The easy way to learn Greek: a 4-step method

The secret: small, regular steps

Most beginners study for hours in the first week, get tired in the second and give up. The brain can only turn a limited amount of new information into lasting memory at a time; the rest is gone the next day.

That is why the daily goal on LinguDay is 10 words. Five to ten minutes is not tiring, fits into any day and adds up to about 300 words a month. Easy comes from doing a little every day.

Start with pronunciation

If you don’t know how to say a word, it’s harder to remember it. On LinguDay every Greek word has its pronunciation written in letters you know, and you can listen to it in a natural voice.

The Greek alphabet looks unfamiliar at first, but with 24 letters it can be learned in a few days, and you already know many letters from maths. The stressed syllable is marked in writing, so you always know where the stress goes. On LinguDay every word’s pronunciation is written in Latin letters and you can listen to it.

See words in sentences, not alone

A word memorized alone is quickly forgotten; a word that is part of a sentence is remembered with its meaning. Every word comes with an example sentence, and short conversation lessons show words in real dialogues.

There are currently 9 Greek conversation lessons; the introduction and everyday conversation lessons are free.

Keep moving without forgetting: short reviews

Trying to recall what you learned a few days later is the most effective way to make it stick. The daily test asks about words from recent days and shows which ones need review.

So you learn new words without losing the old ones. Your progress page shows your learned words and study days.

Tips for learning Greek

• Stress marks and letter pairs

  Every word of more than one syllable carries a written stress mark: καλημέρα “kaliméra”. Some sounds are written with two letters: ου “u”, αι “e”, ει and οι “i”, μπ “b”, ντ “d”. δ is the “th” of “this” and θ the “th” of “think”.

• Articles and gender

  Greek nouns have three genders and come with an article: ο (masculine), η (feminine), το (neuter), as in το νερό “water”. Learn every noun together with its article; on LinguDay nouns are always given with it.