Lonely Planet Greek Phrasebook & Dictionary Paperback – March 15, 2016

As someone who is always interested in learning a little of the local language and not being a typical ignorant tourist, I of course again went to Lonely Planet for their awesome phrasebooks that have served me well for more than a decade.What they don't tell you is that no one in Greece speaks Greek. Of course that statement is an exaggeration. However over our 9-day trip to 5 cities, with the exception of one restaurant, everyone spoke English to us everywhere. Even places where we could easily - if not more likely - been tourists from another European country, the first words were English. The country thrives on tourism and that is made abundantly clear by the universal mastery of English. Which is makes it easy, if at the price of losing a little of the magic that comes from traveling to new places.At any rate, the spine of this book was barely cracked. It may technically be just as good as every other Lonely Planet phrasebook. Except it definitely lacks the usual utility. So when you buy something and end up never wanting to use it...I have to take a star away.

This Greek phrasebook has good up-to-date coverage of everyday requirements. Based on my limited knowledge of Greek practice, it seems pretty accurate. The book uses the familiar, rather than the polite, forms of address and verb usage. That has become conventional in among youth in the European countries whose languages I am more familiar with. Older people in most countries typically expect polite forms (especially from people their own age) but for young travelers I suspect Lonely Planet made a good choice.There is at least one howler I found. The Greek for the English phrase "Can you talk more slowly?" (pio siga) was translated in the book as "Can you talk later?" (argotera) which might be interpreted as a pickup line with potentially hilarious results if the coupling is perceived as odd by either party.It was a good choice, lightweight and pocket size but chock full of information.

This is a great little book for common phrases to use around Greece. I used it to study before going over and then kept it handy for use in restaurants. It's small and will fit in any reasonable size pocket. However, the truth is that we found very few places where we really needed it as most everywhere the locals speak English fairly well, but it always helps to know a few key phrases like please and thank you. They appreciated our efforts to be polite in the local language. You won't learn to speak Greek with this book, but it will give you everything you need to travel and it's a great value.

This book is much smaller than I realized, like SUPER pocket sized, making it hard to read but easy to pack! It's structured well so you can easily flip to a section to read/speak what you need in that moment. It's not great for trying to initially get accustomed to the language, but great to have on hand during travels.

You can actually learn a lot of Greek from this, not only survival phrases for tourists. It even teaches you grammar. I got it to get back in touch with my Greek as I had begun to forget it, and was so pleased that I also ordered the Japanese version! The book itself is tiny, fits in the coat pocket. Great for passing the time on the subway

This book is perfect for my needs. It's very small- purse size. It covers topics I will need for travel plus more. The topics cover areas someone would need for a long term stay. I can use it before the trip to learn basic phrases with their phonetic pronunciation since I can't read the Greek alphabet. I can use it for reference to speak to shop clerks and waiters while there.

The book is full of information. I like how it is broken down by categories: travel, health, food, ect.I feel it will come pretty handy on our trip

I'm giving this 5 stars because its detailed, pocket size, and inexpensive. With that said, on our recent trip to Greece we didn't use it once. The Greek people are wonderful and most speak at least a little English. With those that don't, a smile, and just a few Greek "Thank you's", "Hello's", and "Delicious!" are all you'll really need.

Bought this book for my vacation to Greece, and it was very helpful! I was able to ask for taxis, order meals and drinks, greet locals. Having a few phrases to use with the locals, even though most spoke English, really helped me connect with them. It is filled with great cultural tips, and historical info as well, which was very interesting. The book is small, so I was able to carry it everywhere with me, and reference it whenever I needed to. I would highly recommend this book, as an easy to use and extremely helpful language learning tool!

Great book, great seller, they were always accountable and very friendly. 100% satisfied. You won't be disappointed buying from them.

Excellent book to use while I try to learn Greek! The only quibble I have is that there is so much in this small sized book, I find the print difficult to read at times. If your eyesight is getting a bit dim, you'll definitely need your glasses and even then, the print can be difficult to read.Other than that, the content is excellent with helpful tips.

Fun to learn

Great little pocket book!