Information on Greece and the Greek Language

Achievement & Equality Team

Information on Greece and the Greek language

Twas the Greeks of old whose dying

Brought to birth our spirit free

Now, with ancient valour rising

Let us hail you, oh Liberty!

National Anthem of Greece

GREECE AT A GLANCE

Location – South - eastEurope

Neighbours – Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey

Size – 50, 949 square miles

Population-101, 737, 4282 (74th)

Life Expectancy – Male / Female 77/82

Capital city – Athens

Potted History

Greece, home to the great ancient civilisation, gained independence in 1829 after four centuries under Ottoman control. The Asia Minor campaign brought in more than a million refugees from Turkey in 1923. In the Second World War it was invaded by Italy then occupied by Germany. Civil war from

1964 –49 between communists and royalists was followed by authoritarian rule, before the “colonels” took over in 1967. Democracy returned in 1974.

Political pressure points

Greece, an EU member, remains locked in dispute with Turkey over the Aegean and Cyprus despite improved bilateral relations. Tensions are rising over Athens’ refusal to accept the name Macedonia for its neighbour, the former Yugoslav republic. Economic crisis has led to civil unrest.

Population mix

93% Greek; Other 7%.

Religious makeup

93% Greek Orthodox: Other 7%.

Main languages

Greek 99% (official) Other 1%.

Living national icons

Constantin Costa-Gavras (Director), Mikis Theodorakis (composer), Nana Mouskouri (singer).

Website

The Nottinghamshire Context

Nottinghamshire does have a well-established Greek community. The Greek Orthodox Community of Nottingham is based at 184,Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 1NF and the NottinghamCommunityGreekSchool is at, DjanoglyCityAcademy, Sherwood Rise, Nottingham Road, Nottingham.

As Greece and Cyprus are part of the EU, migrants from these countries are free to live and work in the UK. Therefore new arrivals are generally in Nottinghamshire for economic and business reasons.

Education in Greece

The Greek Educational System consists of three successive levels: Primary, Secondary and Tertiaryeducation level.
Primary education: Pre-school education: there are many kindergarten classes that children aged 3–5 may attend. The kindergarten is intended to support the education provided by the family. Children attend only in the morning.

Compulsory schooling: Primary school (dimotiko):

At the age of six children enter primary school which lasts 6 years and comprises ‘160 school days, five teaching hours per day’. The aim of the primary schools is a broad mental and physical development of the students. They must acquire the ability to use oral and written speech correctly, to familiarize themselves with moral and humanitarian values, and to cultivate their sense of aesthetics. Students who finish primary school receive a certificate that qualifies entry to a secondary school.

Lower secondary education (gymnasio):

After completing primary education, all children are automatically enrolled into a Gymnasio which provides three years of schooling. These schools offer general education, although some of them specialize in sports or music. Every school day has six hours.

Upper secondary education (likio):

The Secondary education systemis completed by the Lyceum which is chiefly structured to help students to make the right choices for their professional career and to progress on a social level. Students continue their education to the higher level according to their performance at national level- examinations in second and third grade of Lykeio.

Information about the Greek Language

Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language in the Indo-Europeanlanguage family. It is also one of the earliest attested Indo-European languages, with fragmentary records in Mycenaean dating back to the 15th or 14th century BC, matched only by the extinctAnatolian languages and Vedic Sanskrit, and making it the earliest-attested language that still survives.

Today, it is spoken by approximately 15–25 million people in Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Italy, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Egypt, Jordan and emigrant communities around the world, including Australia, United States, Great Britain, Germany and elsewhere.

Greek was written in the Greek alphabet (the first to introduce vowels) since the 9th century BC in Greece (before that in Linear B), and the 4th century BC in Cyprus (before that in Cypriot syllabary). Greek literature has a continuous history of nearly three thousand years.

The impact of Greek upon the vocabulary of all languages, including English, has been enormous. Such prefixes as poly- (much, many) micro- (small), anti- (against), auto—(self), hemi- (half), hetero- (different), chrono- (time) tele- (distance), geo-(earth), physio- (nature), photo- (light), hydro- (water), litho- (stone), phono- (sound), anthropo- (man), psycho- (mind), and philo- (love), each generate dozens of words in scientific, technical, and other fields. Equally important Greek suffixes are –meter, (measure) –gram (letter), -graph (write), -scope (see) –phone (sound), and phobia (fear).

Words and Phrases

Useful guidance is available from:

New Arrivals Excellence Programme Guidance

(2007) Ref 00650 – 2007BKT- EN

This resource is for primary and secondary schools and contains guidance on admission and developing classroom practice.

A language in common: assessing English as an additional language

QCA (2000) (QCA/00/584).

This document sets out steps used in assessment of EAL, linked to English National Curriculum levels. It provides guidance and exemplifications.

Aiming High: guidance on supporting the education of asylum seeking and refugee children (DfES 0287 – 2004)

This guidance helps explain the value of an inclusive ethos and curriculum to all pupils.

Aiming High: meeting the needs of newly arrived learners of EAL

(DfES 1381 -2005)

Information on working with newly arrived isolated EAL pupils in settings that have little or no access to EAL support.

Excellence and enjoyment: learning and teaching for bilingual children in the primary years (DfES 0013 – 2006PCK- EN)

Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and engagement in English:teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language (DfES 0609 – 2002)

Publications/Catalogues are available from:

MUNDI Tel: 0115 8546418

Mundi

Global Education Centre

Foxhall Lodge

Foxhall Road

Nottingham

NG7 6LH

(under construction/Aug 2010)

Mundi loan resources to schools in Nottinghamshire free for up to half a term

e-mail:

GRANT AND CUTLERTel: (44) 020 7734 2012

55-57 Great Marlborough Street,
London'
England
W1F 7AY

Web:

A one-stop shop for foreign language resources including language-learning material, reference books, technical dictionaries, literature, history, politics etc.

MILET PUBLISHING LTDTel +44 20 7603 5477
6 North End Parade
London W14 0SJ
England

Web:

Milet publishers a wide range of bilingual picture dictionaries, including board books for use in early years settings.

TRENTHAM BOOKSTel: +44 (0) 1782 745567

Westview House,734 London Road,

Stoke on Trent,

UKST4 5NP Web:

Trentham publishes 'a wide range of titles plus seven professional journals, mainly in the field of education and social policy.

MANTRA LINGUATel: 0044 (0)208 44 55 123

Global House

303 Ballards Lane

London
N12 8NP
UK

Web:

Mantra Lingua creative learning resources Audio CDs, Big Books, e-books, fun tales, folk tales, friezes, games, language learning, packs posters, story props, toys videos and so on.

Classroom Resources are available from:

Interactive video clips showing children teaching their home languages

The following website translates words, phrases and short paragraphs from English to Greek available at;

The Dingle Granby Toxteth Education Action Zone website; Useful letters for parents translated into Greek available at:

DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety images that can be used for creating pupils own subject-specific dictionaries.

Activities for ESL Students can be adapted for EAL pupils in primary and secondary schools. Has bilingual quizzes in large number of languages, available at

Omniglot writing systems and languages of the world available at

EMA Online resource base for teachers has been developed by Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester LAs with funding from the DfES, available at;

Racist bullying. Advice designed for schools to dip in and out as appropriate for them and offers discussion topics and activities to stimulate debate and spark activity involving everyone in the school community, available at;

Teachernet states that a successful home–school relationship can be a key element in making a school stronger and more effective. In particular, it can make a real difference to groups of underachieving pupils and their families, available at;

Nottinghamshire Achievement & Equality Team