Hi
I must tell you about the course which I am taking at the Modern Greek Language Teaching Center at the University of Athens' School of Philosophy, in Zografou. You have a class every week day and the course lasts for a whole academic year (October to June). This year, it cost just 597 Euros and if you are of Greek origin or married to a Greek it costs even less - 464 Euros!
The classes are for beginners, intermediates and advanced and you can choose at what time you want to do the class each day - I do mine between 9-12pm in the morning. You can also go at 12-3pm, 3-6pm or 6-9pm. You sit a test on the first day and you are then put into the appropriate level - some people can only write their name on the front page and can't answer anything else - no problem, they just start at the beginning! I am at the beginning of my second year on the course and I think I have made really good progress. At the end of each year, you can sit an exam and if you pass you get a diploma which proves that your Greek is good enough to do a degree in a Greek university. I passed last year, but am continuing with the course at a higher level because I want my Greek to be really good and I'm a translator so I want to be able to do Greek>English at some point.
I have had experience of six different teachers (you usually have classes with 3 different teachers) and they were all very good and brought different qualities to it. One was what I would describe as a grammar Nazi (!) she would insist on us learning everything "apexo" (by heart) but it really paid off. I like the course because it is quite flexible (so I can work) and it is of a high standard, for example, the teachers will speak Greek to you 99% of the time (no use speaking English, because your classmates will be from many different countries), even when explaining grammar. If you keep up and study a little in your own time too, it's no problem and you'll be surprised how much progress you make this way.
If you have any questions about the course let me know. The web site (available in English) is at
www.nglt.uoa.gr the e-mail address is
nglt.info@nglt.uoa.gr and the phone numbers are +30 210 7277971 / +30 210 7277672. This course is for people who are really serious about learning and speaking Greek well. Many foreigners don't speak a word of Greek even after several years. If you just want to learn basic phrases for example, then I would suggest a less intensive, shorter course, which unfortunately is likely to cost you more money.