Do you want to learn Greek as an adult? Claire Lagoutaris from Hellenic Learning provides Greek Adult Classes each term, offering various courses for different levels.
Claire spoke with some of her students, both Greeks and non-Greeks, to share why they want to learn Greek.
Lee and Tori:
How would you describe your cultural heritage?
Lee: Australian/Greek-Cypriot
Tori: Australian
Why are you learning Greek?
Lee: After travelling to Cyprus multiple times over the past 6-7 years, my family heritage became really important as the fear was that over time that connection would fade. From not having communicated in Greek (Cypriot) for such a long time, I thought it was time to take the first steps toward the learning journey. I was really excited to have my partner Tori taking part in these lessons with me to add some additional motivation and support.
What’s your experience with Greek learning to date?
Lee: My grandparents would communicate with us grandchildren in both Greek and basic English. As we got older though, this fell away so commencing this course from the beginner’s level has been a great way to establish strong fundamentals in learning Greek along with triggering some wonderful memories of my childhood when certain words or phrases are taught.
What advice would you give to someone unsure about learning Greek?
Just do it! It has been such an enjoyable and culturally enriching journey so far with so much encouragement and support from fellow class members and from our brilliant tutor Claire.
As an adult, life gets busy! How have you made classes fit into your life?
I would say disciplining ourselves around ensuring we attend each weekly class, then spending an hour a night revising what we have learnt. Our work and social commitments can be fairly busy so following a routine most definitely helps. The most important part though is genuinely enjoying the learning process which makes it easier to prioritise.
What have you found useful in your classes with Hellenic Learning?
The structure of the classes as well as the content has been really enjoyable from the first lesson. The format is easy to follow to really assist in the learning process. Having a tutor like Claire has also been really important as well, her approach to teaching is one of encouragement and really pushes her students to participate as much as possible to get the most out of the sessions.
Iris:
How would you describe your cultural heritage?
Half Filipino, Half Indian, Born in Dubai but Australian.
Why are you learning Greek?
My husband is Greek, we like to travel to the islands and the language is useful in Melbourne because of the big Greek population.
What’s your experience with Greek learning to date?
It’s a fun language to learn! You can see how a lot of English words come from the Greek language.
What advice would you give to someone unsure about learning Greek?
Listen to Greek music!
As an adult, life gets busy! How have you made classes fit into your life?
Doing it online helps a lot and when you only have to commit an hour a week in set terms, so it’s manageable.
What have you found useful in your classes with Hellenic Learning?
Having a tutor explain the grammar and casual way of having conversations.
For more info about Hellenic Learning’s Greek Adult Classes:
- Contact Claire at helleniclearning@outlook.com or 0434 380 148
- Visit the website: https://helleniclearning.square.site/greek-classes-for-adults
- Follow on Facebook: Hellenic Learning – Greek Tutoring & Education, and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellenic.learning/
