Customer Reviews

Greek (Modern), Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Modern Greek with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These CDs are a great start to learning modern Greek. I thought I was hopeless! This is really helpful if you are planning to travel to Greece, but you will definitely need other books/tapes if you are trying to learn more than just how to ask directions, ask for something to drink, etc. One negative that a native speaker pointed out to me is that you only learn the "formal" version of a lot of things (I'm only half-way through though, so maybe they teach informal tenses later). Overall a great experience as long as you make sure to do it frequently and repeat lessons to make sure you know everything before you move on. Definitely worth the price and you can rip them onto your mp3 player so it's more convenient!

I spent about three months listening to the CDs in my car during the commute home from work. I was impressed at how the course would subtly teach Greek grammar. When I demonstrated what I had learned to Greek speakers, they were very impressed by my pronunciation. I found some of the conversations to be rather humorous too.

My only gripe is that sometimes I could not differentiate between some sounds such as "ven" as "then" and 'm' and 'n' sounds. A small book with phonetic spellings of all the words would be a welcome addition to the product.

By the way, investing in an English-Greek dictionary would not be a bad idea since the course does not cover that many nouns. The course does not focus on throwing as many words at you as possible - instead it only teaches what you are likely to retain in half an hour and focuses on repetition.

I went to Greece after completing the course and I found that I could pick out bits and pieces of what people were saying. I was able to tell a Greek woman what the time was after she asked me the time in Greek and was able to ask for the bill and understood the waitress when she told me "11 euros". I stayed with a Greek family and they seemed to like it when I would throw in a Greek word or two. Prior to listening to the CDs, I had absolutely no exposure to the Greek language.

After doing 16 lessons you probably will not be proficient in Greek but it is a very good foundation to build upon.

This course, as with all Pimsleurs courses, is the best way to start your study of Greek. After doing the 16 lessons you can jump into one of the other "learn yourself" type courses with a good head start. It also prevents you from creating bad habits sometimes formed by the wrong use of some transliterations or pronunciation explanations given in books. Go through it BEFORE you start any book and you will already have learned some of the basic structures. Very little vocabulary however. You may continue with Pimsleur's complete course afterwards. Highly recommemded.

This is a great method of learning enough to get you through a vacation in Greece. My only complaint is that it doesn't go far enough and they don't make a Level 2. However, for going into shops, greeting people, etc, it's perfect. Doesn't take a lot of time; maybe 30 minutes a day and you'll get enough. There are other programs out there, like Rosetta Stone, that might be better if you wanted to actually live or work in Greece, but, for the casual tourist, this is perfect.

I am Greek living in the US and bought the product for a busy friend that has no time taking a proper course. It seems to be a fun way of learning a few basic phrases and expressions.

I bought this because I'm a 32 year old half-Greek who never learned as a child, and I'm trying to amend that. Based on the comments online, I picked this up after getting the Oxford "Taking off in Greek" from the local library.

I am 8 lessons in, and so far I am really pleased with this product. I listen during my commute home from work, and it is doing a good job of pacing me through the lessons. You need to have some discipline in repeating the lessons until you have almost mastered them, but when you're not ready yet, you'll know.

I'm a bit left-brained, so I would appreciate more cues in the grammatical details. For instance, you have to figure out that some "words" are actually two words together. For example, the word "nafao" is actually "na fao", (the infinitive "to eat" in the first person). You don't learn this until two lessons after you learn "nafao" when you learn to use "na kano" (to do), and you know this because you learned the verb "kano" earlier. I assume that this is part of the Pimsleur technique, and is only a minor point.

There is a focus on learning and hearing fast pronounciation, which is probably key to comprehension, and it feels good to be able to follow along with the example conversations.

Hopefully I'll make it all the way through and then continue with the Modern Greek. The box that this came in says that you get a rebate toward purchase of Modern Greek I, which is great, since MG1 is way more than the 35 bucks I paid for this.

This product has been great. It's easy to use and i'm able to pick up greek phrases after the first lesson. The hardest part is distinguishing between "v" and "d" and "m" and "n" since there is no book to go along with it. However, it is still a great tool!

Have always learned languages grammar first. This eschews that method, and I am enjoying memorization, and learning the phonemic components of Greek. Minuses - no text book: I would like to be able to read Greek, as well, and must search for other sources. It's a good first start!

I believe that a traveler needs to be able to read the signs and the language. I have learned other languages and actually already has some experience with Biblical Greek. I did not realize that there would be no way to see the actual Greek script for the interchange. I believe this is an oversight. For me the material is useless since one of the things I wanted to do was to read the modern Greek and as well as speak it correctly.

Wonderful purchase. This will provide great help for traveling to Greece for my honeymoon.