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Σιγά-σιγά — Bit by Bit: A basic-vocabulary builder for Greek learners
A human on a path to revisit, reveal and retrieve their long-forsaken soul. A wry tale made of fragmented memories, regrets, and aspirations, bound with magic realism and temporal oddities.
This book has three parts:
— Part 1 ends every chapter with a glossary of words marked in bold in the text;
on Kindle, you can tap to view the translation.
— Part 2 features a translation after each paragraph.
—Part 3 is a collection of all glossaries, but goes beyond that, with many words accompanied by explanations on usage.
The whole story is in present tense (‘to be’ and ‘to have’ can be in past tense); only a basic knowledge of Greek is required. This is how it works:
- A1 (early beginners) See words in context, and how basic sentences are structured. The glossary is there for you when things get tough; this book might be challenging.
- A2 (advanced beginners) Remember words and grammar you already know or half-know, and understand them better. You will keep seeing them in the book anyway.
- B1 (early intermediates) Explore new ways of articulating your thoughts in Greek, and be surprised by how much you can do with very basic language.
- B2 (advanced intermediates) Feel good about yourself. You know everything.
- A0 (complete beginners) Favourite this book, but don’t rush. You will get there.
Enjoy.
This book has three parts:
— Part 1 ends every chapter with a glossary of words marked in bold in the text;
on Kindle, you can tap to view the translation.
— Part 2 features a translation after each paragraph.
—Part 3 is a collection of all glossaries, but goes beyond that, with many words accompanied by explanations on usage.
The whole story is in present tense (‘to be’ and ‘to have’ can be in past tense); only a basic knowledge of Greek is required. This is how it works:
- A1 (early beginners) See words in context, and how basic sentences are structured. The glossary is there for you when things get tough; this book might be challenging.
- A2 (advanced beginners) Remember words and grammar you already know or half-know, and understand them better. You will keep seeing them in the book anyway.
- B1 (early intermediates) Explore new ways of articulating your thoughts in Greek, and be surprised by how much you can do with very basic language.
- B2 (advanced intermediates) Feel good about yourself. You know everything.
- A0 (complete beginners) Favourite this book, but don’t rush. You will get there.
Enjoy.
241 pages, Paperback
Published May 6, 2023
23 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
George Karampalis
4 books6 followersGeorge (or Yorgos) is an educational-content creator, teacher of Modern Greek, and adept procrastinator. He enjoys breaking down language in order to help learners understand its structures, primarily through context, etymology and comprehensible input. He has co-founded Difficult Greek, a project that hosts the Greek-language resources he creates. It consists of a website and a YouTube channel of the same name, on which he should post more often.
Difficult Greek YT channel:
www.youtube.com/@DifficultGreek
and website:
www.difficultgreek.com
Difficult Greek YT channel:
www.youtube.com/@DifficultGreek
and website:
www.difficultgreek.com
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 26, 2024
Outstanding creativity!
I couldn’t believe my eyes as soon as I read the very first pages of the book. I never thought it would be possible to write and understand Greek with so basic knowledge of the grammar until I found Bit by Bit. The way the chapters are designed are suitable for every level whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner of Greek as I was. It made me realize how many sentences can be formed only using verbs in their primary stem, something that goes unnoticed as we dive into other topics of verb conjugation. Moreover, it proved that even a beginner can be able to express their thoughts without having to worry about having a wide vocabulary. The story is entirely thought-provoking and while teases you to read it quickly. Don’t let yourself rush through the pages, though! Enjoy the process of understanding someone’s deep contemplation of life while learning the captivating language Greek is!
I couldn’t believe my eyes as soon as I read the very first pages of the book. I never thought it would be possible to write and understand Greek with so basic knowledge of the grammar until I found Bit by Bit. The way the chapters are designed are suitable for every level whether you’re a beginner or an advanced learner of Greek as I was. It made me realize how many sentences can be formed only using verbs in their primary stem, something that goes unnoticed as we dive into other topics of verb conjugation. Moreover, it proved that even a beginner can be able to express their thoughts without having to worry about having a wide vocabulary. The story is entirely thought-provoking and while teases you to read it quickly. Don’t let yourself rush through the pages, though! Enjoy the process of understanding someone’s deep contemplation of life while learning the captivating language Greek is!
