This blog is dedicated to my story in learning the Greek language. Here will be notes, scribbles and anecdotes in the pursuit of becoming fluent (with a Cypriot twang!) in this Indo-European dialect (see, we're already learning). I invite help and advice from those equipped to teach the lingo as well as questions from individuals enduring their own journey. There is nothing more solitary than a student head-down in a text book learning something esoteric as a new language, so a more collaborative process will help me and hopefully cajole others in getting "there" quicker (with some fun on the way). Therefore, feel free to email, post comments and share your own experiences.
So, to get the ball rolling as well as for reference, there is no better time to bring up the Alphabet (that hieroglyphic assortment of sticks we use to make words). Below you'll see 24 cryptic letters with the pronunciation below which the Greeks have as their consonants and vowels. I'm reliably informed that in the modern Hellenic language the sound "e" occurs more frequently than is necessary to the extent that the powers that be (the speak police I think they're called) are discussing truncating the alphabet. Epsilon-Iota, Omicron-Iota, Iota, Eta and Upsilon all sound like the "e" in the English language (not a good start, but at least we're tidying up).
So there's the first tentative steps (an indecipherable string of letters that are in some cases redundant). In the next piece I'll look at how these letters sound orally before I embark on the juicy task of making words (some of them clean). As I go into the Alphabet in detail next time please feel free to share your tips and tricks in remembering or articulating them pesky little letters. Enjoy!
Written by JuiceSoup.com
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