Saturday 31 August 2013

Learn Greek online for free

10 ways to learn Greek for free
The internet has changed how we learn languages, such as Greek, forever. Suddenly all sorts of resources are available for free, wherever you are in the world, and companies such as Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur are having to really struggle to stay competitive and justify their extortionate prices. But that doesn’t mean that it’s always obvious how you can put the internet to best use for your language learning. With so many resources available, how do you know which ones will actually help you?
Below is a list of some great free resources that you can use to help you learn Greek. Use them to complement a course, get a feel for the language, or stay in touch with Greek culture. Whatever your needs, these will help. And they’re easy on the wallet.
  1. Kypros.org 
    This is a sign up and please make a donation site, but everything is free. There are a lot of lessons accompanied by audio recordings and extensive notes, forums, and a ‘personal journal’ for you to put your learning experience to paper. The lessons go to quite an advanced stage in terms of grammar and teach fairly specialised vocabulary by the end.
    But: the course seems quite old. While the language is correct, the voices sound a bit like a 1930s cut-glass BBC accent. Don’t pick this up for going to Greece or Cyprus as you’ll sound like your great grandmother (or at least mine). Balance it out by listening to other sources for a more modern guide to pronunciation.
  2. GreekGrammar.eu
    This site is really thorough and will tell you everything that a £40 course from the bookshop will. It includes great examples and doesn’t shy away from showing you everything in verb tables complete with irregular patterns and exceptions.