Greek speaking parents/toddlers?

[sylviamaria]

Hi!

I am half Greek myself and my husband is English. I grew up in Greece speaking English to my mum and Greek to my dad, but we only tend to speak English at home now, so my little one (13 months) isnt getting as much exposure to the language as I 'd like... Are there any other parents out there who speak Greek and would like to meet up occasionaly to get a bit more exposure to the language for their LOs?

Probably a long shot, but thought I'd ask! :)

Sylvia

[sylviamaria]

I thought it might be a long shot... Oh well.

:-$

[theasidonio]

have you tried contacting the Greek Church in crystal palace? they might know of some playgroups etc? there is also a greek primary school in thornton heath

[Pickle]

There is a Greek family that live close to me and have children at school with my kids... Their children are bilingual and I'm pretty sure they speak Greek at home. I'll mention this to the Mum when I see her next week x

[sylviamaria]

Theasidonio, thanks for the tip - I might look into it.

Pickle - thank you for that, it would be nice to help her be bilingual!

:)

[eva_ben]

Hi Sylvia

Just saw your post. How did you get on? Both my parents are Greek and I grew up in the UK speaking Greek at home with my parents and English with my siblings. I now have an 8 month old and have been rather lazy and mostly been speaking to her in English. Did you find any groups?

Eva

[supergolden88]

I am Greek but have lived in the UK since I was 18. My husband's Canadian. I have been here so long (and have no Greek friends here) that I have completely forgotten how to speak Greek fluently. It comes back when I visit. Apart from kalimera and kalinikta my daughter does not know any Greek. I imagine if she spend a few months in Greece she would pick it up quite quickly. I have a DVD if anyone wants to borrow it - but it is remarkably basic and not very useful

[sylviamaria]

Hi! Thanks for the responce and bumping the post again. I didnt find anything in the end. We read greek books and listen to Greek CD's, talk to family on Skype etc, but there is no consistent 'conversation' in Greek. I would still be quite interested in meeting up and also practicing my own Greek - have lived here for more than 10 years and I m losing my vocab and accent...! :(

[eva_ben]

Goodness, I just saw I wrote that 'I am now 8 months old'!! Er, that's not quite right. My baby, however, does answer to that description.

I've also purchased some dual language story books which look good, such as this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baba-Forty-Thieves-Greek-English/dp/1844445267/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344843024&sr=8-1

My mother is based in London and speaks only Greek to the baby (and tells me off for not doing likewise). I'm rather counting on her picking up the language via my mother, but I know that's really not enough, so a Greek language meetup would indeed be great.

[mum2besoon]

hello all

I am greek, born and raised in athens but I have been living in the UK since 18. I have a little boy of 8 months and speak to him greek at all times, though when daddy is around we tend to speak english. My side of the family do no speak any english hence I m really keen for him to be bilingual :)

happy to meet up for coffee if anyone else is interested.

[sylviamaria]

So we seem to have formed a small group. Shall we try and organise a coffee one day? I work full time, so can only really do weekends. Is anyone free any upcoming weekends? I feel I should be writting this in Greek to start practicing! :)

[mum2besoon]

I am not currently working so very free during the week but happy to do a weekend too. Saying that I have friend over from greece this weekend and next weekend mum is over for 10 days. Sep is looking good though.

ade na ta poume kai apo koda gia ena kafedaki :o)

[sylviamaria]

I can do first and last weekend of September, as I m in Greece the other two!

Na poume 8 Septemvriou gia tin ora?

[mum2besoon]

8 septemvrious it is! kai milame ligo poio meta na kanonisou topothesia kai ora :o)

[mum2besoon]

sorry my greek came across a little "funny". My little one was also trying to type with me.. (as they do)

[eva_ben]

υπέροχα! That's date's good for me too. mum2besoon, sounds like our babies are very close in age.

Θα χαρώ να σας συναντήσω σύντομα.

[sylviamaria]

Great! Ti lete gia kafe to proi?

[mum2besoon]

gia sas

otan les proi ti ora tha itan kala gia esena? o mikros mou sunithos koimate 11-12 opote gia mena tha itan kala kata tis 9:30-10:00. Sylvia to moro sou einai ligo poio megalo se ilikia opote den ksero ti ora kanei napping. And how about you Eva? opos eipes ta mora mas einai se idia ilikia, i wonder if their nap times coincide?

Mariliz

[eva_ben]

Η μικρή μου πηγαίνει για ύπνο κάπου ανάμεσα 10 - 11,30 για μισή ώρα ή μία ώρα. Οι ώρες μας δεν είναι πολύ σταθερες and there's often slippage. So I don't know what to suggest. We'll work with whatever suits the two of you best.

[mum2besoon]

my suggestion would then be to meet up more like 9am? is that too early? proinos kafes..

an den volevei eimai ok kai gia apogeuma alla kai pali borei na uparxei provlima me poia mora koimonde pote.

p.s. eisaste oloi east dulwich? ego eimai dutiko dulwich alla den exo provlima pou tha sunadithoume, odigao..

[eva_ben]

Ok, I should warn you we're not at our best in the morning ;-) but 9am is fine. Είμαστε στο Camberwell, ώστε δεν είμαστε μακριά. Δεν ξέρω ποια μέρη είναι ανοικτα από νωρίς στο E.D. Suggestions?

[sylviamaria]

Ego ime Nunhead. 9 ine kala gia emas - i mikri xypnaei kata tis 7. To cafe sto peckham rye parko anoigei stis 9 - den xero gia alla meroi...

[mum2besoon]

I mikros ksupnaei stis 8 alla peckam rye einai koda. I also know there is a place called the gardens by peckam rye park and they open at 9am too. Cake is always good there. So now we have the option of two places :0)

[eva_ben]

Thavma. Been to the Gardens, not been to the park cafe, happy to do either.

supergolden88 - how about you?

[sylviamaria]

Are we still doing coffee on Saturday morning? Boro na ertho stis 9, alla den boroume na katsoume poly... Tin epomeni fora tha ime pio organomeni! :)