Insight or Perspective: ‘Children who succeed in the language take part in other cultural activities too’

By Eleni Elefterias

This week I discuss the benefits of sending children to take part in cultural activities such as Greek dancing, Pankration and Greek Theatre for children.

You may be sending your child to Greek school and hoping they will learn the basics and be able to at least speak with the grandparents. However, children who succeed in the language take part in other cultural activities too.

It may be as simple as attending Greek dance classes where they can make connections with other children like themselves who are also learning the language. There are many excellent Greek dance schools in so many areas throughout Sydney and it is a lot of fun for children. 

If they are sporty and you are considering sending them off to do a martial art why not consider PANKRATION, an ancient Greek form of Martial Arts that will, hopefully, once again become part of the Olympics. It is a great sport and it promotes a pride in doing something Greek that is spiritually satisfying as well as good for the body. 

And for the thespians amongst us, what better way to release the tongue and be able to articulate the language well, than to enrol in a Drama class and take part in Greek Theatre!

The Greek Art Theatre, directed by Steve Economidis offers Drama classes for children and I have seen how much fun these children have taking part in theatre productions from comedies and children’s theatre to Ancient Greek tragedies where they get to dress up in amazing costumes.

What better way for children to learn to appreciate Greek history and the Arts. At least they should attend the Greek theatre regularly throughout the year.

Without a connection to the culture language, where children can access more incidental learning experiences, the Greek language cannot survive.

*Eleni Elefterias-Kostakidis is a teacher of Modern Greek and University lecturer. 

Read Eleni Elefterias’ column ‘Insight or Perspective’ in Greek, every Saturday in The Greek Herald’s print edition or get your subscription here.