Modern Greek Resources (version 1.0)

[Speakeasy]

Confiscated

[jonm]

Hi Speakeasy, I really appreciate everything you put into these comprehensive resources posts and find them extremely helpful. Thanks so much for all your hard work!

Just a quick note, there's a more recent Assimil Greek course by Jean-Pierre Guglielmi, copyright 2017. I believe it's only available in French.

[Neurotip]

Speakeasy, you are a legend.

Vis-à-vis the Greek 'language question' and katharevousa vs demotic: if someone wanted to learn Greek to a basic or low intermediate level for some specific purpose, perhaps as a frequent tourist, I could understand it if they simply wanted to learn the language in the most straightforward way and might perhaps get impatient with antics like the FSI greengrocer episode you mention. On the other hand, for anyone learning Greek out of interest and a wish to explore the language (such as myself), or indeed for anyone wanting to attain a high level in Greek, the diglossia is one of the interesting features to be explored; indeed, Greek is a textbook example of such a situation and learning the language offers a wonderful opportunity to feel how that works in practice, deepening one's understanding of how language works and is used in general (and affording some very interesting comparisons with other languages, including both my TLs from last year, Italian and Icelandic). As such I think courses such as FSI, far from being redundant, enrich the learner's experience.

I have the Living Language course by Stamatina Mastorakou and am halfway through the 'intermediate' book. The answer to your question isn't immediately obvious to me but I'll have a closer look. I did make some comments in my last post on my own log (link in profile).

Thanks again!

[Speakeasy]

Thank you, jonm, for your comments. I have made changes to the entry for Assimil Modern Greek. I had consulted the publisher’s website and mistook the continued availability of the Italian and German courses for the current generation; clearly, I was “reading from the wrong libretto!”

Thank you, Neurotip, for your comments. I greatly appreciated your comments on the continuing relevance of the FSI materials. Clearly, your are an adult, thinking being, capable of discernment, who can be trusted use these materials wisely. Once you have finished the Living Language Greek Complete course, I am sure that many would be interested in hearing your expanded views on these materials.

Thank you, Daristani, for your comments via Email, which I am slowly incorporating into the editorializing above.

To all readers: Subsequent to my initial post, I inserted references to the “Ellinika“ and “Klik sta Ellinika” classroom-oriented Modern Greek courses, inserted "Language Transfer" into the "miscellaneous" section and completed the "online" section.

[LoFr]

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone could help me.

I have the 1950s Linguaphone Greek course, the one with 50 lessons. Does this have the same problem as the Cortina course? Or does it teach Standard Modern / Demotic Greek?

I don't know how to tell!!

[Daristani]

The (older) 50-lesson Linguaphone Greek course uses the old triple-accent system, so would appear to reflect the older state of the language.

The newer Linguaphone course has the single-accent system, so seems to be the modern version.

(Per my understanding, the accent system isn't the only difference, but it seems to be the most immediately obvious characteristic to check. Other differences, as far as I understand, largely pertain to the vocabulary used, and I'm not in a position to make a comparison in that regard.)

[LoFr]

Thanks for your help, Daristani.

I'm just worried I'm going to end up learning Katharevousa if I use it.

If anyone does know if the Greek it uses is Katharevousa, please do let me know.

LF

[Speakeasy]

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could help me. I have the 1950s Linguaphone Greek course, the one with 50 lessons. Does this have the same problem as the Cortina course? Or does it teach Standard Modern / Demotic Greek? I don't know how to tell!!

… I'm just worried I'm going to end up learning Katharevousa if I use it. If anyone does know if the Greek it uses is Katharevousa, please do let me know. LF

Hello, LoFr. In the presentation of materials above, I remarked that some users have reported that the Cortina Conversational Greek course focuses on the Katharevousa variety of Greek which is no longer current and which would not be beneficial in the study of the official version of Standard Modern Greek, a derivative of Demotic Greek.

Cortina Conversational Greek (circa 1950’s)
The original Cortina series of language courses dates from the late 19th century. While the format evolved, that of the editions which are now freely-available via the Yojik website was finalized in the 1930’s. The final revised edition of the Cortina “Conversational Greek in 20 Lessons” course bears a copyright from 1959; however, it is quite possible that the original version first appeared during the 1940’s and that subsequent editions were only superficially revised. The method follows a conventional presentation of the target language through situational dialogues. The course books contain a transcript of the dialogues, a phonetic transcription, and an English translation. The accompanying audio recordings, which are often spoken at an artificially slower speed than that of normal conversation, are of approximately 7 hours duration. The publisher ceased operations in 2016. Many commentators on the language forums have reported that the Cortina Conversational Greek course focuses on the Katharevousa variety of Greek which is no longer current and which would not be beneficial in the study of the official version of Standard Modern Greek, a derivative of Demotic Greek. What a shame!
https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/cortina.html#Greek

[LoFr]

Hi Speakeasy,

Thanks for that. I had read your post and was trying to avoid the same problem with the linguaphone.

Sad but never mind.

[Speakeasy]

Hi Speakeasy, Thanks for that. I had read your post and was trying to avoid the same problem with the linguaphone. Sad but never mind.

Oh, darn! I misread your posts. As the latest generation of the Linguaphone Modern Greek seems to have appeared in the 1970’s, it is “possible” that the authors chose to take into consideration the evolution of the spoken and written language over the previous two or three decades. The publisher’s website is silent on the matter; however, you could always ask them via their “Contact” portal. Should they clarify the matter for you, please add a note to this file and I will update the listings above. Bonne chance!

Linguaphone U.K.
https://www.linguaphone.co.uk/language/greek/greek-complete-course.html