The Greek language

There are just over 11 million people in Greece, and 99% of them speak Greek as their first language. Greek is the national language officially, but Turkish is their co-official language because over 1 million people speak Turkish in Cyprus. Around 1.8% of the Greek people speak Macedonian, which is considered a minority language. Other minority languages (first languages) include Arabic, Albanian, Aegean, Bulgarian and Rumanian. Unlike many European countries, English is not taught to students within mandatory education. Most Greek people learn English as adults, and most learn the language so that they may watch North American movies without subtitles or dubbing. French is a common second language for Greek children, and Arabic is a common second language for adults. The most common second language is German because it is taught to primary school children.

In the olden days, Greek was one of the most widespread languages in the Mediterranean. The reason for this was mainly due to the many colonies the Greek established. However, these days, there are only 13 million people that speak Greek in the European Union, and 10.7 million of them live in Greece. Greek was first written in Mycenae with a script known as Linear B, which was used between 1500 and 1200 BC. This alphabet has been in constant use since 750 BC. Many modern scientific and technical words in English and other western languages are from the Greek language. This language borrowings are too numerous to List.

Greek is considered to be of a category 2 language in terms of difficulty for speakers of the English language to learn. As Greek is one of the foundation stones of almost all other European countries, it’s certainly a worthwhile language to learn. Mastering the language will increase yourself confidence while staying in Greece; it will also give you a greater connection with the Greek people. The old Greeks have a lot of information about their country but few will have the knowledge of English or another language apart from their native tongue. The very best way to learn the Greek language is to go to a language school and to be taught by a native Greek teacher. Other ways of learning the language are online courses, books or cd/DVD.

Religion is having a large impact on which second language Greek people learn. Greece does not keep statistics on religious membership, but unofficial numbers claim that the number of Muslims has grown dramatically and may one day dwarf the number of Greek Orthodox members, which may explain why so many people seem to be learning Arabic as a second language in Greece. In addition, most speakers of Arabic and Armenian also speak Greek as their first or second language. In addition, Antiochian Greek Christians typically speak Arabic as a second language.