When quality control meetings turned into a reason to learn Greek

From silent audits to speaking up

Antonia remembers her first business trip to Crete vividly. As quality manager for a small German company that imports Greek products to European retailers, she was there to audit suppliers – checking production lines, ensuring standards, meeting the people behind the sesame bars and olive oil. But standing in those facilities, surrounded by conversations she couldn’t follow, felt deeply uncomfortable. “It really wasn’t pleasant, understanding absolutely nothing,” she admits.

The experience stuck with her. Back in her office in Germany, where she manages quality assurance for everything from honey to pasta, she approached her boss with a proposal. Could she learn Greek? He was supportive of the decision. For Antonia, who studied nutrition science and later earned a master’s in marketing, it seemed a worthwhile investment. She knew she’d be making multiple trips to Greece each year, and the language barrier was becoming more than just inconvenient.

Finding the right pace for progress

Determined to address the language barrier, Antonia enrolled with another language school and chose the second-level course rather than starting from scratch. When she arrived, everyone else already knew the alphabet and could hold basic conversations. “I was mute as a fish,” she recalls. She had to admit she knew nothing – not the alphabet, not the pronunciation, nothing. Her teacher suggested she might be able to catch up, and surprisingly, she did.

Antonia threw herself into the work, studying independently to cover the material from the first course she’d skipped. Her teacher was impressed when she managed to close the gap. But the group format – meeting once a week with three or four others, spending time chatting about the weather in German before settling into lessons – felt inefficient. When she discovered Let’s Learn Greek and switched to individual lessons, the difference was immediate. What would have taken six months in her previous course, she accomplished in five intensive one-on-one sessions.

The rhythm of daily life and language learning

Beyond her demanding work schedule, life in Antonia’s small village revolves around simple pleasures. She and her husband, who’s half Italian and gave her the Italian-sounding surname she now carries, have been married for seven years. They share their home with two cats and spend their free time renovating – the loft, the cellar, always another project to beautify their house. It’s this same dedication to steady improvement that characterises her approach to Greek.

The individual lessons demand focus in a way group classes never did. There’s nowhere to hide, no one else to answer when the teacher asks a question. But that intensity works for her. She receives homework, completes it diligently, and finds her vocabulary expanding week by week. The Google Classroom system surprised her at first – the speed with which her teacher corrects work and uploads new materials, the efficiency of the whole process. It’s a different world from her previous weekly group sessions, where much of the hour was spent chatting before settling into the lesson.

Building bridges through hesitant conversations

The real test comes when Antonia picks up the phone. She calls suppliers regularly, and now she begins each conversation with a few Greek phrases. Their reactions delight her – surprise, appreciation, encouragement. “When I call suppliers and start speaking a bit of Greek, it really gets better and better,” she says. They’re genuinely pleased, sometimes so pleased they continue speaking Greek until she has to gently interrupt: not quite yet, but she’s working on it. Many promise that next time she visits, they’ll conduct the entire meeting in Greek.

Her Greek colleagues at the company have noticed too. They want to speak Greek with her, though she’s honest about her limitations – she doesn’t yet have the vocabulary for everyday office conversations. But they understand how difficult the language is, and they appreciate her effort. The real rewards come in quieter moments: when Antonia makes small breakthroughs – correctly conjugating verbs during exercises, filling in grammatical endings without hesitation – she feels a quiet satisfaction. These aren’t dramatic moments, just steady proof that the work is paying off.

Beyond business, into culture

Her boss occasionally exchanges Greek messages with her now, a sign of both progress and mutual respect. Her parents ask for updates, proud of her commitment. In Greek restaurants around Germany, she surprises waiters who aren’t used to customers speaking their language. The alphabet, which once seemed impenetrable, now feels familiar – she’d taken advanced physics in school, and recognises how many Greek letters still feature in mathematics and science today.

While she primarily associates Greece with work, what matters more is understanding the culture behind the language – the jokes her colleagues share, the proverbs, the regional accents. A colleague also learning Greek through a community college course says the same thing: speaking with people makes all the hard work worthwhile. For Antonia, the motivation is clear. She wants to maintain the joy of learning, to remember what she can already do rather than fixating on what remains. Her advice to new learners is simple: stay consistent, keep the pleasure alive, and remember that Greek isn’t something you’ll hear on the radio or in pop songs. You have to actively choose to engage with it, week after week. But for those willing to commit, the connections you build are worth every hesitant conversation.