Following her heart back to her Greek roots

Dancing through life in Munich

Laura’s weeks are split between the serious world of German bureaucracy and the joyful chaos of teaching children to dance. As a bailiff in Munich, she navigates the formal procedures of the legal system, but her true passion emerges in the evenings when she works as a dance instructor. Her classes bring together children of different ages – some as young as six, others up to sixteen – for Zumba-inspired sessions that get everyone moving.

Her own dance journey began in childhood with ballet and participation in Munich’s traditional Faschingsgarde, the carnival dance groups that are central to Bavarian culture. “I’ve been dancing since I was little,” Laura explains, though she recently stepped back from performing herself. At 26, she felt it was time to transition from dancer to mentor, channelling her experience into training the next generation of Faschingsgarde performers whilst continuing to teach children’s dance classes.

A language lost between generations

The motivation to learn Greek runs deeper than simple curiosity for Laura – it’s about reconnecting with family roots that were nearly lost to time. Her grandmother arrived in Germany during the 1970s as part of the guest worker programme, eventually meeting Laura’s German grandfather and settling into a new life. Though Laura’s mother speaks Greek fluently, a decision was made early on that would later prove pivotal: the family would speak only German at home.

“My mum and my grandma only speak German with us, which is actually the problem,” Laura reflects. As a child, she attended a Greek school where she learned to read and write, even developing conversational skills. But as adolescence arrived, the Greek lessons stopped, and without reinforcement at home, the language gradually faded from her active use. Now, with a family house in a Greek village and relatives she can barely communicate with, Laura feels the weight of that lost connection.

Practical dreams and family plans

Laura’s determination to master Greek extends far beyond nostalgic family connections – she has concrete, practical goals that require linguistic confidence. The family house in Greece needs ongoing maintenance and bureaucratic attention, tasks that currently require her mother’s translation help. “I want to be able to handle official business myself,” she says, envisioning a future where she can manage property matters independently and navigate local services without relying on others.

Her fiancé, who is half-Croatian, shares her enthusiasm for Greece and her dreams of eventually relocating there permanently. Though his work on construction sites keeps him too busy to join formal language classes, he’s already more confident than Laura when it comes to attempting conversations with locals during their visits. Their shared vision of living in Greece is complemented by Laura’s firm decision about how language will be handled with future children.

Finding her voice through structured learning

The decision to enroll in formal Greek classes came after years of thinking about it but struggling to find the time. When Laura finally took action and discovered Let’s Learn Greek, her family’s reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Her grandmother immediately became an enthusiastic supporter, helping with homework and offering guidance from her native speaker perspective. “She was so pleased and started helping me straight away with things from my first lesson,” Laura recalls.

The classroom environment has provided more than just linguistic instruction – it’s offered Laura a surprising glimpse into the broader appeal of Greek culture. She was amazed to discover classmates who had no family connections to Greece but were learning purely out of love for the country and its language. An older couple in her class, planning retirement travels to Greece, particularly impressed her with their dedication to understanding the culture more deeply than typical tourists manage.

Building confidence one word at a time

Currently, Laura finds herself in the familiar language learning paradox: she understands far more than she can express. “I understand quite a lot of what people say, but I can’t express myself – that’s my biggest problem,” she admits. Her reading and writing skills from childhood have proven invaluable, providing a foundation that makes comprehension easier, but speaking remains her greatest challenge. The fear of making mistakes holds her back, despite knowing intellectually that communication matters more than perfection.

Grammar presents another hurdle, one Laura acknowledges with characteristic honesty. “I’m not really a grammar person – it’s not my thing even in German,” she laughs. But she’s committed to the process, focusing heavily on building vocabulary whilst gradually working through grammatical concepts. Her learning strategy extends beyond the classroom too: she watches Greek television series, listens to Greek music, and tries to immerse herself in the language whenever possible, believing that subconscious absorption will supplement her formal studies.