three and a quarter minute lesson. I'll definitely need to look over this one a few times.

Added 23 cards to Anki from lesson 82 (1245 cards total).

Interesting word from yesterday's lesson: η λειτουργία /li.tur.'ʝi.a/

It has the meaning you might expect, i.e. "liturgy, religious service," but also has the general meaning of "functioning, workings, operation."

ώρες λειτουργίας = working hours
βιολογική λειτουργία = biological function
εκτός λειτουργίας = out of order, not working

I studied about ninety minutes so far today.

Time spent on Greek: 152 hours, 30 minutes
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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:02 pm

Today is Assimil lesson 98, a final επανάληψη (= review) lesson. Not too much to handle, mostly a review of reflexive pronoun usage: ο εαυτός μου/σου/του/της/σας/τους = oneself / to oneself / with oneself, depending on case and context. Also a few notes on the very limited survival of the dative case in the form of certain fixed expressions, and on how to say fractional numbers.

Added 22 cards from lesson 83 (1267 cards total).

Studied about an hour so far today.

Time spent on Greek: 154 hours (in 116 days)

Tomorrow is the last lesson in the book!
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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Sun Jun 11, 2023 2:09 am

Τα κατάφερα!

I did it! I made it all the way through Assimil Greek. Lesson 99 today, Έχεις ξανάρθει στην Ελλάδα; (= Have you been to Greece?).

In the usual Assimil fashion it had brief glimpses of some of the things that had happened in the book and an encouragement to travel to Greece and to keep studying the language. No Greece trip planned any time soon but I'll definitely keep learning. :-)

I'll be doing my reviews and Anki card creation for a couple more weeks. Added 18 cards from lesson 84 today, 1285 cards total.

What next? In addition to to continuing to Anki-fy Assimil, I'll get started tomorrow on the "advanced beginner / low intermediate" readers I bought a while ago.

Today marks 156 hours, 30 minutes spent on Greek, in 117 days.
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby PeterMollenburg » Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:02 am

tastyonions wrote:Τα κατάφερα!

I did it! I made it all the way through Assimil Greek. Lesson 99 today, Έχεις ξανάρθει στην Ελλάδα; (= Have you been to Greece?).

In the usual Assimil fashion it had brief glimpses of some of the things that had happened in the book and an encouragement to travel to Greece and to keep studying the language. No Greece trip planned any time soon but I'll definitely keep learning. :-)

I'll be doing my reviews and Anki card creation for a couple more weeks. Added 18 cards from lesson 84 today, 1285 cards total.

What next? In addition to to continuing to Anki-fy Assimil, I'll get started tomorrow on the "advanced beginner / low intermediate" readers I bought a while ago.

Today marks 156 hours, 30 minutes spent on Greek, in 117 days.


Great, consistent study there, tastyonions with the Assimil course. Any chance of a few comments on the course itself to sum it up now that you've finished it?

Also, aside from the script, once you became accustomed to the Greek writing system, how easy or diffucult have you found learning the language?

Apologies if you have already made such comments. I've followed your progress here and there but certainly not read every post.
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