Did you ever wish you could read the New Testament-, or ancient Greek texts-, or the poems of Elytis, Kavafis, or Seferis in the original language they were written in, but you were discouraged by the thought that it will all be Greek to you? I am here to tell you that Greek is not as difficult as you may think it is. Let's examine what is needed in order to learn a foreign language. First, you have to be able to pronounce the words that you read, even if you do not know their meaning. This is quite easy when it comes to Greek; as long as you know the sounds of the letters in the Greek alphabet, you will be able to read Greek because the words are pronounced just the way they are written. Then, you have to start learning the meaning of words to build your vocabulary. However, unless you keep hearing the language being spoken around you, memorizing the meaning of words can be very difficult if you do not know grammar. The changes in the endings of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns, depending on gender, case, singular or plural, the changes in the endings and forms of verbs depending on the tense, the "person" (first, second, third) and whether it is in singular or plural etc., can make the language look confusing. Grammar classifies all that, places them in an order so that it all makes good sense. There are probably enough Greek grammar books out there, so what can be different in this book? 1) As a scientist, I like things to be presented in a very logical sequence; I have attempted to do that in this book. 2) For every topic, I compare the Greek grammar with the corresponding English grammar, as, I believe, in this way the Greek grammar will be better understood by English speakers. 3) I have avoided details that are not necessary to somebody who simply wants to learn Greek; in this book, I give you all the grammar basics of Modern Greek in less than 40 pages. Learning Modern Greek will be very helpful in understanding "Bible Greek", or in learning ancient Greek. This book is appropriate for students of all ages, starting from interested middle schoolers. A teacher is always helpful, but this book can be studied without any guidance, with the help of a dictionary. Whether you buy this book or you are using another Greek grammar book, please join our facebook group "Greek Grammar for English speakers" and ask your Greek language questions. My best wishes to you in your endeavor to learn a language with a history spanning more than 2,500 years.
Vassiliki Aroniadou was born and educated in Greece. In 1984, she came to the Unites States for graduate studies, and she is currently a neuroscience professor. In 2006, she started a Greek school at Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox church, in Frederick, Maryland, where she served as a volunteer teacher and director for 3 years. The school is still flourishing today, and Dr. Aroniadou-Anderjaska still teaches Greek grammar.
