A few resources to add:
Audio
Michel Thomas - This course is not led by Michel Thomas himself, but by a native teacher. I've been dabbling in both it and Language Transfer, and the big differences I've noticed are:
1. MT is much more conversational than LT; you're learning how to order drinks, etc. in the early lessons, whereas LT introduces words and sentences in a much more abstract way
2. LT is much better for serious etymology, rather than silly mnemonics; for instance, LT breaks down the verb for "wait" (perimeno) by starting with "stay" (meno) and then adding "peri-", talking about what peri means and giving examples from English; whereas MT teaches you to remember "wait" by talking about Perry Mason waiting for a verdict
Personally I find the former approach both more interesting and more helpful, especially since I didn't grow up watching TV shows from the 1950s
3. I find the audio quality a lot better for MT; the volume on LT is abnormally low which can be a problem for me if there's any kind of background noise when listening
4. Obviously LT is completely free and MT is fairly expensive, which is definitely worth considering if you can't get MT free from your library or something
Otherwise, I think they both could be worth using, especially since they're not particularly long.
Pimsleur - There is are two units, for a total of 60 lessons
Glossika - There is a new and 'old' version of the Glossika Greek course, with three full units; there are also Anki decks with full sentences and audio for all three units
Books
Hugo in Three Months - I picked up a used copy of the version with the dark blue cover; it's a rather thin and more grammar focused approach, but it seems decent after flipping through it. There also seems to be an updated version with a white cover.
Cortina - After picking up a used copy and scanning through it, I'm not sure if this is pure Katharevousa, as previously reported; it does use the older accent system but it seems to have been updated in 1977, with the intro pointing out that Katharevousa is only used in government documents and the grammar section in the back repeatedly noting that they are defaulting to Demotic and only adding occasional notes about Katharevousa forms.
I'm interested in older forms of Greek anyways, so I will probably use it and just take note of the spelling differences, while looking out for any obsolete vocabulary. But at least it has dialogues, as well as pretty meaty texts in the last few lessons, which is what a lot of the updated English-based courses seem to lack.
Teach Yourself - There are actually two versions of the slightly older, 2003 version of this course. Both have the same author. One is "Beginner's Greek" and lists its goal as "everyday communication". The other is just "Greek" and lists its goal as "all-around confidence".
The beginner's course seems to focus entirely on tourist activities and the first unit is about arriving at the airport, but the first unit of the other Greek course actually starts you off at a polyglot institute talking to Greek colleagues. It seems like it could be a little better for those who want a more "serious" resource.
Colloquial Greek - There are two versions, both by the same author; one from 1994 and the updated version from 2004. Unfortunately, the audio for the 1994 edition seems to be tough to track down, but I'm not sure how different the courses actually are.
Hippocrene Beginner's Greek - I have not seen this and the Hippocrene courses from that era have a poor reputation, but it's there if anyone's interested. If anyone has used this course, I'd be quite interested in hearing your feedback.
Edited to add a resource and update some information
Modern Greek Resources (version 1.0)
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Re: Modern Greek Resources (version 1.0)
Last edited by themethod on Wed May 24, 2023 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Modern Greek Resources (version 1.0)
themethod wrote:Cortina
It's buried in one of speakeasy's posts on HTLAL, but he mentions this Cortina Greek course that's freely available:
https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/cortina.html#Greek
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