A stroll through modern Greek

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tastyonions
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Thu Mar 02, 2023 1:02 pm

Assimil Lesson 22 this morning, with reviews of Lessons 21, 19, 15, and 8.

Phew, this lesson was rough. I see what garyb meant about an abundance of tourist vocabulary and landscape description. Not the most exciting material, but had some good new vocabulary anyway:

η ακτή: coast
μπροστά: in front of
έπειτα: after, next, then
ανάμεσα: between
συνεχίζω: (I) continue
η πρωτεύουσα: capital (city)
ονομάζομαι: I am called / my name is

Time spent on Greek so far: about 18 hours and 15 minutes
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Fri Mar 03, 2023 3:52 pm

Assimil Lesson 23 this morning. Another transportation-themed lesson with no dialogue. These words will all be good to know but I have to say it's rather dull. Pushing on!

Useful idiom: παίρνω τηλέφωνο (= to make a phone call, literally "to take telephone [+ someone]")
Example: παίρνω τηλέφωνο τη μητέρα μου (= I call my mother)

Time spent on Greek: 19 hours, 15 minutes
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Sun Mar 05, 2023 4:49 am

Assimil Lesson 24 today, yet another descriptive passage with no dialogue. I'm sure the words for "dew", "to sparkle", and "crest" (of a wave) will come in handy once I want to read Greek novels but I feel like we should have covered the basics a bit more first.

:lol:

Reviewed lessons 17, 10, and 3 as well.

One fun side-effect of taking on a new language is that it gives you a perspective on how well you are doing even in your relatively poor languages (Dutch, in my case). After doing some Greek, I can read a bit of Dutch and think, "Wow, I actually do understand a heck of a lot of this."

Time spent on Greek: 21 hours
5 x

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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Sun Mar 05, 2023 1:00 pm

Lesson 25 this morning, Το δείπνο στο πλοίο (= dinner on the boat). Also reviewed lessons 18, 11, and 4.

Some nice cognates for cooking and eating vocabulary:

η καράφα (carafa): carafe, decanter
το πιάτο (piato): plate, dish
η κουζίνα (kouzina): kitchen, cuisine
το πιπέρι (piperi): pepper (spice)

Time spent on Greek: 21 hours, 30 minutes
4 x

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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:43 pm

Lesson 26 this morning, "Πότε κλείνει;" (= When does it close?). All the vocabulary in this one seems pretty useful.

I find the names of the eating utensils pleasing for some reason. Maybe it's that they're all three-syllable words ending in ι with the accent on the penultimate syllable.

το μαχαίρι: knife
το πιρούνι: fork
το κουτάλι: spoon

Also reviewed Lessons 19, 12, and 5.

Time spent on Greek: 22 hours, 30 minutes
6 x

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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Tue Mar 07, 2023 1:17 pm

Assimil Lesson 27 this morning, "Καλή όρεξι" (= Bon appétit). More food-related stuff mostly. Here are some words and collocations that caught my eye:

υπάρχει και: there is also (didn't know that και could mean "also," too)
αν θέλεις: if you like
αυτή τη φορά: this time
το καλοκαίρι: summer
τίποτα: nothing (δεν ξέρεις τίποτα!)

Also reviewed Lessons 20, 13, and 6. Still really into the language. :-)

Time spent on Greek: 23 hours, 30 minutes
3 x

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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Wed Mar 08, 2023 11:12 am

Assimil Lesson 28 this morning. Review lesson covering a few different things, among which: aorist roots, numbers, and adverbs. Also went back over Lessons 21, 14, and 7. The declensions are starting to feel more natural to me but the verbs are still making my head spin quite a bit. I'm sure it will improve as I revisit lessons repeatedly.

I bought four elementary Greek readers that should arrive today, mostly an "aspirational" purchase for when I've gone through more Assimil. :-)

Time spent on Greek: 24 hours, 30 minutes
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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:24 pm

Assimil Lesson 29 today, "Τι ατμόσφαιρα!" Some important linking and qualifying words in this one:

κάθε (= each, every)
μήπως (= perhaps, maybe)
σχεδόν (= near, nearly, almost)

Also reviewed Lessons 22, 15, and 8.

My Greek readers arrived and as expected even the simplest of them are too advanced for me after about one day of total study time. I'll check back on them in another month or two. :-)

Time spent on Greek: 25 hours, 30 minutes
3 x

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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Fri Mar 10, 2023 12:38 pm

Assimil Lesson 30 today, "Νωρίς το πρωί" (= Early in the morning). Also reviewed Lessons 23, 16, and 9. A few bits that stuck out:

μην ανησυχείς: don't worry
εντάξει: ok / d'accord
κοιμάμαι: I sleep
ακόμα: still / encore

Looks like we're past the landscape description section of the course. :-D

Time spent on Greek: 26 hours, 45 minutes
5 x

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Re: A stroll through modern Greek

Postby tastyonions » Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:26 pm

Assimil Lesson 31 today, "Το πρωινό" (= Breakfast). New food and dining vocabulary, nothing too exciting but seems useful. Also reviewed Lessons 24 (the infamous "sparkling lights in the darkness and white-crested waves" one), 17, and 10.

Once I've studied a lesson four times, I've been putting all of its vocabulary (simple words and also collocations and examples with declined nouns and conjugated verbs) into Anki. I've noticed that when I go jogging these days, random Greek expressions are popping up in my head. Definitely feel like my brain is working on the language.

Time spent on Greek: 27 hours, 30 minutes
4 x


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