 | How to take it all in |
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Hi to all. I don't have any particular questions about the lessons. But more to how the best way to take it all in is. I would like to give a huge thank you to the whole website and people in charge, it's such a favour to have such knowledgeable people willing to help others learn Greek, thanks a lot. Ok, I didn't know the language much at all before starting these lessons, and I am writing a lot of it down on paper as I will soon be moving the house I'm in now and will have no internet. I seem to be picking it up as I go along since I haven't revised any of the notes. I'm following it all good, now I'm on lesson 36, and whilst I'm still following most of it, I've noticed that I'm starting not to understand parts here and there whereas before I was not, but I still move on. What I'm worried about is that I'm going to keep on writing notes and notes and start not to understand more and more as I move on, is this the right way to learn this? I just hope I'm not wasting my time and after getting further through the lessons, it gets to a point where I fee like giving up due to the rise in difficulty, I haven't even checked the advanced levels yet, and I won't incase I'm put off. I will revise it all from the start once I'm satisfied I've written down enough, but the thought of being able to just start talking in Greek is a big thing to me, there's so many words in all that will have to be learnt, and I wonder if it'll happen eventually or at all. So, for the people that have got far, is this likely to happen? Is it going to get to the stage where giving up starts to kick in? Or if I continue to read and write lesson by lesson it will all start to piece together like a puzzle? Don't forget I couldn't speak Greek before (despite being Greek!), and I only speak English. Thanks again. |
 | Re: How to take it all in |
i find it easier to relate Greek words to English words such as, 'μολύβι' meaning 'pencil' i imagine the 'ee' sound as a long line drawn which relates to a pencil. I know it sounds a bit weird but i feel it helps me alot Hope this helps!:D |
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When you start to feel that it's getting a bit too much and too hard to understand, go back! Go back to a chapter that you think you can handle pretty well and start working from there your way up again. What I did in the beginning was: First I wrote it all down to get the feeling of the letters and the words into my hand. Then I translated the text into my own language, Swedish. After that I translated my Swedish text back into Greek. And don't forget that repetition is the mother of knowledge, so be prepared to do this over and over again. When I finally could make a correct translation from Swedish to Greek, I felt ready to move up to the next chapter. As for the listening, I first listened over and over again while I was reading, and after a while I put the text away and just listened until I felt I could understand every word they were saying. This might mean that for every three steps you take forward, you may have to take two steps back, but it is worth it, believe me. All of a sudden, after a long period of hard work, you will hear a snap! in your head and everything just falls into place. Just remember: don't give up, start again from a lower level and work your way back up where you were when things started to feel difficult. Every time you will be able to advance a bit and it will get easier. I promise. Regards, Karin |
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It's a long time since this post but a good way to learn vocab is to write each word on a card together with a sentence that it is used in. Put your native language translation on the back of the card. For the first week, write it out every day several times and speak it several times. Do this with each new word or grammatical usage that you are having trouble with. Put them in an envelope marked 1. After a week of not looking, test yourself. Any you get right move to envelope 2. Any you can't remember go back over the re-writing and replace in envelope 1. Look at it every day. Next week, check out envelope 2. If you get them right put them in envelope 3. If you get them wrong put them back in envelope 1 and redo the writing and daily checking. etc etc Gradually move to a monthly check for the ones you find easy and then 2 monthly. This way you don't lose the early vocab. |
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Thtere's a Greek-English association group on Facebook called "The Greek Chain". The group shows ways to link and associate Greek words with english words. For example - Duck - πάπια (papia) Imagine a Duck wrapped in paper. Maybe it will help? https://www.facebook.com/groups/thegreekchain/?fref=ts |
