Greek is pretty isolated on the language tree. Germanic and Romance languages keep good company, but Greek is out there on its lonesome, doing its own thing while ignoring everyone else (just like me!).
It’s tricky if you’re looking for a new “easy” language to learn. Spaniards have Portuguese. The English have Dutch. Russians have half a dozen other Slavic languages. Greeks are a little less fortunate, but there are more similarities with other languages than you might think.
With that in mind, these are the easiest languages to learn for fluent Greek speakers (in no particular order).
Spanish
Many people who don’t speak Spanish or Greek insist that the two languages sound the same. In fact, if you watch YouTube videos on the topic, you’ll see comments from many Greek speakers noting that Spanish sounds like someone speaking Greek and getting all the words wrong.
It’s not just the pronunciation, either. The languages have similar structures and patterns. They are also both phonetic languages, which means you can look at a written word and know how it is pronounced.
Also, there is no shortage of Spanish movies, books, podcasts, and TV shows to help you reach fluency. Greek was the first foreign language I learned and Spanish was the third. I struggled with fluency in the former as I couldn’t find the sort of films/books I liked and found it difficult to immerse myself.
With Spanish, however, there were no such issues. On Netflix alone there are scores of excellent films and TV shows, and as many of these have been big hits (including Money Heist), we’ll likely see a lot more of them in the future.
Italian
The Greeks have a saying in reference to the Greek/Italian relationship: “Μια φάτσα μια ράτσα” (Mia fatsa, mia ratsa). It translates as “one face, one race” and references the close connection between these two cultures. They eat similar food and share similar interests, and they have shared a connection for thousands of years.
Needless to say, Italian is a good choice for Greek speakers. You might have an easier time learning Spanish and even English, but Italian is up there. If you already know Spanish or have any experience learning Latin, you’ll already recognize many Italian words, and making the leap to fluency should be much easier.
English
Let’s be honest, if you’re reading this article then you understand English, so it’s probably not on your list. But it’s still one of the easiest languages for Greek speakers to learn, so it deserves a place on this list.
English is a bit of a bastardized language. It borrows words from Greek, Latin, German, and Romance languages like French and Spanish. It has lots of irregularities and doesn’t always make sense.
English speakers like to think the language is hard and often use word combinations like bough/tough/cough to highlight these apparent complexities. But no one is struggling to reach conversational fluency because they can’t remember how to pronounce a few words. And if that were the case, you’d have to fail the millions of native English speakers who don’t know how to use a possessive apostrophe and can’t remember whether to use “there”, “they”, “their”, or “they’re”.
Sure, there are frustrating and nonsensical aspects of the language, but these are minor. On the whole, it’s a fairly easy language to learn for Greek speakers.
It helps that Greeks are exposed to English through school, as well as music, TV, books, and video games. Many kids today learn English just so they can watch Hollywood films without subtitles and understand the lyrics to their favorite songs.
French
French is a Romance language, putting it in the same category as Spanish. It’s usually a little harder to learn for Greek speakers, but it tends to be easier than Germanic languages and Eastern languages.
There are also a surprising number of French words in the Greek language, and Greeks are exposed to French films and books. If you know another Romance language, such as Spanish or Italian, it should be even easier.
French is a popular language to learn as well, so you shouldn’t have an issue finding apps, videos, and general guides on learning the language.
Ancient Greek
This might seem like an obvious addition to non-Greek speakers, but it’s not. Ancient Greek and modern Greek are two different languages and it can take months and even years for a native speaker to master the tongue of their ancestors.
However, they are arguably better placed to learn ancient Greek than anyone else. Greeks are exposed to the language at an early age, as it’s still taught in schools. Modern Greek also uses a lot of ancient Greek words, as well as a similar alphabet.
The pronunciation is different and the language likely sounded very different. However, there are enough similarities to make this a good option for Greek speakers.
Furthermore, there are a lot of ancient Greek texts out there. In fact, one of the things that frustrated me the most when I started learning Greek is that every search for “Greek books” and “Greek translations” gives me a succession of ancient Greek texts. Where I live, it is easier to find guidebooks on learning ancient Greek than it is to find a single modern Greek translation of a classic or contemporary novel.
Summary: Easiest Languages for Greek Speakers
You’d think that most Greek speakers would be searching for terms like “easiest languages to learn” in their own language. And I’m sure they do. But there is still a huge number of people searching in English.
Many of them were landing on my guide to the easiest languages for beginners, which focused on English speakers, so hopefully, the above guide will provide a more relevant and comprehensive answer!
But remember, everyone’s language-learning journey is different. Just because most Greek speakers find a certain language easy doesn’t mean that you will as well. Also, no language is truly “easy”, as even the simplest option will take months of dedicated study to reach conversational fluency.
If you’re hoping you can spend a few hours on an app and speak like a native in several weeks, I have some bad news for you. But if you’re prepared to do the work, it can be an incredibly rewarding journey.