Did you ever celebrate Greek Christmas and New Year in Greece?  Apart from other Christmas traditions, you will hear typical Greek carols all over the country: the “kalanta”. Greece is rich in music and depending on the geographical regions, there are different Christmas and New Year songs, using different instruments and rhythms.
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A Greek song by Machairitsas is also ideal to learn Greek vocabulary.
Let’s enjoy beautiful Greek music,  while improving your Greek.
The song  “What do I ask for?” “Τι ζητάω;”, is a very known song, every Greek can sing along..

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Already one year passed, without Mikis Theodorakis…

Mikis Theodorakis, the beloved and internationally known Greek composer, whose music and political life are also well-known abroad, died on September 2nd, 2021. He was 96.

Theodorakis’ career, which started in his early years, produced a hugely varied body of work. He has not only composed symphonic music, music for operas, ballet, chamber music, but of course a great number of Greek songs.

Apart from his musical career, he is also remembered by Greeks for his stubborn opposition to postwar regimes and dictatorships. He will be never forgotten.

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For many Greek language learners, Greek music is the reason why they started learning Greek. Music is a fun and interesting way to learn the language. You can listen at any time of the day and the lyrics can help you to expand your vocabulary, but also make you feel closer to Greece and the Greek culture.
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Building your Greek vocabulary with a Greek song, while listening to Greek music, is fun.
Below you can read the lyrics and listen to a very nice and popular Greek song by Rena Morfi.  


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Manos Eleftheriou (1938-2018), is a famous Greek writer of poems, as well as short stories and songs. Since he was born and raised on the island of Syros, the Omilo students often hear his name while attending a course on the island. Manos Eleftheriou loved Syros and edited books about his island, specifically about Markos Vamvakaris and Syros society, about theater in Ermoupolis in the 20th century, and about Ermoupolis in Greek literature.

Some facts about his life:
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Do you also love Greek music? Then let us introduce you to one more Greek singer,  Kostis Maraveyas. 

Maraveyas – also known by his stage name Maraveyas illegal – is a Greek singer-songwriter, composer, performer, director and writer.
A true one-man band, he plays the accordion, piano and guitar. His songs are written mainly in Greek with the occasional lyric in English, Spanish or Italian thrown in (as we will see below). Despite the upbeat melodies, his songs often hide dark humour and social critique or tell the story of a troubled relationship.

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Do you also like Greek music?  Who is your favorite singer?
We here present you… Eleftheria Arvanitaki! A renowned Greek singer with a career that spans four decades and is a strong favorite among Omilo students. Let’s learn more about her life and work!

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What a period it was! Here can read some of our Corona Updates from Greece, written between 202o and 2022 and listen to a Greek Song About… Staying At Home!

In the meantime, 2022 started with some sunny days here in Greece, as well as some snow as well…
Our daily walks in the Athens streets and parks continued, just like in 2020 and 2021. However, since now there is no corona curfew anymore and we are allowed to go further than our municipality, we can also go for daily trips towards the snowy mountains again…something which was not possible last winter.

In the meantime, the world news seems once again taken over by ‚corona‘,  or „omikron“. The positive news; we are honored Greek letters are used for a pandemic :-), and the entire world gets the chance to learn the Greek alphabet. We realized many non-Greeks have no clue that the viruses are named after letters of the Greek alphabet, but fortunately, our dear students are very well aware 🙂 .

Do you remember the days you were learning the Greek alphabet? Do you remember how many Greek letters come before the omikron, and what is the difference between omikron and omega?
In 2021 we already heard of the „alpha“ (referring to the „British“ variant), the „beta“ ( „South African“ variant), the „gamma“( the Brazilian variant), and the  „delta“ (the „Indian“ variant).
But how did we get to „omikron“, and why 10 letters of the alphabet are left out? 

Staying at home is still very important given the COVID-19 circumstances but it doesn’t have to feel dull. This is why we would like to introduce you to a funny and upbeat Greek song about – what else? – staying at home and relaxing!
#menoumespiti – #westayathome

 

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The most well known Greek New Year Song, is sang on December 31st!
Children will ring your doorbell early in the morning, and sing the New Year Carol – ta kalanta 

Of course, you can hear this New Year song also on the radio, and  maybe, you can also try to sing it yourself and impress your Greek friends ;-).

A song to say good bey to the “old year” and welcome the “new year”!

Although there are many variations and different songs, there is one song you will hear all over Greece.
Listen to the video, and read the text in Greek and English. Enjoy

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