5+1 Songs to Study Greek With Anna Vissi
As we start counting down the days until the big celebration of “50 Years Anna Vissi” with two big concerts in Thessaloniki and Athens on 10/07 and 12/07, I thought it would be a good idea to have a lesson in the Greek language with 5+1 popular songs of this huge artist from Cyprus.
You cannot ask a person who has been an Anna Vissi fan all their life to make a top 5 list of songs from Anna Vissi. It is impossible. The songs are chosen with only one criterion.
The language.
Present Tense in the main part, basic beginner’s words to revise or add to your vocabulary, useful phrases, and words that are linked with the English language.
The article is big but it had to be generous for the artist that has been the heartbeat of a particular tribe of Greeks, to which I belong. She is the biggest pop star in Greece, in the past, they used to call her the Greek Madona, but today she is the only one. If you know why, you know.
Anna Vissi is an athlete. She is a champion. Here are 5+1 songs for beginners and all levels, to practice your Greek.
1.Θάνατος Είναι Η Αγάπη
This song, apart from being one of my favorites, is a gold source of words for beginners in the Greek language.
Let’s dive into the main part:
Θάνατος, είναι η αγάπη όταν μας ενώνει Death is love when makes us one
Θάνατος, είναι η αγάπη όταν τελειώνει Death is love when comes to an end
Θάνατος, ήταν η αγάπη σου για μένα Death, was your love for me
Ένας θάνατος One Death
Θα ‘ναι κι η αγάπη μου για σένα My Love will also be for you
Ένας θάνατος One Death
Κι ένα ποτάμι από δάκρυ για δυο And a river of tears for two
A great source of words and the understanding of the Greek language.
- Let’s start with the word “θάνατος”. Θάνατος means death. You know this word well, from the word “euthanasia” Let’s dive into the etymology of the word “euthanasia”.
- Eu- (ευ-) is a positive prefix both in Greek and English words. Every word you know in Latin languages that start with “eu-” has a positive meaning. So, euthanasia means “positive, good death”.
Back to the song now, so we’ve got:
θάνατος=death
είναι=everywhere you see είναι it means “is/are”. Everywhere.
η αγάπη=the love (feminine noun. Words that end in -η are feminine)
όταν=when
ενώνει=it links, it unites (the word ένα=1 + the ending -ωνω that makes it a verb. Ενώνω=I make one
τελειώνει=finishes, comes to an end (τέλος=end+ωνω which makes it a verb)
ήταν is the form of the verb είναι in the Past. ήταν means was/were
για μένα=for me
για σένα=for you
θα ‘ναι (short form for θα είναι, which is the future of the verb “to be”)
=will be
ένα ποτάμι=a river (you know Mesopotamia, right? It was a city built in the middle of two rivers)
για δυό=for two.
All in all, from this song we take at least some basics like θάνατος, η αγάπη, για μένα, για σένα, ποτάμι and the verb “to be” in Past, Present and Future. This was an amazing dig!
2. Είμαι πολύ καλά.
Είμαι πολύ καλά, σε σκέφτομαι συχνά I am very well, I am thinking about you frequently
σε αγαπώ πολύ, με αγάπη φιλική I love you very much, with love for a friend
είμαι πολύ καλά, μα πέρασα πολλά I am very well, but I have been through a lot
δε φταις εσύ γι’ αυτό, κακίες δεν κρατώ. It is not your fault, that’s why I don’t keep negative feelings
Είμαι πολύ καλά. =I am very well
- A great way to learn how to reply to the question “Τι κάνεις?” How are you??
σκέφτομαι=I am thinking. Cousin’s word with skeptical. Someone skeptical is occupied with a thought.
η αγάπη=the love (feminine noun ending in -η)
φιλική=friendly, for a friend (φιλικός-φιλική-φιλικό=friendly) a cousin adjective with the word φίλος-φίλη=friend +the ending -ic for adjectives like fantastic, epic.
μα=but
πέρασα πολλά=I passed through many things
δεν φταίς εσύ=you are not to blame (φταίω=I am to blame, it is my fault)
δεν κρατώ κακία=I don’t hold a grudge (κρατώ=I hold, I keep, like, for example, demo-cracy, the people (δήμος) hold (κρατώ) the power)
3. Θιβέτ.
“Θιβέτ,” I think is an underrated song, but maybe it is normal with such a big number of hits for 50 years of career. One of my favorites and I am very happy to be able to add it to this list for reason that, we use basic verbs in Present Tense, BUT ALSO because in this song we can practice the difficult sound of the character “ψ” ps that also is followed by the difficult sound of the characters “χ,ν” ψάχνω+ψυχή. Amazing exercise for the teeth and the lips, for a common difficulty in two popular words, that all beginners have. + The verb “φτιάχνω” for the same reasons. Useful everyday verbs, with difficulty to form with our lips and tongue.
