Product Description

Soon, "It's Greek to me" will have new meaning. This phrase book is an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand, color-coded guide to the Greek language. Greek letters and their English equivalent are represented, allowing you to communicate with confidence and travel with ease! The Berlitz phrase book is the unparalleled market leader in its category.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53904 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.com Review
It's a petite book, small enough and light enough to sit easily in your hip or jacket pocket without being a burden, yet it covers all the bases, including Boro na se feeleeso? (May I kiss you?), Sas parakalo afeeste me eeseekhee! (Leave me alone, please!), and Yatee yelas? (Why are you laughing?). There's also an introduction to the Greek alphabet, a guide to the pronunciation of Greek letters, a page of basic and essential expressions, and a page to turn to during communication difficulties. And since every English word or phrase is translated into Greek letters as well as their English phonetic equivalents, if your Greek pronunciation isn't up to par, you can always point to the intended line and let the other party read the Greek that asks, "When does the train arrive?"

With chapters on accommodations and eating out, travel and sightseeing, leisure and making friends, shopping and health, there's a phrase for most situations you're likely to find yourself in, and there's an easy reference section on numbers, calendar terms, and greetings, holidays, time, and emergencies, plus an A-to-Z English-Greek dictionary and index, and a Greek-English glossary of common Greek road and airport signs, hotel and restaurant signs, and signs you might encounter in public buildings and tourist sights. There's even a map of Greece in the back. You could lug a five-pound comprehensive dictionary on all your outings, but what you gain in knowing how to say, "Ecru" and "Eclipse," you lose in comfort and convenience, and more often than not, that big dictionary stays in the hotel when you go out. It's far nicer to have a book that's easy to pack and a pleasure to use. --Stephanie Gold

About the Author
In January 2003, the renowned Berlitz Publishing became part of the Langenscheidt Group. The Langenscheidt Publishing Group, the premier group of map and travel companies, offers over 4,000 North American and international street maps, road maps, atlases, language-learning, bilingual dictionaries, and travel-related products covering countries, cities, and languages in every continent.

Customer Reviews

Herete! Philo Ellenika poli!
Of all the Greek language resources I picked up before travelling to Greece, this handy little book is definitely the most valuable. By using this book and having some patient instruction from some friendly Greeks (who will be very happy that you've taken the time to learn something of their language), I was able to go through nearly all of my daily activities without resorting to English. This gave me a much richer experience in Greece and allowed me to develope closer relationships with many of the locals I came to know. If you're going to ELLADA, please please please buy at least this one little book. Invaluable. Efharisto!

The phrase book you want to have on your person in Greece
One big advantage to the "Berlitz Greek Phrase Book & Dictionary" is that it feets easily in your back pocket, shirt pocket, purse, whatever. The key thing is to pay attention to the pronunciation guide (as you travel around Greece you can practice by sounding out words on signs and such). You will do a lot better if you can look at the Greek words and sound out the words rather than relying on the phonetic spellings in English. The first key section covers Basic Expressions, so the basics are up front where they need to be. Other sections deal with key areas such as Accommodations, Eating Out, Travel, Sightseeing, Leisure, Making Friends, Stores & Services, and Health. The back of the book has both an English-Greek dictionary & index as well as a Greek-English glossary, along with a nice little Reference section (public holidays, maps, emergency, info, etc.). The final comment is that you have to make a real effort to use what you learn because you will probably be stunned at how many people speak English. We just came back from a week there and we had no problems. Still, it was nice to be able to show I knew a little something and was not afraid to totally embarrass myself by opening my mouth. You might be using some other book to learn the language, but for carting around this little Berlitz book is the obvious choice.

Very good phrasebook for non-Greek speakers
This book will help you communicate in Greek very well. The sections are divided up into easy-to-find, color-coded categories (basic expressions, accommodations, eating, travel sightseeing, leisure, making friends, stores & services, health) and include the Greek word, the English translation, and the proper pronunciation. A great reference!