The importance of having some knowledge of the Greek language

Let's be honest. If you are serious about moving permanently to Greece, then you should be serious about putting in some serious time to at least get a grasp of the language. Greek is a difficult language to learn - you are confronted with a completely different alphabet and that can be offputting enough. Thinking OK, I'll some catch on when I'm there is a mistake. Take it form someone who know and as a profesisonal linguist, I already spoke four other languages before I arrived. It is an investment you will never regret and you will feel much more confident in your new environment. Courses you will find in your telephone directory or on the Internet as Greece is a popular holiday destination and there are plenty of people wanting to learn.

Ideally, I woudl recommend doing an intensive course in Greece, I did exactly this and although I had followed a course in Germany before arriving, I found the three week intensive course much more beneficial. In fact I learned more in three weeks than I did in the six motns of twice weekly language courses at home.

My advice on the language issue

Something not to be underestimated when thinking of moving to Greece is that you will encounter a language barrier. Although many would argue this is not the case in the major cities and the touristic islands, there are a number of pitfalls you should avert. First and foremost, the majority of young and educated Greeks speak good English - simply because few people learn Greek. After living in Greece for over 14 years I will still have friends who insist on speaking English. They think they are being polite but they are not doing me a favour. It prevents me from learning the langauge. So if you do relocate be stubborn and insist you speak Greek, however weak you are at the beginning.What you are looking at below is the Greek alphabet (a word of Greek origin, by the way). The top part is Greek letters in capitals and below the Greek alphabet in small letters.
My experience is it took me about 2 years living here to learn not to have to translate each letter. It takes patience but very worth the trouble if you intend to make your life in Greece.

You may ask, why bother? The answer is very simple and was given by the great German philosopher, Goethe, who said "for every language we have a soul". One fact I will stress. If you never learn Greek, you will never understand the Greek mentality. I conclude with an interetsing point - over 53 000 words in the English language have their origins in Greek. So learning the language is an enlightening experience. It will increase your appreciation of your own language and its origins vastly.

Harsh news - even for EU citizens moving to Greece

If you are an EU citizen, you might think that you have a legitimate expectation to have national medical coverage in Greece. This is only true in part. But the rules do differ from most other EU counties and to a surprising degree. This is particularly the case if you become unemployed in Greece and here the social network falls down - incredibly so in my view.

The rules that apply to Greek citizens will also apply to any EU national who has become unemployed will working in Greece - and the news is not good. Firstly, you qualify for unemployment benefit you have to prove a minimum period of employment of 18 months. This gives you cover with the national insurance systems called IKA. However, unemployment benefit is payable only for 12 months. And if that is not bad enough, when your entitlement to unemployment benefit expires, you cease to be covered for medical insurance. Tough but true.

A changing factor - the cost of getting to Greece

The travel landscape to and from Greece has changed remarkably over the past years with the massive increase in no frill airlines. This is something which should be factored in on any decision to relocate - and I say this from personal experience. I am exchanged by the island of Bali and for many years toyed with the idea of moving there. I still visit Indonesia on a regular basis but one of the main reasons I decided not to relocate was a number of simple questions I asked myself:

(a) Will my friends and family want to spend 17 hours ona one way trip to visit me.
(b) Will I want to spend quite a lot of money to come and see them if and when I want to.

The situation of relocating - particularly for Europeans to Greece - makes the prospect less daunting and the increase of cheap airlines has favoured this. As I do not plan on launching an advertising campaign for any particular low-cost airline, suffice it to say that both mainland Greece and the larger islands are well served by such airlines and indeed in some cases not just for the sumer season but throughout the year. Thessaloniki has frequent - if not daily - connections to London, Berlin and Athens has a much greater array of destinations where if you are clever enough to book and plan early enough you can get a round trip for less than Euro 100. This makes it much easier and cheaper to visit friends and family or to be visited than my original idea of a happy retirement in Bali.