One encouraging thing about learning Greek is discovering words that are easy to learn because they sound almost the same in English. Many English words come directly from Greek, especially in science, philosophy, and education. Because of that, when you see the Greek version of the word, it already feels familiar.

Everyday Words

Some Greek words used in daily life look almost identical to their English equivalents.

Greek English
μουσείο museum
τηλέφωνο telephone
φωτογραφία photograph
πρόγραμμα program
κέντρο center
ιδέα idea
νέος new
φαρμακείο pharmacy
κιθάρα guitar
πιάνο piano

Arts, Music, and Literature

Many words related to art, music, and literature passed directly from Greek into English.

Greek English
θέατρο theatre
ποίημα poem
δράμα drama
μουσική music
αρμονία harmony
βιογραφία biography
φιλοσοφία philosophy

Academic and Scientific Vocabulary

Greek has had a strong influence on academic and scientific terminology in English.

Greek English
γεωγραφία geography
τεχνολογία technology
οικονομία economy
δημοκρατία democracy
ενέργεια energy
σύστημα system
μέθοδος method
μικρόφωνο microphone
ιστορία history
θεωρία theory

Yay! Happy language learning!

Note: While most posts on this site discuss language learning more generally, some posts will focus specifically on Greek. These posts are tagged “Greek.”