October 31, 2023
This book will show you that Greek, although difficult, can also be fun! You will see that even at the beginner’s level you can actually read and enjoy something apart from boring textbook stories, it will surely boost your confidence, and by the end of the book θα αρχίσεις σιγά-σιγά να σκέφτεσαι στα ελληνικά χωρίς να το προσέχεις.
Loved it 💕
Loved it 💕
May 12, 2024
Great for beginners and advanced beginners
May 25, 2025
I would love to gift Σιγά-σιγά to every new learner!
This was the book that truly kick-started my journey into the Greek language. For me, a huge source of joy in language learning is being able to read literature, something that usually comes only after a significant amount of time spent studying. Σιγά-σιγά made that possible from an early stage, which was incredibly motivating and encouraged me to continue learning.
It is a story of self-discovery that is engaging and subtly humorous. A charming and elegant world is brought to life through its minimalistic narrative, its beauty also lying in its simple, clean-cut language that expresses deep psychological insights.
This was the book that truly kick-started my journey into the Greek language. For me, a huge source of joy in language learning is being able to read literature, something that usually comes only after a significant amount of time spent studying. Σιγά-σιγά made that possible from an early stage, which was incredibly motivating and encouraged me to continue learning.
It is a story of self-discovery that is engaging and subtly humorous. A charming and elegant world is brought to life through its minimalistic narrative, its beauty also lying in its simple, clean-cut language that expresses deep psychological insights.
December 12, 2023
I was extremely eager to read this book as a Greek teacher myself and now I’ve finally read it cover to cover (and so has my mum!), I figured I’d share mine and her thoughts on it in a single review!
I read this book approaching it both as a student of Greek (sitting my C1 next year) and as a teacher of Greek and I must say I was thoroughly impressed by it! Not only has the author managed to write something interesting and unique using simple vocabulary (which is then glossed when above A1: an excellent approach which shows awareness of what a beginner is likely to know or not), he’s also managed to do it all in the present tense, that is, the present indicative AND present SUBJUNCTIVE! This means that even someone in the very early stages of learning Greek can pick this up and understand a full sentence, without having had to have spent a long time learning the language and mastered what are called dependent forms (that is, one would need to know both φτιάχνω and its dependent form φτιάξω, for example). The simple subjunctive is used more often than the continuous (and the same is true of the corresponding simple and continuous future tenses) but the author has worded everything so that all actions are habitual or repeated, or so that these tenses and moods are triggered by certain words he deliberately uses (but also works them in naturally) like κάθε (every), for example. It’s simply GENIUS. He’s managed to write something that is accessible to very early beginners, something that’s never been done before as far as I know, and stayed clear of the usual, overused topics (tourist or young Greek in Greece, on holiday or working on an island, a love interest or a mystery to solve). The story is also presented TWICE: first just in Greek with a glossary for each section and then again with a translation after each paragraph. This means that students themselves can decide how much they want to be challenged: do they want to be given a chance to work it out themselves first, or do they want to read the Greek and then see how much they’ve understood? Again: simple but GENIUS. Then, the glossary at the back of the book also provides information on correct usage with examples (very important in language learning!) plus grammar notes where applicable. This is excellent. The notes also cover common problems encountered by English speakers, revealing just how much experience he has teaching English natives (or users) his language. I honestly couldn’t praise or recommend this book enough.
As for my mum’s impressions, I’m happy to report for all those using Duolingo for their Greek that many of the highly frequent words needed to understand the text were previously encountered on the Duolingo course and therefore drilled enough that the transition from the app to this book was easy for her. For all the owl’s shortcomings, at least we can now say that Duolingo got something right! She enjoyed the story and was happy that the protagonist got what he needed in the end. Dependent forms are still somewhat of a mystery to her, so the way this story has been written as I’ve mentioned above meant a huge confidence boost for her and the satisfaction that a book in Greek was accessible to her so early on her language learning journey.
As for my criticisms, these are as follows.
