Aside from being a medium for communication, the Greek language, Ellinika (Ellhnik1, eh-lee-nee-KAH) is a link to Greece’s past and a key to its continued presence in the future. During the 5th-century BC Golden Age , Greek flourished as the language of democracy, philosophy, and power; with Alexander the Great’s expansion campaigns, it spread as the lingua franca through much of the Near East. Now, however, barely 12 million people speak Greek around the world, so each and every speaker is seen as essential to the continuation of the language.
To the non-Greek speaker, the nuanced levels of idiom, irony, and poetry in the language can present a seemingly impenetrable wall to understanding. Although mastering Greek is a daunting task, learning enough to order a meal or get to the airport is surprisingly easy. The Greek language is phonetic (though a cursory knowledge of the alphabet does not always help with the many double consonants and double vowels), and all multisyllabic Greek words come with a handy accent called a tonos, which marks the emphasized syllable. Most sentences are simple, and their structure is similar to that of English. Fortunately, many Greeks—and certainly most working in the tourist industry—will understand English.
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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