The preservation of the Greek language is of great importance for all the diaspora Greeks around the world. However, let’s face it; oftentimes our children do not see the point in doing so.
Greek is, objectively speaking, a challenging language to learn. It is one of the oldest and richest languages in the world, counting in total more than 70 million words (English counts about 1 million words).
Many young people of Greek heritage do not see the point in embarking on such a challenge for a relatively “small” language if we want to look at it from a utilitarian perspective; all we need to do to change that is give them the right motives.
So, how can we convince our children to learn Greek?
1. First of all, children, especially when they are young, are very interested in science.
They love to learn about anatomy, technology, mathematics, and the mechanics of everything, how everything works. See what happened here? About half of the words used in the previous sentence come from Greek.
Greek is the language of STEAM – science, technology, engineering, art and architecture, and mathematics – and children love STEAM! So maybe the motivation they needed to learn Greek is that it will really help them in these areas if this is something they want to pursue in the future.
2. And if your child is not the scientific type and is more into sports or having fun with their friends, then maybe you should approach it differently.
Maybe you could convince them to take up Greek with the idea of a Greek Language Summer Camp in Greece.
Greek Summer Camps are the perfect opportunity for children to learn Greek while having fun surrounded by native Greek children and with a perfect goal in mind; to communicate with friends.
The idea of going on parent-free holidays in Greece might be all you needed to convince your child to start learning Greek.
3. Speaking of fun, there is no better approach to learning than practicing through fun and games.
This is the easiest way children learn but think about it, it is actually the easiest way for anyone to learn. And if your child loves a competition, the idea of taking part in a championship with fun games around Greece, the Greek culture, geography, history, and language sounds ideal.
Does a competition like that exist, though? Well, it actually does and its name is Τhe Greek Language League.
4. Doing some hours of Greek lessons and/or acquiring a certificate in the Greek language could help some students in the process of applying to and being accepted by universities in the US.
Apart from that, it will always be an impressive qualification for anyone’s CV.
We all hope that people of Greek heritage will continue learning Greek. This is the only way we can preserve our language and make sure it is spoken by Greeks around the world.
For more information about the Greek Online School, visit its official website.
2 comments
Wonderful! Jews and Catholics send their kids to Greek schools to learn Greek. Some even come to our service to learn the language. (The do not feel they are being any more disloyal to their faith than attending opera.) But those evil Russians attack the Greek language every where they can. Knowledge of Greek is foundamental to understanding western science and civilisations! The most loyal Catholics attend Tridentine, and when deprived of this, they prefer Greek to English and attend our churches. And good luck finding a Jewish service that is all English! Please see: https://justinefrangouli.blogspot.com/2021/12/classical-greek-fondamental-language.html and see how the Russian queen of Greece tried to deprive Greeks of their linguistic heritage: https://orthodoxhistory.org/2022/03/24/the-athens-gospel-riots-of-1901/
The word sycophant means slander in Greek but flatter in English. Fornication, porneia means prostitution, not premarital sex. Meek, praos means gentle not humble. So how are you going to trust English in Church? Americans and Jews and Westerners LOVE the Greek language, but Russians hate it.