Manos Eleftheriou , is a famous Greek author and songwriter. He  wrote poems as well as short stories.
Since he was born and raised on the island of Syros (1938-2018), 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.


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Greek songs which also became international hits, are more than you might think! However, few people today realize that some classic songs were actually written by Greek composers,
When you regularly visit, you definitely have understood that  music  plays a very important role in the life of Greeks. In joy and sorrow, Greeks sing. And the truth is that they have the opportunity to choose among several categories of songs, in order to express every time their feelings: there are plenty of folk songs, rebetika, laika, entexna  as well as rock and pop songs.


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11 Greek Proverbs in 1 Song will not help you only to memorize Greek proverbs, but also learn a lot about the Greek language and culture. The song we present you today is called “Proverbs”. It was written in 1987 by Melina Tanagri. So with this song, you will have “killed two birds with one stone” (m’ énan sbáro dyó trigónia), as Greeks say.

 

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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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Already several years have 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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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 🙂 .
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Greek Rembetika music is closely connected to the name of Markos Vamvakaris, whose great significance for this genre is also reflected in his nickname: “the patriarch of the rebetiko.”

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