Greek (Ελληνικά)
Greek is spoken by the 11 million inhabitants of Greece and the vast majority of the population of Cyprus. However, there is a large Greek-speaking community spread all over the world.
Modern Greek can be traced directly to ancient Greek, for which our knowledge covers some 3000 years of existence. People tend to be discouraged when learning Greek, mainly because it is a highly inflected language. However, there is a lot to gain from starting to learn Greek, the language in which early classical literature and philosophy was written. Also, let us not forget that Greek is the language of the Iliad and the Odyssey, of Socrates and Plato, of Sophocles and Euripides and of so many other great minds.
Moreover, a huge amount of the modern scientific vocabulary derives from Greek, covering almost every domain - from medicine to astronomy, from mathematics to linguistics, from economics to physics etc. It is estimated that a 12% of the English vocabulary consists of words that come from Greek; academia, electricity, centre, politics, theory, alphabet, crisis, fantasy, democracy, athlete are only a few common examples... Learners of Greek are fascinated to discover that they are able to decipher the meaning of new scientific words just by knowing basic word roots. For example, knowing that the Greek word cosmos means world helps you understand the meaning of cosmology, cosmopolitan and cosmonaut; knowing the Greek word sphera helps you understand the meaning of sphere, atmosphere, spherical, atmosphere, hemisphere etc.
For more information about the Greek language, visit: http://www.translexis.demon.co.uk
Greek is spoken by the 11 million inhabitants of Greece and the vast majority of the population of Cyprus. However, there is a large Greek-speaking community spread all over the world.
Modern Greek can be traced directly to ancient Greek, for which our knowledge covers some 3000 years of existence. People tend to be discouraged when learning Greek, mainly because it is a highly inflected language. However, there is a lot to gain from starting to learn Greek, the language in which early classical literature and philosophy was written. Also, let us not forget that Greek is the language of the Iliad and the Odyssey, of Socrates and Plato, of Sophocles and Euripides and of so many other great minds.
Moreover, a huge amount of the modern scientific vocabulary derives from Greek, covering almost every domain - from medicine to astronomy, from mathematics to linguistics, from economics to physics etc. It is estimated that a 12% of the English vocabulary consists of words that come from Greek; academia, electricity, centre, politics, theory, alphabet, crisis, fantasy, democracy, athlete are only a few common examples... Learners of Greek are fascinated to discover that they are able to decipher the meaning of new scientific words just by knowing basic word roots. For example, knowing that the Greek word cosmos means world helps you understand the meaning of cosmology, cosmopolitan and cosmonaut; knowing the Greek word sphera helps you understand the meaning of sphere, atmosphere, spherical, atmosphere, hemisphere etc.
For more information about the Greek language, visit: http://www.translexis.demon.co.uk