As wonderful as summertime might be, juggling work and holidays can be quite stressful. If you have children, you want to take advantage of school breaks to make memories with them. If you don’t have children yet, then you really want to travel, and relax. And what is a common wish for everybody is that you want this summer holiday to be the best one yet. You want it to include fun, relaxation and, why not, new and constructive experiences that will equip you with unforgettable memories. The summer programs of the innovative online Greek School, Greek LOL, might have planned the summer holidays that you and your children truly deserve.
“The best way to learn is while having fun!”
Convincing a child that learning any language is to their benefit often does not end well. What if you did not have to convince them, though? What if you told them that they are going to learn modern Greek or improve it simply by having fun? What if you told them that this summer they have the option to be independent for 13 days at the Greek LOL Summer Camp, make their own friends, do sports and fun activities everyday at the Ranch, one of the most amazing camps in Europe situated in Sofiko, near Korinthos in the wonderful Peloponnese. What do they have to gain? Well, except for all the unforgettable, carefree summer memories and Greek friends they will make, they will also improve their skills in Greek. And the best part of it? They won’t even know that they are learning Greek!
“…the secret ingredient of this camp’s success is that students are there because they are having the time of their lives…”
Have you ever thought how much easier learning would be if it was through playing? At the Greek LOL Summer Camps students have Greek classes twice a day. However, the classes are probably not what you imagine. Children are exposed to Greek through lessons but also through interactive and kinesthetic activities that employ all their senses. The Greek LOL Summer Camp teachers have designed a program that helps kids speak Greek in a natural and easy way. How much more fun is it to learn food vocabulary through a blind tasting game instead of memorizing words over and over again? How much more fun is it to learn the Greek alphabet playing body Scrabble? How about a Scavenger Hunt at the end of which you will find the real treasure, the treasure of enjoying the summer and learning while having fun? At the Greek LOL Summer Camp, students have the chance to be exposed to a method of learning that involves all their senses thus equally including each student in the process of learning regardless of how good they are at conventional schooling. The secret is that the children truly want to be there because they are having fun with friends and because they are near nature which makes them feel like they star in their favorite adventure movie. You should see how happy they are when they go horse riding at the Camp or try sports like archery, always under the constant supervision of their teachers, the Greek LOL team and Camp staff.
“How does learning Greek by the sea sound?”
Having heard that, many people might think “too bad I’m not a kid or teenager anymore because a Greek Summer Camp sounds great!” The Greek LOL team has thought about you too. Learning is a process that shouldn’t stop as we grow older. On the contrary, it should become more individualized based on our needs and should aim to also please us except for helping us acquire new or practise with skills we already have. This is precisely why a Summer Immersion Course in Greece might be what many of us might need for this summer. The Greek LOL Immersion Course is for adults of all levels of Greek and all nationalities and aims to motivate them, bring them back to Greek language learning and give them an authentic taste of “living like a Greek.” It takes place in the seaside town of Aigio -less than 2h away from Athens airport- in order for the adult students to combine Greek language lessons with a memorable summer holiday in Greece. There are Greek lessons every morning and then the students relax, swim and of course take part in cultural activities that involve a lot of interaction with local Greek people and a unique insight into Greek lifestyle. By the end of this intensive course the students will have improved their speaking skills in Greek, they will have gained a lot of confidence speaking Greek through their interaction with local Greeks, they will have had the chance to see great places full of ancient Greek energy like Delfi and Ancient Olympia and will have hopefully connected with other Greek learners and established important bonds that will motivate them to keep learning Greek.
The warm welcome that makes this experience more than a Greek learning summer program
At both the Greek LOL Summer Camp for children and the Adults Immersion Course, students learn Greek by being immersed into the Greek lifestyle through their interaction with native Greek teachers, other learners and local people they interact with everyday. They learn about Greece and its culture through cultural activities that expose them to Greek geography, history, and tradition of course. The children have fun and learn to play in Greek through activities that employ all their senses like treasure hunts, blind-tasting games, body Scrabble, horse riding, they do sports and learn Greek dances. And the adults relax, go on interesting excursions and have fun by the sea. They wake up every day for 13 days in a true Greek paradise in nature at one of the most amazing locations in the world, the Peloponnese; home of Leonidas and the Spartans, home of the Olympic games. All these people are always welcomed in the warmest and most touching way by all the Greeks they get to interact with who are actual ambassadors of the famous Greek hospitality. They meet people from all over the world, they make friends and share a memory together that always takes a very special place in their hearts. The Greek LOL campers will tell you that these are friendships that remain for life. The people who have attended the Immersion Course will talk about how they keep in touch with everybody they met and how they look forward to going back to Greece.
The Greek LOL team can assure you that this is more than a Greek school, these are more than Greek learning summer programs. This is a community that means to connect Greeks and philhellenes and bring them closer to Greece. This is a family that means to keep the Greek language alive and growing among speakers in every corner of the world. And the heart of all this is the unique Greek summer Greek LOL promises you.
