today I'm on Expats Blog

Are you an expat? Are you living in a country where you cant speak the language? Are you like me and have been incredibly lazy about learning? 

I wrote before about language learning here and here.  So you will know I do not have a brain the picks up languages easily. You will also know that my methods are kind of weird; yes I am the one standing in the supermarket reading food labels, not for nutrition purposes but for the vocabulary! 

Find more random tips for language learning in my Local Expert Series article over on Expat's Blog. 

language and a lazy expat!

I have been an expat for nearly 3 years (oh-my-god-how-time-flies). And I have been one lazy expat when it comes to learning the language. But last night, I surprised myself by reading this little beauty sitting on my doorstep, without having to call the boyfriends dad to translate. 

I have never done official Greek lessons - unless you count asking the girls in the office what everything means as official - mainly because it turns out that I am quite lazy when it comes to learning languages. I do not have one of those brains that soaks up a language and instantly becomes fluent. At school we learnt French and German and I remember having to try really, really hard just to get my head around the basics. 

My other excuse for not learning is this; I work with international clients, none of whom speak Greek. I work on a small team where everyone speaks English. You go to the supermarket and try and ask for cheese at the deli counter and they spot the English girl a mile away and talk to you in English. 

As such my motivation for learning is near non-existent. 

Yes it would have been nice to be reading Greek 1 year ago. And yes it would be nice to communicate with the boyfriends granny without using international hand gestures. 

But this is still a proud moment; I taught myself to read Greek. I think I deserve a little high-5. 

learning Greek my way

I will be the first to admit I havent exactly thrown myself whole-heartedly into learning a new language. We have been here over 2 years and I can just about string a sentence together when the need arises, although my understanding is pretty on point.

Maybe its the lazy English girl in me, or maybe its because everyone talks English to me, no matter if I try to string that sentence together or not. The majority of my Greek, most of it reading and understanding, has come from 2 main places; reading food labels and the office.

For some reason (and I honestly think it's funny that a girl who loves food) most of my Greek reading abilities have come from food labels. Maybe it has something to go with the familiarity of food and ease of reading labels and deciphering the new alphabet.

source

But most of my understanding has come from sitting in an office all day with everyone speaking Greek around me. I remember my first few months I would go home with a long list of words and phrases for my boyfriend to translate. And suddenly I started hearing words more often; I began to distinguish certain phrases and their meaning and context combined in my brain to help me achieve a somewhat basic understanding of what was going on around me. A little bit of google translate doesn't hurt either.

While my method of learning is somewhat obscure and obviously actual lessons are highly recommended, im a strong believer that you should use what works for you when it comes to learning. 

And I guess the old saying is pretty fitting now; practice makes perfect.