Not to be confused with Calamari, from an earlier post. 😉
Today, I thought it would be fun to offer a basic Greek vocabulary lesson. It had been my intention to learn a bit of the language before we embarked on our two-week tour of Greece.
Sadly, this old brain refused to cooperate, particularly since the Greek alphabet is completely different. No wonder when people don’t understand something they say “It’s all Greek to me!”
Fortunately, most people do speak English there, as it is taught in schools, along with other languages.
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since the 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet and was, in turn, the ancestor of numerous other European and Middle Eastern scripts, including Cyrillic and Latin.
Apart from its use in writing the Greek language, both in its ancient and its modern forms, the Greek alphabet today also serves as a source of technical symbols in many domains of mathematics, science and other fields. – Wikipedia
καλημέρα
Kalimera: Good Morning/Day/Afternoon
καλησπέρα
Kalispera: Good Evening
καληνύχτα
Kalinychta: Good Night
γεια μας
Yiamas: To Your Health – a drinking toast.
γειά σου / γειά σας
Yassou / Yassas: Hello or goodbye
singular & familiar / plural & formal
(Many languages have two styles. The familiar for friends and relatives and the formal for strangers)
παρακαλώ
Parakaló̱: Please
ευχαριστώ
Efharistó: Thank you
Πού είναι η τουαλέτα
Poú eínai i̱ toualéta?: Where is the bathroom?
πόσο είναι αυτό
Póso eínai af̱tó?: How much is this?
Δεν καταλαβαίνω
Den katalavaíno̱: I don’t understand
♦♦♦♦♦♦
Got all that? LOL I thought so! 😀
A few spoken words, courtesy of Wolter’s World:
Are you interested in other languages? Which ones?
Looking forward to your comments!
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
29 thoughts on “#AtoZChallenge: “K” is for KALIMERA”
Not only was the language and signage “all Greek to me”, but I found the Greeks the least likely to speak any English. I’m not complaining; it’s as much my responsibility to learn their language, but too difficult for our short sojourn. Lovely places to visit, though!
Interesting Sammy, because I found that most Greeks DO speak English. Mind you, we hit all the tourist “hot spots” and didn’t have time to wander far afield. The signage was another story, but we weren’t driving so it didn’t matter. It is a difficult language to learn and I did try. Gave up fairly quickly though. LOL
Yasou. Efharisto. We celebrated our 40th birthdays in Greece. Learning a new language opens your mind to different ways of thinking…like the concept of ‘hygge’ in Danish – Yassas… I wonder how to say see ya later in Greece 🙂
Parakaló̱! 🙂 That must have been fantastic birthday celebration, Ida. I agree that learning languages broadens the mind. Gets harder with age though, at least from my experience. See you later = Ta léme argótera
Τα λέμε αργότερα (According to Google). Thanks for visiting.
Efharisto 😀 for this wonderful post. I was actually practising along with the video 😀
Parakaló̱ 🙂 Saying the words certainly is easier than trying to write them in the Greek alphabet. Thanks for visiting.
Thanks for the Greek lesson, Debbie. I doubt I’ll remember anything but it is interesting to read about.The only language I’ve ever studied extensively is French. I would like to learn some others like Spanish or Italian. Greek looks pretty hard though so much of our English language comes from Greek, doesn’t it?
Hi Cathy; Once you know French, it’s easier to pick up on other Latin languages like Italian and Spanish. Yes, much of the English language does come from Greek, but that alphabet is such a challenge! Harder to learn this stuff when you’re over 50. 😛
Still all GREEK to me — LOL
Sure is! 🙂 I’m so thankful most people do speak English in Greece.
That was a fun way to learn Greek in 3 minutes! 🙂 Thanks, Debbie.
Always good to pick up a few words, here and there. 🙂 Thanks for visiting.
How fun! I love learning bits and pieces of new languages. Thank you!
Me too Laurel. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂 Thanks for visiting.
Languages, I love languages (good thing, since that’s basically where my rent comes from). I’m trying to learn a new language these days, although I have put the endeavor off until next month because of the challenge. Maidin Mhaith, Debbie. (Irish Gaelic)
I’m a bit of a linguist myself, Mary, but Greek was a bit too daunting. 🙂 Irish Gaelic would be an interesting language to learn. Good luck with it!
I agree with Wolter that it’s important to learn SOME basic words and phrases for any country you visit.
Visiting from A to Z ~
Wendy at Jollett Etc.
Without a doubt, Wendy! 🙂 Welcome to The Den. Thanks for your comment.
\”It\’s all Greek to me\”! Hahaha….A very nice post, Debbie! Your post for K has something to do with my post for L 🙂 Interesting how it goes! I live in southern India and I don\’t know Tamil (I am basically from Delhi where Hindi is spoken mostly). And in the last 7 years here in Tamil Nadu I have tried a few times to learn Tamil and have failed miserably. I know just a few words, but the Tamil phrase for \”I don\’t know Tamil\” comes in very handy 🙂 But seriously, I should try harder to learn the language.
It’s never easy to learn another language. Interesting that India has so many different ones. 🙂
Αυτό είναι απίστευτο. Το λατρεύω απόλυτα!
This is incredible. I love it totally!
Thanks S(t)ri. 🙂 ευχαριστώ (Efharistó)
This is so interesting..I’m very bad at learning languages…Except English, Hindi and Bengali I’m not good at any!
Three languages is very good! 🙂 Many people only know one. Greek is one of the most difficult, along with Russian, I think, because of the different alphabet. Thanks for visiting.
Τηατ ωας ιντερεστινγ ανδ ινφορματιϝεͺ Τηανκς, Δεββιε
That was interesting and informative. Thanks Debbie 🙂
My pleasure, Shilpa. 🙂 χαρά μου (chará mou)
Καληνύχτα, φίλε μου. Πώς ενδιαφέροντα κείμενα και τα ταξίδια σας! – Chi Chi
Good night, my friend. How interesting your writings and travels are! — Chi Chi
Goodnight Chi Chi and thank you. Efharisto’. 🙂