Benefits people do not know about learning Greek and studying Greek culture
For western history, the cradle of many values and general guidelines is and will always be Ancient Greece. If we stop to think for a moment, we will see ourselves surrounded by elements, aspects, creations, development and general practises that come from that ancient civilisation that has gone down in history through the use of reason, the invention of democracy and politics. We could not talk about the western culture leaving Greek civilisation out of the equation.
And we do not have to limit ourselves to the impact Greek culture had in western culture. Almost the whole world right now can be catalogued as a place where reasoning is the basis of knowledge, where governments do not depend (at least directly) on any Church, where culture and tradition are very essential parts of routine.
Nevertheless, there are many detractors that state Greek culture is dead and studying it or the Greek language does not have any use during this time. However, it is not accurate to say classical languages are of no use. In many cases, they can show a lot of potential to be used as instruments to achieve greater goals. As we do with other language, we study them to understand those languages, not to devote ourselves to teaching them.
Greek culture in retrospective
It is undeniable the importance Greek philosophers (such as Plato or Aristotle) they have had in establishing forms of thought in which logical reasoning became the method of analysis or understanding. This meant for the first time the separation between religion and politics, as lived in Greek cities.
The legacy of these philosophers and other branches of culture (mainly art, which is the perfect proof of Greek culture’s effect in the birth of modern culture) are what they are today thanks to the foundation Greece and its culture represented to the world. At present, science uses methods of knowledge that begun their development in the ancient Greek civilisation, in that region of the planet where the mountains and the sea allowed to transform the history of the universe.
Classical studies are very useful for the construction of one’s own thinking and a better way to understand the legacy of first big geniuses the world had.
In order to clarify some of the most remarkable benefits studying Greek culture and its language we have listed them with brief explanations of their use in day to day life:
It can be helpful to organise ideas
Greek requires an in-depth study of linguistic logic. And an important consequence is the mental discipline that develops and the high level of cerebral organisation that is obtained thanks to orderly study of Greek language. It also helps developing the ability to reason and to express one’s own thinking. The best aspect about this is that mental discipline remains in time, even if all concrete knowledge is forgotten.
Greek language deepens the capability of understanding other languages and makes studying them an easier task
Modern languages can be learned today with very little grammatical knowledge, this is due to conversation becoming the most important part of any language. People need to communicate faster instead of reading or writing properly. The study of classical languages, with a strong grammatical content, facilitates the deepening of the study of other languages. And, if they are languages that maintain most aspects (like German), it makes learning easier.
It helps develop the ability to express ideas
Most of our words come from Latin or Greek language. Knowing a great amount of words in these languages helps a lot to be able to express ourselves in our language with greater precision, self-confidence and precision. Greek was the language that saw the first great speakers give the greatest speeches of all time, of course it will help anyone improve their communication skills.
Learning Greek language increases the ability of immersing in a new subject completely
When studying Greek language, student must separate the concept contained in a word from the spelling because they are not using their mother language’s alphabet. This help students achieve a higher level of abstraction, because they will no longer be able to use Latin characters to understand the content of the message.
They facilitate the ability for contemplation
Classical languages and study a classic culture such as Greek culture puts us in contact with the ideals and ways to think people from ancient cultures used to. It makes us understand a lifestyle devoted to knowledge and reasoning where vices were not allowed.
That contact occurs, essentially, through reading. And reading all that cultural wealth contributes to regaining the ability for contemplation, that is, the interiority necessary for the development of one’s personality.
Here at Nestoras College our courses focus on kids, young teenagers of 11 and 12 years old. A very important part of their life which is when they are still developing their personality and deciding what they want to do in the future. Staying in touch with their Greek roots and learning an ancient language are very important in order to increase their capability of developing their communicating skills the best way possible.
In addition, not many students regret having studied Greek culture and language during their years in high school. It is fair to say that all of them are completely happy of having made that decision. There is a special atmosphere in these classes, as a certain complicity between those who know depositaries of a treasure. Yes, studying Greek language can be rewarding, also in high school!
As an extra, all students at Nestoras College learn traditional Greek dancing at no extra cost for their parents. More than 39 years of experience serving the Greek community help their kids stay in touch with their culture and its roots have made of Nestoras the best choice for a specialised place to study. Additionally, text books are provided for free to all students that are part of the institution.