Hi everyone! I am Luca, from LucaLampariello.com
and today, I'd like to make a video in Greek..finally!
I'd like to tell you how and why I started learning Greek.
I visited Greece for the first time some twenty years ago
and spent two weeks in these two small islands: Paxos-Antipaxos.
And of course, the beaches were beautiful and the sea was crystaline.
It is a renowned fact that in Greece, especially in the summer, the weather is beautiful
but it is not only that the weather is beautiful, but the people (guys and most of all girls) are very nice.
I know that this might sound like a stereotype, but this has been my personal experience in Greece.
Greeks laugh a lot, they gesticulate a lot, speak loud, and are often in a good mood.
I like thinking that the Greek language sounds like Spanish but has an Italian heart.
A few years later, I went back to Greece, to Corfu
and finally, three years ago, I went to Thessanolink for the Polyglot Conference.
When I was in Thessaloniki, at a certain point, I told myself "I am sure now that I am going to learn Greek"
At that time, I was learning other languages, so. I decided I would start learning Greek a bit later.
Finally, I started learning Greek in September 2017
Now, how did I actually start learning Greek?
At the beginning, as I always do with European languages, I used a book which is called ASSIMIL.
For all those who don't know the ASSIMIL system, it is a bilingual book
wihch has one page in Greek, and on the other page Italian, my native language.
I translate from Greek into Italian, and then from Italian into Greek.
Unfortunately, I don't have time to explain things in details how this method works,
but let me tell you that this methodology allows me to acquire the foundation of any language.
After I finished ASSIMIL, I started working on a language series which is called Pod101, and I did it for a few months.
I found a series which the American University offers for free on the internet.
You can find the link in the description box.
It is a very interesting series, which I really loved
but the truth is, I started having a lot of fun
when I started using authentic material.
For example, ASTRONIO is a YouTube channel about the Universe,
about astronomy, and those videos are really great!
At the beginning it was a bit difficult to understand the content,
because the presenter spoke very fast.
With time though, I started understanding more and more.
I started watching other channels, for example, Easy Greek.
As wth Astronio, at the beginning it seemed to me that
people spoke very fast, but now I understand a lot
because I got used to it.
Of course, I understand these videos because they have subtitles,
without them it would be quite difficult to understand.
For this reason, I try to find material with subtitles.
Now, how did I learn to SPEAK Greek?
I started last year in July
when I started to talk with a fantastic girl, a fantastic Greek girl who goes by the name of Daria.
Daria is a teacher on ITALKI - you can find her profile in the description box
I started chatting with her in Greek and we talked for 30 minutes, twice a week.
But only now have we started speaking twice a week.
To wrap up,
in the case of Greek, I knew exactly what I wanted.
First, it is important that you know exactly why you have started and why you want to learn a given language.
Second, it is important that you choose the right resources from the very beginning.
Third, it is important that you speak with someone who is nice, and that you speak about interesting things.
Unfortunately, this is the end of the video.
As always, I have written an extensive article about how I have learned Gree.
Thanks a bunch to everyone and see you in the next videos!