Modern Greek Study Group

An area with study groups for various languages. Group members help each other, share resources and experience. Study groups are permanent but the members rotate and change.
bookstorecowboy
White Belt
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:36 am
Languages: English (N), French (intermediate), Spanish (intermediate), modern Greek (beginner)
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Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby bookstorecowboy » Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:39 am

Hello, I have begun studying Modern Greek. I am using Pimsleur Level 1, as Pimsleur helped me get started in Spanish. I supplement with other materials, some of which I have ordered and am still waiting for. I hope to reach functional communication by July, when I go to Greece.

I have ordered the Assimil (thanks for the encouragement to order even though French is not my native language) and a Greek textbook -- Modern Greek Today, I think, is the title.

I was surprised to see no one here say they use Pimsleur. I thought it was a great way to start Spanish even though the lessons are, admittedly, a bit dull.

P.S. Started Language Transfer Complete Greek today. Wow! What a great course design! Thanks to you guys for tipping me to this -- I had never heard of it.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Feb 05, 2020 11:37 pm

Hello, bookstorecowboy, welcome to the forum! Although I have not studied Greek and do not consider myself a member of this study group, I noticed your post, read it, and decided to comment.

The materials which you have chosen are quite solid and they have the potential for helping you reach your goal. Furthermore, as you are evidently an experienced independent language learner, I have no doubt that you have the requisite perseverance.

With respect to Pimsleur Greek, the absence of specific comments in this study group is not necessarily a sign of lack of use by members of the forum. That is, it is possible that some members have used these materials and posted their appreciations to their own language logs or buried them in other discussion threads. There are a few supportive comments of Pimsleur Greek on the forum which preceded this one.

From your comments, I would assume that you have read the entire contents of this study group and have therefore noticed that there is a separate Modern Greek Resources file. Although you have already selected some very good basic materials, I draw your attention to this file for additional study materials.

By the way, you might wish to consider opening your own language log.

Απολαύστε τον εαυτό σας
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Thala
Yellow Belt
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:19 am
Languages: Native: English (N), Bulgarian (N)
Learning: Greek (A1), Russian (A2)
On hold: Spanish (B1)
Future: Italian, German, Portuguese, Norweigan, Korean, Mandarin
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... p?p=146347
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Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby Thala » Fri Feb 07, 2020 9:51 am

Hi everyone!

I started learning Greek last August after I got back from my trip to Greece (my username comes from my favourite Greek word θάλασσα - sea). I fell in love with the place and the people. I went back to Greece in October then after coming back had a rough few months and paused studying until this month.

I'm planning to spend a few months in Greece this year because clearly I can't stay away lol, and I'd love to get to a good level of Greek.

I primarily study using Language Transfer and some Memrise. Language Transfer is so amazing, I'm already sad that I'm going to finish it soon. I listen to 5-10 tracks every morning on my walk.

Aside from this, I've been thinking about starting iTalki lessons, but I'm not sure if it'll be helpful at my very beginner level. Does anyone have any input on this?
2 x
Language Transfer Greek: 120 / 120 (120/120 lessons)
Greek iTalki Lessons: 9 / 100 (9/100 lessons)
Russian iTalki Lessons: 11 / 100 (11/100 lessons)

bookstorecowboy
White Belt
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:36 am
Languages: English (N), French (intermediate), Spanish (intermediate), modern Greek (beginner)
x 9

Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby bookstorecowboy » Fri Feb 07, 2020 1:24 pm

Hi Thala,
I'm glad you posted.
I'm wondering how hard it would be for an experienced language teacher with an open mind to pick up where Language Transfer leaves off. I saw that the inventor thinks that going on from there is simply a matter of expansion, but I doubt he's correct. Greek is complicated, and language study can be grueling.
I'm thinking long run . . . would it be possible for a group of interested students to pay language teacher to take the method and run with for another set of lessons, with everyone pitching in a set amount of cash per lesson? If we had ten students willing to pay ten dollars for thirty minutes of lessons, it might well be worth someone's while.
Well, I probably should say no more until I have finished Pimsleur 2 and all the LT lessons, but I'm hoping others here would pick up on this idea.
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User avatar
Thala
Yellow Belt
Posts: 53
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:19 am
Languages: Native: English (N), Bulgarian (N)
Learning: Greek (A1), Russian (A2)
On hold: Spanish (B1)
Future: Italian, German, Portuguese, Norweigan, Korean, Mandarin
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... p?p=146347
x 68

Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby Thala » Fri Feb 07, 2020 2:08 pm

bookstorecowboy wrote:Hi Thala,
I'm glad you posted.
I'm wondering how hard it would be for an experienced language teacher with an open mind to pick up where Language Transfer leaves off. I saw that the inventor thinks that going on from there is simply a matter of expansion, but I doubt he's correct. Greek is complicated, and language study can be grueling.
I'm thinking long run . . . would it be possible for a group of interested students to pay language teacher to take the method and run with for another set of lessons, with everyone pitching in a set amount of cash per lesson? If we had ten students willing to pay ten dollars for thirty minutes of lessons, it might well be worth someone's while.
Well, I probably should say no more until I have finished Pimsleur 2 and all the LT lessons, but I'm hoping others here would pick up on this idea.


The creator of LT, Mihalis, is releasing books on how he created the method and how you can apply it to other languages. I guess it depends on how long it would take for the teacher to understand and apply his method effectively.

And you mean a group lesson? Hmm, it might work. Imagine the teacher opening their email one morning and seeing 10 people requesting for them to learn a whole new method! :D

I am probably going to finish LT first before delving into further courses and tutoring. I'm also heading to Greece around June/July, so we'll see if we've progressed well by then!
0 x
Language Transfer Greek: 120 / 120 (120/120 lessons)
Greek iTalki Lessons: 9 / 100 (9/100 lessons)
Russian iTalki Lessons: 11 / 100 (11/100 lessons)

bookstorecowboy
White Belt
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:36 am
Languages: English (N), French (intermediate), Spanish (intermediate), modern Greek (beginner)
x 9

Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby bookstorecowboy » Mon Feb 10, 2020 11:09 am

I have done the first ten lessons of Pimsleur Greek I on Quizlet. Here is a link: REDACTED
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Speakeasy
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Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Feb 10, 2020 12:22 pm

bookstorecowboy wrote:I have done the first ten lessons of Pimsleur Greek I on Quizlet. Here is a link: DELETED
I do not wish to appear as the Grinch that stole Christmas but, have you received permission from Simon & Schuster (the holder of the copyrights) to publish these materials? :ugeek:
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bookstorecowboy
White Belt
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:36 am
Languages: English (N), French (intermediate), Spanish (intermediate), modern Greek (beginner)
x 9

Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby bookstorecowboy » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:58 pm

Hi guys,
I looked at the old FSI course in Greek. It looks useful, but the old typewritten letters are not very clear. Is it possible to buy the text reset in a clearer typeface? Is the Barron's edition just a reproduction of the old course, or was it reset with better typography?
The FSI version is free online (public domain), but it borders on unusable. In any event, it's a strain.
Thanks!
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bookstorecowboy
White Belt
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:36 am
Languages: English (N), French (intermediate), Spanish (intermediate), modern Greek (beginner)
x 9

Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby bookstorecowboy » Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:26 pm

Speakeasy wrote:
bookstorecowboy wrote:I have done the first ten lessons of Pimsleur Greek I on Quizlet. Here is a link: DELETED
I do not wish to appear as the Grinch that stole Christmas but, have you received permission from Simon & Schuster (the holder of the copyrights) to publish these materials? :ugeek:


No, but I don't think word pairs with translations are under copyright. The reason is that every single primer presents basically the same set of words. S&S has a copyright on their tapes and presentation, which I respect (I bought the course on Audible), but they don't own translations of word lists. Now, if I sold these lists, then they could object that I was using their copyrighted trademark of Pimsleur, but I'm not selling them.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Modern Greek Study Group

Postby Speakeasy » Tue Feb 11, 2020 5:20 pm

bookstorecowboy wrote:No, but I don't think word pairs with translations are under copyright. The reason is that every single primer presents basically the same set of words. S&S has a copyright on their tapes and presentation, which I respect (I bought the course on Audible), but they don't own translations of word lists. Now, if I sold these lists, then they could object that I was using their copyrighted trademark of Pimsleur, but I'm not selling them.
While you might be right, and as I am not an expert in copyright law, I have sent a link to this discussion to Simon & Schuster.
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