The echoes of the past reverberated through Oakleigh Grammar on September 22 as teachers, families, and students gathered for Immersion Day 2024. It felt like a time warp back to 1974, thanks to the retro experiences offered: a family picnic, baking koulourakia, embroidery, exploring yiayia’s chest, dancing, arts and crafts, including pottery making with doilies.
The event, hosted by the Modern Greek Teachers Association of Victoria (MGTAV) thanks to a Victorian state government grant, was a nostalgic celebration of Greek heritage, filled with time-honoured traditions and heartfelt memories. It was a nod to a previous generation deeply immersed in Greek language and culture.
MGTAV President Despina Sarandis told The Greek Herald: “We love our language! We love our culture! And we want to show this love to the children. It is this love that will make the next generation love language and culture.”
Teachers came from around Melbourne to participate, have a chat, and help the children in activities, offering 1:1 language immersion.
“All these teachers volunteered their time on a Sunday to help children experience language in a fun way,” Sarandis said.
Maria Bakalidou, the Principal of the Greek Community of Melbourne’s Culture and Language Schools, told The Greek Herald that apart from the obvious language benefits was the creation of a “community.”
“Children are meeting students from other schools, and teachers are also networking and building relationships, which is great to see,” she said.
“We need more days like this to give our children the opportunity to experience language in an experiential way, through games and dances, altogether. At my school we are trying to do this through ELA for youngsters under four years of age and through our school holiday programs at Huntingdale, Bulleen, and in the CBD.”
Acting Coordinator of Educational Affairs of the Greek Consulate of Melbourne, an educator herself, Moira Triantafillou said, “The energy and enthusiasm of the children are incredible, bringing a special vibrancy to the event. It is important to have such initiatives that promote our language and culture in such a beautiful and creative way.”
Mother Helen Karagiozakis from Brighton told The Greek Herald that she appreciates the MGTAV’s efforts.
“We can’t rely on our families and grandmothers to pass on our language and traditions. It needs to be a community effort like the one we are seeing today,” she said, adding that her experiences of being Greek are different to those of her 9-year-old daughter Amelia.
“We were deeply immersed in Greek language and culture as children. My first language was Greek, I went to a Greek high school, and yiayia lived with us. I did the Greek stuff at home but wanted to be Australian and mainstream.
“Amelia grows up in an English-speaking household and helping her stay in touch with her Greek heritage is a challenge. She views her Greek culture as a positive, a bonus. She is loving it, but it is a challenge for us to help Amelia stay in touch with her Greek heritage.”
Vasso Zangalis was present with her children and told The Greek Herald that initiatives such as Immersion Day and Library Story Time help keep children’s interest alive in Greek language and culture.
“In my opinion, if language is lost everything else fails,” she said. “The ‘multicultural society’ we sell to the world will mean nothing. It is important to invest in languages to create pathways for multiculturalism to continue to thrive.”
Chinese-born Wen Wong understands the challenges faced by third and fourth-generation Greeks.
“We speak Chinese at home and keep ties with regular visits to China, however many young generations of Chinese are refusing to learn the language,” she says, pointing to her own daughter who had the choice of learning Mandarin or Greek at her public school in Templestowe.
“She chose to attend the Greek classes even though we are Chinese because her best friend is Greek. She loves Greek food, and wants to visit Greece. After Immersion Day, she will go to a Greek dancing event with her friend. Even though she speaks Chinese Mandarin, she is more excited about Greek.”
While youngsters were engaged in the program, parents chatted and socialised. Violetta and Takis from Pascoe Vale, new arrivals from Greece, played tavli (draughts) as their three children enjoyed activities nearby.
“Our children speak Greek at home,” Violetta said. “They aren’t bored at Greek school even though their language skills are better than most due to their greater exposure to the language. If anything, it boosts their confidence and they enjoy the social aspects of events like this one.”
Natalia, 12, from Brighton East enjoyed all the activities on offer.
“When I first went to primary school I only spoke Greek, and then my parents started speaking English to me so I lost it a little,” she said. “It’s fun being here and practicing my Greek through these activities.”
In the role of yiayia, draftswoman-turned-educator Stella Lambrou, principal at AHEPA Greek School, pulled out different objects from her memory chest.
“When I came to Australia in 1980, people said, ‘You know Greek, you can teach,’ but I did not think I was up to that level. I was pushed to learn. Later, I went to RMIT and then got a Diploma of Education at Monash University,” Stella said.
When the children were finished exploring yiayia’s treasure chest, the parents began to examine the objects.
“Oh, look at this recorder. Takes me back to my childhood,” one mum told her friends.
The last Immersion Day was at Red Hill in 2014, and the concept of the latest event was planned a few years ago before COVID got in the way. The MGTAV president pointed to the support the event had from teachers and the government.
“We were lucky to get a government grant that allowed us to recruit a chef, buy resources for our activities, and also create goody bags for the children to take home,” she said, adding that the association brought the rest. “Next year, we will expand age categories, and hopefully expand on our offerings.”
The popular Folk Groove Festival at St John’s College, with its myriad of offerings, clashed with the event, however the MGTAV will take the learnings of this meaningful “trial run” and explore ways to strengthen the program to ensure that more people experience the benefits.
If language loss is occurring in Victoria, it is not due to the MGTAV’s lack of trying.
