The question of the third language for 2022 began to preoccupy me in late Summer.

Each year, I focus on three languages of the eponymous nineteen.

One is always English, an uphill battle. 

The second is a new language, to start from scratch and to keep learning for three years. The current target is Estonian, which I started in 2020, have been learning  in 2021, and will continue learning in 2022.

But which language will be number three? 

Among several contenders, my mind was returning again and again to Modern Greek. 

I started a year by doing a joint event with colleagues in Cyprus, and was positively impressed by their competence and reliability. (National stereotypes have a long life.)

As the year progressed, I embarked upon several projects with partners in different parts of Greece, and was positively impressed, every time, by their competence and reliability. (National stereotypes die hard.)

Finally, one autumn afternoon, as I was eating the last fresh figs of the season and dreaming of reclining in a hammock under a fig tree together with a charming Mediterranean gentleman, I received a message from my closest friends, that they would be moving to Athens, of all places.

The stars have aligned. It will be Modern Greek in 2022.

I do not remember where and how I started learning Modern Greek, but I remember vividly my first trip to Greece. It was a study trip with a group from university. We travelled by car, visited stunning out-of-the-way places, ate in roadside tavernas, swam in the turquoise sea, and slept à la belle étoile (under the open sky). Our professor spoke Greek to the locals, which often led to preferential treatment. I remember how impressed I was with his language knowledge!

I learned some Modern Greek in the following years, and acquired some Greek friends, who introduced me to Greek culture, food, and hospitality. 

When the opportunity to do a Modern Greek course presented itself, I jumped into it, and for several years in the late 1990s – early 2000s, attended conversation classes, learned grammar, and read literary excerpts. I even spent six weeks in Thessaloniki, enrolled in a summer language school. Travelling the country after the end of the school, I comfortably negotiated with hotel owners, shop assistants, and restaurant waiters.

That’s to say, that once upon a time, my Greek was roadworthy enough. I had some Greek friends with whom I conversed mainly in Greek, and could hold a decent conversation.

But that was almost twenty years ago. Last time I was in Greece was 17 years ago, the last time I spoke Greek was at least 10 years ago, and the last time I heard Greek conversation was five years ago.

2022, time to catch up!