An audio accompaniment would be an excellent addition but before that can happen, so that students can get as much as possible out of this very special and unique reading experience, there should be an indication where certain consonants change sounds as they come into contact with others either within a word (-ντ-) or across word boundaries (-ς μ-), plus when an iota or [i] sound is what is called “non-syllabic” (μια, pron. [mya]; ποιο, pron. [p-hyo]). These are things students of mine always miss when reading aloud, so a printed indication such as a breve or simply underlining the letters would serve as an excellent reminder when listening at the same time.
It must also be said that the author has done an excellent job translating all by himself and his English is far superior than anyone would expect of a non-native speaker! For that and everything else, I congratulate him. I can’t imagine how long it took him to do this all and it’s impressive to say the least. I hope this review helps many unsure whether to buy this and not any of the other subpar in comparison Greek readers available out there. This one is definitely one of the best I’ve ever come across and I’d urge you to choose this one even if you’ve only just grasped the basics of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, etc. I sincerely hope the author will continue to write more for this level and above because he certainly has a real talent for it and an excellent understanding of how the English-speaking mind works.
I read this book approaching it both as a student of Greek (sitting my C1 next year) and as a teacher of Greek and I must say I was thoroughly impressed by it! Not only has the author managed to write something interesting and unique using simple vocabulary (which is then glossed when above A1: an excellent approach which shows awareness of what a beginner is likely to know or not), he’s also managed to do it all in the present tense, that is, the present indicative AND present SUBJUNCTIVE! This means that even someone in the very early stages of learning Greek can pick this up and understand a full sentence, without having had to have spent a long time learning the language and mastered what are called dependent forms (that is, one would need to know both φτιάχνω and its dependent form φτιάξω, for example). The simple subjunctive is used more often than the continuous (and the same is true of the corresponding simple and continuous future tenses) but the author has worded everything so that all actions are habitual or repeated, or so that these tenses and moods are triggered by certain words he deliberately uses (but also works them in naturally) like κάθε (every), for example. It’s simply GENIUS. He’s managed to write something that is accessible to very early beginners, something that’s never been done before as far as I know, and stayed clear of the usual, overused topics (tourist or young Greek in Greece, on holiday or working on an island, a love interest or a mystery to solve). The story is also presented TWICE: first just in Greek with a glossary for each section and then again with a translation after each paragraph. This means that students themselves can decide how much they want to be challenged: do they want to be given a chance to work it out themselves first, or do they want to read the Greek and then see how much they’ve understood? Again: simple but GENIUS. Then, the glossary at the back of the book also provides information on correct usage with examples (very important in language learning!) plus grammar notes where applicable. This is excellent. The notes also cover common problems encountered by English speakers, revealing just how much experience he has teaching English natives (or users) his language. I honestly couldn’t praise or recommend this book enough.
As for my mum’s impressions, I’m happy to report for all those using Duolingo for their Greek that many of the highly frequent words needed to understand the text were previously encountered on the Duolingo course and therefore drilled enough that the transition from the app to this book was easy for her. For all the owl’s shortcomings, at least we can now say that Duolingo got something right! She enjoyed the story and was happy that the protagonist got what he needed in the end. Dependent forms are still somewhat of a mystery to her, so the way this story has been written as I’ve mentioned above meant a huge confidence boost for her and the satisfaction that a book in Greek was accessible to her so early on her language learning journey.
As for my criticisms, these are as follows.
An audio accompaniment would be an excellent addition but before that can happen, so that students can get as much as possible out of this very special and unique reading experience, there should be an indication where certain consonants change sounds as they come into contact with others either within a word (-ντ-) or across word boundaries (-ς μ-), plus when an iota or [i] sound is what is called “non-syllabic” (μια, pron. [mya]; ποιο, pron. [p-hyo]). These are things students of mine always miss when reading aloud, so a printed indication such as a breve or simply underlining the letters would serve as an excellent reminder when listening at the same time.
It must also be said that the author has done an excellent job translating all by himself and his English is far superior than anyone would expect of a non-native speaker! For that and everything else, I congratulate him. I can’t imagine how long it took him to do this all and it’s impressive to say the least. I hope this review helps many unsure whether to buy this and not any of the other subpar in comparison Greek readers available out there. This one is definitely one of the best I’ve ever come across and I’d urge you to choose this one even if you’ve only just grasped the basics of nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, etc. I sincerely hope the author will continue to write more for this level and above because he certainly has a real talent for it and an excellent understanding of how the English-speaking mind works.