Και ψάχνω, ψάχνω, ψάχνω and I am looking for X3
Μες στην ψυχή μου ψάχνω inside my sould I am looking for
Με συνταγές περίεργες with weird recipes
Τον κόσμο μου τον φτιάχνω I make my world
Και τρέχω, τρέχω, τρέχω and I am running X3
Για μιαν αγάπη τρέχω for one love I am running
Τη μόνη αγάπη που αγάπησα the only love I loved
Και δεν μπορώ να έχω and I cannot have
ψάχνω=Ι am looking for
μέσα σε=in, inside
η ψυχή=the soul
η συνταγή=recipe (οι συνταγές, Plural)
περίεργος-περίεργη-περίεργο=weird, strange (περίεργες, plural, feminine)
τον κόσμο μου=my world
τρέχω=I run
τη μόνη=the only one (feminine)
που αγάπησα=that I loved (αγαπάω-αγάπησα-θα αγαπήσω)
και δεν μπορώ να έχω=and I cannot have
4. Λάμπω
Φφφφφ what a song! I chose this son for two main reasons.
- To see how we can create an active voice verb in person “I”. When you see a word ending in -ω, 97% of the time this word is a verb in person “I”. So now, let’s go and turn the English word “lamp” into the Greek word “I shine”. λάμπ-ω=I shine. Do you see?
- The second reason to study this song is the ending -μενη she repeats all the time. In English, we use the ending -ed to express a condition, something that happened to us. Excited, tired. In Greek, this ending is “-μενος, -μενη, -μενο” (It has nothing to do with the verb “μένω”, I stay) and it is used also for feelings.
In the song :
Είμαι ζαλισμένη=Ι am dizzy
Είμαι ερωτευμένη=I am in love
Είμαι ευτυχισμένη=I am happy
ζαλισμένος-ζαλισμένη-ζαλισμένο
ερωτευμένος-ερωτευμένη-ερωτευμένο
ευτυχισμένος-ευτυχισμένη-ευτυχισμένο
Και=and
Λάμπω=I am shining, I shine
απ’ την χαρά μου = from my happiness
όταν σε βλέπω=When I see you
σαν το ήλιο=like the sun
σαν διαμάντι=like a diamond
5. Τραύμα
I will pretend I didn’t choose this song because it is the best tsifteteli on Earth, and let’s use the language.
Τραύμα είσαι ανοιχτό you are an open trauma (wound)
Τραύμα που το αγαπώ a wound that I love
Κι αν θα κλείσει θα χαθώ and if it closes I will get lost
Τραύμα που χώρια του εγώ δε ζω a wound without which, I don’t live
- I like the word “ανοιχτό”. Ανοιχτό means open (ανοιχτός-ανοιχτή-ανοιχτό), you can see it in shops when they have the sign “open”.
- The main reason I chose this song is to play with the word “trauma”
When you see the combination “au” in English, in Greek this combination of characters is “αυ” which makes the sound af/av.
You can play with your mind now, which English or any Latin language words you know have “au”. In this particular word “trauma” you just change the sound into “travma”. Play with your mind to find other words and leave them in the comments.
6. Ο πόνος της αγάπης
The pain of love
This one is the only song that entered with emotion in the list and not language criteria because it is a song for fans that are old wolves.
Όχι, δε σε ξέχασα ποτέ μου Νο, I never forgot about you
όχι, είσαι μέσα μου ακόμα. No, you are still in me
Δε σταματάει, δε σταματάει, δε σταματάει It doesn’t stop X3
δεν υποφέρεται, δεν υποφέρεται, δεν υποφέρεται. it isn’t bearable X3
Ο πόνος της αγάπης δεν τελειώνει the pain of love doesn’t end
ο πόνος της αγάπης the pain of love
δεν σταματάει, δε σταματάει, δε σταματάει. it doesn’t stop X3
All in all, from this song we can get
ξεχνάω=I forget
ξεχνάω-ξέχασα-θα ξεχάσω
ποτέ=never
μέσα=in, inside
ακόμα=still
σταματάω=I stop
ο πόνος=the pain
τελειώνω=I finish, I come to an end
Fff! This was a lot of work, but it was really worth it.
Enjoy your lesson. It takes some time to have a look at all these things, but the only important thing is to enjoy yourself and get even one step forward.
Enjoy your journey in the Greek language.
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With Respect,
Efi Asvesti
Founder, Teacher & Copywriter @
MyGreekTeacher.com
