Although the Greek language is very important for Greeks everywhere, oftentimes our children react to learning Greek. No one can deny that it is a challenging language to learn and children would rather do anything else that one or two hours of Greek class.
One of the main arguments children and especially teens use against learning Greek is that apart from being difficult it is also a relatively “small” language that will not be useful to them.
Greek, however, is also one of the oldest and richest languages in the world, counting in total more than
70, 000, 000 words (English counts about 1, 000, 000 words) .
So how can we convince our children to learn Greek? They just need the right set of motives.
- Younger children are usually very interested in sciences. They are curious about about anatomy, technology, mathematics, and the mechanics of everything, how everything works. Greek is actually the language of STEAM – science, technology, engineering, art and architecture, and mathematics – and children love STEAM! Isn’t it great if you can already understand what the words that describe the phenomena you are studying mean?
- For athletic or adventure types, a Greek Language Summer Camp in Greece might be a great starting point. 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.
- Our recent pilot with the Greek Language League proved once more that the easiest way children is through games. 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.
- Also let’s not forget that completing some hours of Greek lessons and/or acquiring a certificate in the Greek language works as credit for students who apply to universities in the US. Apart from that, it will always be an impressive qualification for anyone’s CV.
