Learn how to say many common phrases that people use every day to introduce themselves
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| Iro: Welcome to Basic Boot Camp. This five-part series will help you ease your way into Greek. |
| MARIA: Now, the idea of boot camp calls to mind sweating and toil. But our boot camp is different! |
| Iro: Yes, you won’t have to sweat, we promise. |
| Maria: We’ll go over all the basics that will really help you understand Greek much quicker and easier. |
| Iro: And we’ll have fun doing it! |
| Maria: Yes, and we won’t blow any whistles at you or scream at you to do two-hundred pushups…though that might work too. We’ll see how it goes. |
| Iro: Okay, so in this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself. |
| Maria: Now, what could be more basic than this? I promise you, you will have this conversation no fewer than two hundred times in your first month in Greece. |
| Iro: Hmm, Oor maybe more. |
| Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| Phrases with English |
| Iro: Γεια σου, με λένε IROΗρώ. |
| Maria: Γεια σου IROΗρώ, με λένε Μαρία. |
| Iro: Χάρηκα πολύ. |
| Maria: Και εγώ. |
| Maria: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Iro: Ας το ακούσουμε τώρα αργά. |
| Iro: Γεια σου, με λένε IROΗρώ. |
| Maria: Γεια σου IROΗρώ, με λένε Μαρία. |
| Iro: Χάρηκα πολύ. |
| Maria: Και εγώ. |
| Maria: And now with the translation. |
| Iro: Και τώρα η μετάφραση! |
| Iro: Γεια σου, με λένε IROΗρώ. |
| Iro: Hello. My name is Iro. |
| Maria: Γεια σου IROΗρώ, με λένε Μαρία. |
| Maria: Hello Iro. My name is Maria. |
| Iro: Χάρηκα πολύ. |
| Iro: Nice to meet you. |
| Maria: Και εγώ. |
| Maria: Me too. |
| Post banter |
| MARIA: So Iro, what do people in Greece do when they first meet? Like, is there any sort of custom? |
| Iro: For the first time, it’s enough for men to shake hands and for women to smile while introducing themselves. |
| Maria: I would say that shaking hands is a must in Greece. |
| Iro: Yes, but once you become friendlier with Greeks, we hug, tap each other on the shoulders, and kiss cheeks! |
| Maria: Even men kiss each other on the cheeks, which I was very surprised to see! |
| Iro: Yeah, I think it’s a Mediterranean thing. |
| MARIA: Close friends are not afraid to be emotional in Greece, but for the first meeting, better stick to the handshakes and smiles. |
| Iro: Okay, let’s take a closer look into these self-introductions. |
| MARIA: This is boot camp after all; we have to get all-intense and order people around and stuff. |
| Vocab and usage |
| MARIA: Okay, so what is our "hello" here? |
| Iro: We have the Γεια σου. |
| Maria: Now, the Greek hello is quite particular. Literally translated, it is "Be healthy," or "Wish you health." Grammatically, we use it in an imperative mood in a polite form. But no one really thinks about health or realizes that he wishes you health nowadays, right, Iro? |
| Iro: Yes, it lost its original meaning a long time ago, so you can just translate it as "Hello." |
| MARIA: Okay. So the point is that you can say Γεια σου to say "hello," a polite hello, which will work in any situation, formal or informal. |
| MARIA: Okay, so there we have it. Our greeting! Hope everyone isn’t getting too overheated in the boot camp. Maybe it’s time for some pushups? |
| Iro: I think I could use some; I’m getting a little out of shape. |
| MARIA: Yeah, me too. I think I’m getting fatter since coming back! |
| Iro: Well, mental exercise is good too, so next we heard…Με λένε IROΗρώ. My name is Iro. |
| MARIA: In Greek, one simple way of stating your name is saying "Με λένε…," which literally means "I’m called," and then your name. |
| Iro: Με λένε IROΗρώ. |
| Maria: Με λένε Μαρία. |
| Iro: And after knowing your name, I will tell you how glad I am about it! Χάρηκα πολύ. |
| MARIA: Which means something along the lines of "Very delighted," and implies "to meet you," of course. Let’s break down the words there for a minute, Iro. |
| Iro: Χάρηκα πολύ |
| MARIA: The adverb πολύ means "very" and doesn’t need much explanation, simply because it has the absolute same meaning and usage as in English. |
| Iro: Yes, and Χάρηκα literally means "(I’m) delighted" or "Joy." So I think the translation of Χάρηκα πολύ would sound even more accurate as "My pleasure." |
| MARIA: Maybe, but let’s not forget about the usage. That’s what really defines the meaning here. Let’s remember it as "Nice to meet you," because this is what you mean while saying it. |
| Iro: Sure. So let’s say it again. Χάρηκα πολύ. |
| Maria: Now that you said that, naturally, I can’t help but want to respond, Και εγώ. |
| Iro: Just like our characters in the dialogue. |
| Maria: Και εγώ literally means "Me too." |
| Iro: So she says she is happy to meet her, and her natural response in Greek is Και εγώ. So once again, Και εγώ. |
| Maria: Και εγώ. |
| Grammar |
| Maria: Now, Llet’s take a look at today’s grammar point. |
| MARIA: What if your companion is, for some reason, hesitant to introduce themselves? Well, it’s okay to become a little aggressive in your desire to get to know them. Ask their name yourself! |
| Iro: Πώς σας λένε; This is how your question should sound. |
| MARIA: Literally, it means "How are you called?" and is said in a polite form. |
| Iro: "Πώς" here means "How," and "σας" means "you." |
| MARIA: Not too hard for our first boot camp lesson, huh! |
| Iro: So let’s make a short dialogue. |
| Πώς σας λένε; What is your name? |
| MARIA: Με λένε Μαρία. My name is Maria. |
| Iro: Με λένε IroΗρώ. My name is Iro. |
| MARIA: Χάρηκα πολύ. Nice to meet you. |
| Iro: Και εγώ. Me too. |
| MARIA: Here! The first step is made! |
| Closing |
| Maria:Thanks for listening! |
| Iro: Γεια σας! |
| Maria: Bye! |
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