October 1, 2023
Σιγά Σιγά is a gem for those of us who want to combine our love for well-written, thoughtful literature with our growing acquisition of the Greek language. There’s nothing else like this book out there, and I personally think it will appeal to a wide range of learners. If you thought books for learners of Greek meant stories about vacationing on the islands and learning to embrace local culture, think again. There are plenty of those, and they're nice, but this book invites us deeper! As we read, we're allowed into the mind of the narrator, who is trying to make sense of his life. He's sifting through nostalgia, uncertainty, and expectations, and trying to find ways of understanding himself. This is what sets the story apart from others aimed at those who are starting to read Greek.
For a lower level, A1-A2 learner, the present-tense narration makes the content understandable but far from typical and never boring. The book also treats us to quite a bit of wry humor, which is accessible. That’s quite rare. Humor and sarcasm are usually reserved for more advanced learners of foreign languages, but this book invites us in, right where we are, and shows us that we too can take part and enjoy it. This is a great boost of confidence and a gift to those beginners who are working so hard just to absorb the new language. It also includes a glossary following each section, to ensure that new vocabulary is reinforced, in bite-sized relevant chunks.
For B1 and beyond, the depth of personal insight and character development that this series of vignettes provides proves that much more can be done with our current language level than we typically realize. As we read, we follow the narrator on his personal journey as he breaks free from the psychological strongholds that keep him from fully embracing his own happiness. It’s not overly simplistic, nor unnecessarily dramatic. It’s a highly realistic, delightfully candid peek into the interior life of an introvert who is coming to terms with himself, all while employing a level of Greek that is surprisingly manageable.
This book will make you feel smart! You’ll be encouraged to continue on your own journey with Greek, as you realize that your hard work is paying off and you can understand so much more than you probably give yourself credit for. I went from laughing out loud in several places to fighting tears in others, and I enjoyed every minute of it. In fact, I read it twice, and it probably won’t be the last time. I wish there was more material like this available and would happily read anything else the author produces.
For a lower level, A1-A2 learner, the present-tense narration makes the content understandable but far from typical and never boring. The book also treats us to quite a bit of wry humor, which is accessible. That’s quite rare. Humor and sarcasm are usually reserved for more advanced learners of foreign languages, but this book invites us in, right where we are, and shows us that we too can take part and enjoy it. This is a great boost of confidence and a gift to those beginners who are working so hard just to absorb the new language. It also includes a glossary following each section, to ensure that new vocabulary is reinforced, in bite-sized relevant chunks.
For B1 and beyond, the depth of personal insight and character development that this series of vignettes provides proves that much more can be done with our current language level than we typically realize. As we read, we follow the narrator on his personal journey as he breaks free from the psychological strongholds that keep him from fully embracing his own happiness. It’s not overly simplistic, nor unnecessarily dramatic. It’s a highly realistic, delightfully candid peek into the interior life of an introvert who is coming to terms with himself, all while employing a level of Greek that is surprisingly manageable.
This book will make you feel smart! You’ll be encouraged to continue on your own journey with Greek, as you realize that your hard work is paying off and you can understand so much more than you probably give yourself credit for. I went from laughing out loud in several places to fighting tears in others, and I enjoyed every minute of it. In fact, I read it twice, and it probably won’t be the last time. I wish there was more material like this available and would happily read anything else the author produces.
November 24, 2023
What a great read! I have tried so many things to improve my greek, and this included some books which were supposed to be "easy for beginners". However, it was only this book that I really enjoyed reading.
Somehow George was able to pick just the right level of language to make it simple to read but still very enjoyable. The benefit is, you have the feeling that you are actually reading a book, with a proper story which has both some deep stuff but also some light humour around it. It's not just a story about some person going shopping in a greek supermarket which was written for the sake of using some words. It's really a good book which would have it's place even if only in published in English.
