Cretan-homes, Crete property estate agents

LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES

BY ANN LISNEY

Suffering from alphabet phobia? Are your Greek lessons cathartic, even if your teacher is angelic? In anabyss, where someone else has the advantage? Sceptical about learning Greek, and need therapy?

Then it may surprise you to learn that eight of the ‘English’ words in that first paragraph come from the Greek. Although at first even the alphabets seem different, the sounds that Greek letters make often translate into more familiar words when they are put together. You know more than you think you do!

Although Ancient Greek goes back into the mists of time, the modern Greek language – dimotiki - was only officially adopted after the end of the dictatorship in Greece in 1974. Before that time there were two versions of the language, one the ‘pure’ version used in officialdom and newspapers, katharevousa, and the other the spoken language. So thank your lucky stars you are learning Greek now, and not thirty years ago!

I have been told on more than one occasion that the English find it particularly difficult to learn Greek. I am certain this is because – in my day – English schools did not even teach youngsters the structure of their own language. So when people find themselves in a situation where they are told that ‘a noun ending changes in the vocative, the accusative and the genitive cases’, and that a particular verb ‘has no subjunctive’ they quite understandably panic. And who decides that a table is feminine and that a dog is always masculine? And can anyone tell me why beer is feminine?

Most of the guides to learning Greek that are available in book form in England are of the “Speak fluent Greek after ten minutes a day for three weeks” variety. Dear reader, beware! I have pretty much the full set of books and CDs and I cannot in all honesty recommend any of them. Yes, you can learn a series of stock phrases and questions, but you will not learn how to handle anything other than the expected reply. For instance, you may be able to ask: “Where do I get the bus for Heraklion?” and you will be expecting the reply something on the lines of: “By the church”, or “down there on the right”. But what happens if you get an answer: “No buses today, they’re all on strike,” or “there isn’t another bus until 5.30pm”, or even “I don’t know, I’m from Athens”?

When we arrived in Crete a year ago, we had some hilarious experiences brought about by language misunderstandings. We once went into a hardware store to buy mosquito netting, with me firmly under the impression that the word for mosquito was ‘moskari’. I asked in my best Greek for a roll of mosquito netting and we were very taken aback when a roll of ordinary wire netting was produced.  We looked puzzled – they looked enquiring – then eventually we fell back on the mime routine. Light finally dawned and after much laughter, the correct stuff was produced. I later discovered that ‘moskari’ means ‘calf’ – the word I needed was ‘kounoupi’. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to find that Cretan mosquitoes didn’t have to be kept back by 5” gauge wire netting!

On another occasion we had bought a roof rack and needed some bungee straps to secure items to the rails. Fifteen minutes of furious miming, pointing at rope and doing stretching movements produced no results. The assistants were all desperate to help and we hated to leave the shop without buying something. Then my eye lit upon a watering can. As we needed one, I pointed to it and smiled. It was only when relief lit every face and much happiness broke out in the shop that we realised that they all thought the English for ‘watering can’ is ‘bungee strap’…..

So how do you learn Greek when you arrive in Crete? There are, of course, specialist schools offering intensive courses, but these tend to be in the major cities and are very expensive. A number of local authorities also offer free Greek lessons to foreign nationals, but these tend to be for workers and those who pay IKA (National Insurance) contributions. After that, it gets a bit more difficult. We initially found a qualified teacher (primary school) who agreed to give us lessons, but she almost reduced us to shivering wrecks at her displeasure when we got things wrong. We parted company by mutual agreement – she took it as a personal affront that we were such slow learners! We also found that a lot of the people offering Greek lessons were not in fact native Greeks. Call me picky if you like, but I prefer the idea of learning a language from a native speaker …..

There are hundreds – if not thousands – of language schools on Crete that teach English to youngsters. They are the equivalent of ‘crammers’ in England and parents pay a stiff fee to send their children along.  Some of these – or individual teachers in them - may be willing to reverse things and teach Greek to English people. Or you may find someone local has lived some time abroad in an English-speaking country and is able to help. In our own case, our first summer was helped (and hindered) by such a person – she introduced us to everyone, but then insisted on acting as official translator at all subsequent encounters between us and the village. We later found that she was not particularly well liked, and by our association with her we were prevented from other closer encounters with the villagers. This has taken a while to wear off!

Whichever way you choose – and it is very much a matter of personal choice – you will find that your efforts are repaid a thousand-fold. Our faltering Greek is met with warm smiles and hugs in our village, and even if an English-speaker corrects us when we travel further afield, it is always done with courtesy. After all, that really is the best way to learn the language – forget your shyness and inhibitions just speak a few words and learn by your mistakes!