GREEK LITERATURE AND CULTURE COURSE IN CHIOS

I really enjoyed the two week course. Our teacher was enthousiastic. Our classes took place in the garden of the hotel that was situated amid orchards of citrus fruits that used to be the main export last century.
The hotel owners were very friendly. If you wanted you could have breakfast in the morning. I had a room and kitchen in the hotel, but most had a room that came with a fridge and a waterkettle. And some were staying elsewhere or lived on the island during the summer and drove to the classes.
Students would sometimes organise a dinner together at a restaurant, and the school organized a welcome dinner and also a dinner at the end when certificates were handed out. Andreas, the head of the school was always keeping in contact and was always available for questions.
There were also other guests in the hotel that would return every year, and people mingled together.
Chios was an interesting island. Andreas is a native and very attached to it and wants people to know about the history of the island. Several outings are organised to the different locations of historical interest when enough people are interested. TheCitrus Museum and the region where the mastiche trees grow with an excellent museum about it, and more.
Andreas convinced me of renting a car (at a very good price through the school), and I am glad I did.
Without a car it can be isolating, as it is not in a village, but a 20 min walk. Restaurants were also not very close. There were people who enjoyed walking everywhere, but if you have limitations and no car it is different.
I was glad to be able to go places, for shopping, going to the beach(es). All in all it was a positive experience with great memories.

Der Ort war wunderbar. Der Unterricht fand im Freien in dem herrlichen Hof des Voulamandis House statt.
Wir waren eine kleine Gruppe im Unterricht (5-7 Personen), das war ideal.
Wir hatten ungefähr das gleiche Niveau, was toll war. Der Lehrer war nett, sympatisch und vor allem didaktisch großartig. Ich bin selbst Sprachlehrer in gewesen und kann das daher gut beurteilen.
Ich habe große Fortschritte im Griechischen gemacht, vor allem im Sprechen und Verstehen, was für mich das Wichtigste ist. Auch die Grammatikkenntnisse haben sich verbessert. Einfach super!!!

Since that week in Chios was part of my annual leave from my work, I shall start with the accommodation
.
The location at Voulamandis House was perfect, the orchard is beautiful, and the rooms decorated with great taste.
I like the fact that is within walking distance to the village of Thymiana, 3 taverns, many churches, a pharmacy, very convenient.

It was extremely pleasant to be invited to a welcome dinner on the eve of the fist course, so it was easy to be introduced to the other students and to some teachers.

I really appreciated the size of the groups, being in a group of 4 students only.

The teacher was fantastic, although all of us did not have the same level.

Andreas, the director, managed to offer me 2 private classes, since one of the other teachers had only 2 hours-lessons with one student.
Every teacher was flexible, talented, and very concerned with the students goals and abilities.

The activities in the afternoons and evenings were pretty pleasant, and showed us different features of this beautiful and diverse island of Chios

The course was more intense than I thought it would be. I joined the class on the second week and felt somewhat behind because of this. Some of the other students had also been taking classes before hand and were more advanced.

My husband traveled to Chios with me. He was not in the language class however. We were combining vacation with the class and I felt that I didn't have time to do the homework and study as much as I would have liked to. It would have been better for me to have taken the class for two weeks and meet up with my husband afterwards to vacation.

The focus on conversational Greek along with some grammar was practical. I felt I learned more with this method rather than the focus being on reading and writing. My teacher Nikos was a wonderful teacher. Whenever Andreas interacted with the group I appreciated his explanations in both Greek and English.

Most of the excursions were nice. Voulamandis Hotel was a wonderful location for the class and the accommodations were nice.
The What's App texts, and information/photo sharing was great.

While I felt I needed to be more proficient in my basic language skills the teacher encouraged participation and assisted when appropriate. The class excursions further gave us the opportunity to practice using conversation and helped to highlight historical and cultural characteristics of the island of Chios.

The course took place in the lovely surroundings of Kambos, an idyllic area at a short distance from Chios town. Everything was very well organised by Andreas, a man of great erudition and social skills. My teacher Nikos was just the perfect one for me: full of energy, funny, serious, engaging and with a true understanding of my needs. I 've learned more by his teaching in two weeks than I did in the many months of study at home. The fact that we were taught in very small groups makes you get all the attention and interaction you need to make a quick progress. Nikos really rocks!
Due to the corona virus most excursions were alas canceled. This however was compensated by great visits in the evening to local restaurants and drinks in town. One evening on the walk back Andreas showed us the constellations, stars and planets in the sky and told of the old myths related to them. He ever recited my favourite Sappho poem in ancient Greek!
The two weeks have been a wonderful experience for me, never to forget! I'm so grateful for all of this. I'll be back next year!
Σας ευχαριστώ παρά πολύ! Τα λέμε!