MODERN GREEK LANGUAGE & CULTURE COURSE

Alexandria Institute

Q&A
Price
school-reference
detail

Course description

Sing up for the Greek language courses on Chios, the land of mastic and Homer.
Alexandria Institute organizes a Modern Greek language and culture course for all levels on Chios, one of the most distinctive Aegean Sea islands, in Easter, June and September. Students can enroll for a one-week, two-week, three-week or four-week course, depending on the time they can spend.
Our school offers accelerated courses at basic, intermediate and advanced levels, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Classes aim at helping students develop all language skills, while priority is given to speaking as well as verbal comprehension in a multitude of communicative scenarios.
Emphasis is drawn on acquainting participants with Greek culture. Therefore, local tradition and customs, everyday activities, Greek music, literature, mythology and history are an integral part of the course. Students will get the opportunity to look into the island’s ancient and medieval background, the Byzantine mosaics in Nea Moni monastery, the medieval mastic villages as well as Kambos orchards. What’s more, they will get to test the exclusive Chian mastic as well as other distinctive flavors and scents.

Why sign up for Chios courses?
A very particular place, Chios is attractive to visitors all year round. Our students will be offered the chance not only to learn Greek but also experience an authentic aura since Chios abounds with unique Easter customs. Holy Saturday’s rocketwar is obviously the one standing out: two churches “attack” one another by launching rockets, putting on a spectacular show.
In summer, Chios oozes mastic, a unique product both in terms of domestic and international trade. Turquoise dappled waters and areas revealing tons of local customs and copious cultural heritage invite you to a fascinating trip we can take together!
Join our group and share your passion for Greek language and culture with students from all over the world!

Our courses include:
1. Teaching material
2. A cultural walk or a guided tour to a museum
3. A welcome dinner
4. A farewell dinner or an Easter get-together for lunch (Easter course)
5. A Greek movie screening or a lecture on a subject related to Greek culture
6. A dance lesson, or a cooking lesson, or a Greek music workshop
7. Attendance certificate
In case attendance is greater than expected, further excursions and tour guides may be added, while the initial itinerary may have to be modified, responding to unexpected weather or other events. A minimum attendance of three students is required for our cultural activities to take place.

Course Info
Classes are held at Voulamandis Hotel, at Kambos, Monday through Friday, and start at 9 am. Students usually have to check in on Sunday –that is, the day before classes begin– and check out on Saturday –the day after classes have finished. Alexandria Institute reserves the right to modify the schedule as well as arrange some afternoon/evening courses in case tutors or rooms are unavailable.

Schedule: 2 to 4 hours per day depending on the number of participants
1 student – 2 hours a day
2 students – 3 hours a day
3 to 7 students – 4 hours a day

PRIVATE COURSES ON CHIOS
Private language courses that can be tailor-cut to your needs are available on Chios all year long.

Course topics

Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar and Activities

Class schedule

Course duration
1-4 weeks
Start dates
Every Monday (03 Jun - 27 Sep)
Classes per week
20 lessons per week (each lesson lasts 50 min)
Class days
Monday - Friday
School holidays
23 Dec 2024 - 27 Dec 2024

Class times

You can choose from the following class times:

Morning session
09:00 AM - 01:00 PM

Class schedule may change depending on availability and season.

Class level

All levels, beginner to advanced
You will take a placement test before your arrival in Chios to determine your class level.

Class size

Average 5 students
Maximum 8 students

Student age

Age range 18 years old and older
Average 35 years old

Certificate

A certificate of completion will be issued at the end of the course.
Read more...
school
photos

Photos

  • Activities offered at Alexandria Institute 1/7
  • Classroom at Alexandria Institute 2/7
  • Alexandria Institute 3/7
  • Students of Alexandria Institute 4/7
  • Activities offered at Alexandria Institute 5/7
  • Classroom at Alexandria Institute 6/7
  • Classroom at Alexandria Institute 7/7
reviews

Reviews

100% recommend

based on 6 reviews
5 stars
4
4 stars
2
3 stars
0
2 stars
0
1 star
0
Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location

"Very enjoyable greek course on Chios Island"

Antoinette Dorrepaal, student from Canada

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.

Read more...

My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
11 Sep 2023 - 22 Sep 2023
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Großartiger Unterricht"

Regina Loidolt, student from Austria

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!!!

Read more...

My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
19 Jun 2023 - 30 Jun 2023
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"I really like the philosophy of teaching and practicing Greek language in Chios"

Sabine FILIU, student from France

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

Read more...

My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
5 Sep 2022 - 9 Sep 2022
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"The course was intense"

Joanne Bare, student from USA

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.

Read more...

My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
13 Jun 2022 - 17 Jun 2022
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"The class was structured to be able to interact with other students and the teacher, each using our language skills."

Harry Maistros, student from Afghanistan

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.

Read more...

My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Date of study
13 Jun 2022 - 17 Jun 2022
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.

"Learnig a language in the country where it's spoken makes the difference."

Guy Van den Heule, student from Belgium

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!

Read more...

My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
30 Aug 2020 - 11 Sep 2020
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Andreas Tselikas, Head of teaching at Alexandria Institute responded to this review.
18 September 2020

Dear Guy, Thank you very much for your kind words.
It was a great pleasure to meet you.
We wish you all the best and take care

Alexandria Institute team

visa

Visa support

We cannot apply for visas on behalf of students. The school is also not authorized to issue documents to support your visa application. If you need a visa, you have to apply for a visitor or tourist visa on your own.

Flights and airport transfer

Please note that we do not book flights for our students. If you are researching airfare costs, we recommend using Kayak.com, a search engine that lets you compare flight options from your home country to Chios based on your budget, schedule and preferences.

Travel insurance

Study abroad worry-free with Language International's health and personal effects insurance coverage. When you book a course with us, you can opt to purchase an international insurance plan that covers not only your health care cost but also loss of your personal belongings. You must book your insurance in advance when you register.

Learn more about our insurance plan »

Read more...
questions

Questions and answers

Have questions? Get answers from Alexandria Institute staff, Language International student advisors, and past students.

Ask a question
Show prices