How to survive in Greece with limited Greek



Posted: Saturday, January 30, 2010

by Mark Kempster
packyourbgas

Greece ranks amongst the most popular summer sun destinations for the European visitors. This country, apart from its mild climate, offers ancient history to discover, wonderful landscapes and sparkling blue coastline to explore, and friendly people to socialize with. When on holidays in Greece, whether it is on the mainland or one of the islands like Crete, Rhodes, Corfu or Kefalonia, you will see smiling faces and hear friendly welcome from the local people on daily basis. Sometimes they might even invite you to join in a conversation over a glass of ouzo in the local taverna!

The hotel staff are polite and helpful and the people running shops, bars and restaurants will definitely try to strike a friendly talk with you. Many of them can speak English, however you are bound to come across a few Greeks who will approach you in their own native language. Surely, not everybody who goes on holidays to Greece automatically attends a course of the Greek language. However lovely sounding, Greek may seem a bit more difficult in comparison to other languages because of its different alphabet, so sometimes even trying to read the signs in this country might leave us a bit frustrated.

So how do you survive in Greece with limited or no Greek? First of all, if you find yourself in any kind of emergency, do not panic. Always keep the number of your nearest British Consulate at hand. If you have a medical emergency, your insurance company will also assist and the medical staff in Greek hospitals will know some basic English. Your tour guide or holiday representative are there for you 24/7 to assist you in emergency situations, so feel free to call them if you need them.

You might also want to speak to the locals in Greece whilst in the shops or markets. That's when the pocket dictionaries come handy with their survival language. Make sure you buy one of those before you travel. If you choose to buy a guide book, one section of it is usually dedicated to some basic key phrases in Greek to help you get by. And, if you are more daring, why not try to get one of the audio or video language courses and try to learn some Greek. It may be fun and it will get you very far with the local people who will respect and appreciate your effort. After all, bargain hunting and haggling at the market is much more fun if you use some language apart from miming and using gestures!

When on holidays in Greece and knowing very little or no language, remember, you are never alone. It is always possible to approach passers by to help you out if you get 'lost in translation'. Greeks are used to many tourists visiting their country and will do their best to assist and show their hospitality. No wonder so many people return year after year!

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