There is a Greek School where students don’t have to wear a mask. The pandemic hasn’t changed anything for them since their classes work the same way as always. They still attend their Greek lessons just like they did before Covid-19, they still get together with their classmates and teachers, they still play games that help them improve their spoken Greek and they still take part in School events. They haven’t had to cancel their OXI Day celebrations, their School Christmas parties and they are now getting ready for a very special event to celebrate the 200 Years since the Greek War of Independence.
You don’t have to wear a mask in this Greek School
How is this possible? It is possible for The Greek Online School that has been an exclusively online Greek School since 2012. “Covid did not change our School habits and traditions,” states Maria K. a lead teacher at the innovative school. “This year our School community has actually been tighter than ever. We welcomed more students than ever, we organized more School events because we could tell that our little Greeks felt the need to connect and have fun with kids their age while learning Greek of course.”
The School now counts more than 1000 adult and young students from all over the world, of all levels of Greek and of different backgrounds. They all have one common goal, however, the School’s motto; Learn to Love Greek
We learn better together
“This year we have had to form more groups than ever before and this is because many parents did not just want private lessons for their children, they wanted to make sure their kids were part of a community whose habits would not change because of the pandemic. They trusted us because our online classes were not a response to a crisis. On the contrary, they are the result of years and years of studying, researching, designing and making sure we offer the best online program of Greek that we can,” Stella Bompotsiari, the School’s Director & Founder tells us. And there is a very innovative aspect in these group classes for kids; the School designs language games as part of the group curriculum to help students practice their Greek in a fun and communicative way. “We learn better together but we learn best while having fun,” Stella adds.
How do you connect to Greece?
The active team of Greek educators does not stop at teaching Greek, though. As they say, their goal is to spread Hellenism and make the Greek language and culture accessible to anyone who wants to learn more about it. To do so they need to gather helpful information.
Knowing that languages are the vehicles to a people’s heart and the Greek language is at the core of Hellenic culture, the Greek Online School in collaboration with HFS USA have created a big language survey. The 5-minute survey helps gather and present objective information, compare results and most importantly it helps evoke discussions that broaden perspectives and offer a better understanding of the ways people connect to Greece.
So how Greek are you? Find out by completing the survey found here. The survey runs through May 31 with the results to be revealed in the first week of June.