A chosen set of words is directly explained after each chapter and somehow magically those were in 90% of the times exactly the words I was missing. Some other words used were also not know but in many cases words very similar in english language (e.g. "psychotherapy"), so that you would not need a translation. In the end, I ended up reading it loud (well, not so loud, but you get it) to myself to also improve my reading and pronunciation skills
Unfortunately, the book leaves one question unanswered: how lang do we have to wait for the sequel?
Somehow George was able to pick just the right level of language to make it simple to read but still very enjoyable. The benefit is, you have the feeling that you are actually reading a book, with a proper story which has both some deep stuff but also some light humour around it. It's not just a story about some person going shopping in a greek supermarket which was written for the sake of using some words. It's really a good book which would have it's place even if only in published in English.
A chosen set of words is directly explained after each chapter and somehow magically those were in 90% of the times exactly the words I was missing. Some other words used were also not know but in many cases words very similar in english language (e.g. "psychotherapy"), so that you would not need a translation. In the end, I ended up reading it loud (well, not so loud, but you get it) to myself to also improve my reading and pronunciation skills
Unfortunately, the book leaves one question unanswered: how lang do we have to wait for the sequel?
June 6, 2023
As a wholesome story of personal development written almost entirely in the present tense, this book is a thing of wonder and beauty, and I wish there were other books like it.
George has a talent for writing that I'm yet to encounter the likes of, among the relatively few authors who are bothering to write simple material for adult beginner Greek learners.
I'm at a level where I find that most books are either too hard to read without help from a tutor, or are so painfully boring/soullessly-textbook-like in quality, that I almost regret the effort I put in to understand them... So this book was by far the most engaging text I've managed to read entirely on my own, and I especially enjoyed how much it made me laugh.
It was deeply satisfying to be able to read a proper story all the way through without having to stop every few sentences to look up a dictionary, and I hope that other learners will add their voices to mine, in declaring that WE NEED MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS! 😍
George has a talent for writing that I'm yet to encounter the likes of, among the relatively few authors who are bothering to write simple material for adult beginner Greek learners.
I'm at a level where I find that most books are either too hard to read without help from a tutor, or are so painfully boring/soullessly-textbook-like in quality, that I almost regret the effort I put in to understand them... So this book was by far the most engaging text I've managed to read entirely on my own, and I especially enjoyed how much it made me laugh.
It was deeply satisfying to be able to read a proper story all the way through without having to stop every few sentences to look up a dictionary, and I hope that other learners will add their voices to mine, in declaring that WE NEED MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS! 😍
April 5, 2025
I perhaps started this book a little too early into my studies. I had studied greek for about three months prior to picking up Karampalis's book. Actually, before σιγά-σιγά I had never read a coherent modern greek text, besides the sentences included in dictionary entires providing context for word use. So I came to this while firmly in the A1 camp.
As I had spent a good amount of time with audio based learning, I found that I needed to read sentences out loud to understand the writer. However, the text is entirely appropriate for a learner in the earlier stages. He includes a list of grammatical topics that the reader should have mastered in order to comprehend the text.
As to the content of the narrative--as advertised, the book is engaging, a psychological study. You will get to forgo reading about beach trips, or miserable citizens toiling on farms.
Basically, its good and will likely be useful to you if you haven't already evolved beyond the need for something this simple.
As I had spent a good amount of time with audio based learning, I found that I needed to read sentences out loud to understand the writer. However, the text is entirely appropriate for a learner in the earlier stages. He includes a list of grammatical topics that the reader should have mastered in order to comprehend the text.
As to the content of the narrative--as advertised, the book is engaging, a psychological study. You will get to forgo reading about beach trips, or miserable citizens toiling on farms.
Basically, its good and will likely be useful to you if you haven't already evolved beyond the need for something this simple.
December 28, 2023
My favourite Greek reader by a long shot. I wish this book existed when I was an A1 or A2. I’m now at B1, but still found it very helpful and enjoyable, with a compelling story and engaging writing. It’s quite interesting to see how much you can do as an A1 learner, which I would have never imagined when I was one myself. What has been particularly useful to me, is the long, alphabetized glossary at the end: it has made me rethink how certain words are used, and it’s a really good resource that I keep going back to.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews