When Neos Kosmos asked for your shout outs and dedications to honour some of your favourite educators both past and present, we received an overwhelming response from Eleni Dimitriou’s adult modern Greek classes.
World Teachers’ Day, celebrated annually on 5 October acknowledges all the incredible work of the world’s educators who work tirelessly to share their knowledge and passion with their students.
Ms Dimitriou’s student come from all sorts of backgrounds, from retirees to writers to lovers of all thing languages.
Here are some of the wonderfully appreciative messages her students have shared with us:
On World Teachers’ Day, I’d like to say thank you to Eleni Dimitriou, our wonderful teacher at the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne. In our adult Modern Greek class Eleni brings inspiration to us all. She is always hardworking and encouraging.
Some people have a natural vocation for teaching and Eleni is one of those naturally gifted teachers. I have found that my spoken Greek has improved so much in a year that it’s a testament to Eleni’s professionalism and passion for her subject. Thank you, Eleni, for passing on to all of us your passion for knowledge and for the beautiful Greek language!
Rod Jones
READ MORE: Teachers of the diaspora push for improvement of Greek language books
After I retired, I really wanted to go back to an unfulfilled desire from my 20s, namely to try to learn modern Greek (I had studied Ancient Greek at university). Since then, I have had a number of Greek teachers, some inspirational and others not. But I really lucked out a number of years ago when I enrolled in a B1 Class at the GCOMV and got Eleni Dimitriou as my teacher.
Since that time I have continued attending classes at the Κοινότητα with Eleni as well as doing ιδιαίτερα with her. Eleni is an excellent teacher who knows the strengths and weaknesses of all her students, all too well I often feel, but this allows her to work with us on these.
She is equally adept face to face in a classroom as she is online via Skype or Zoom. I am sure that the transition this year to online classes must have required so much extra work but you would never guess it from our excellently constructed and presented Skype classes where our serious texts and grammar are always interspersed with games and quizzes to practice our language.
Over the years I have been taught by Eleni I have also been impressed by how she wants us to understand that language learning is not just about grammar, it is is about understanding the culture and being part of the Melbourne Greek community. This has been evidenced by regular outings we have had to the Greek Film Festival and to Greek music events as well as other cultural events.
Over the decades, I have been taught by many people (and I have also taught, trained and mentored many people). Eleni for me is a stand out teacher who inspires me! I feel so lucky to have her in my life and to help me try to achieve my goal of “learning Greek”. She constantly stretches me to do things that I feel are just beyond my grasp. I certainly don’t always achieve the goals she set for me but that is the sort of inspiring teacher I want to have! Μπράβο Ελένη!
Anne Holmes
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I have been learning Modern Greek for six years now, as an adult, and Eleni has been my teacher for the last five years. Several of the others in our class have also ‘stayed’ with Eleni for a number of years.
She is a pleasure to work with, with a lovely, engaging personality. She is always of good humor, very easy going and calm. She also has a deep knowledge of the Greek language and makes every effort to vary the class activities as much as possible within the limits of the curriculum. A number of us students have also participated in activities outside class with Eleni, such as concerts, films and picnics.
On top of everything else, she has staunchly continued our classes for two terms now through Skype. This is not easy and I truly admire her efforts. Eleni is a good teacher and a good person and I would like to thank her for being our teacher.
Paula Roberts
I would like to give a huge shout out to Eleni Dimitriou. I have been learning Greek with Eleni for close to 5 years now.
She has always been a total joy, always giving so much to all of us – suggesting extracurricular activities we might enjoy (film theatre, museum exhibitions), organising picnics.
But since Covid she has done so much more for all of us. I feel confident that I am speaking for our group of six when I say that Eleni has become the cornerstone of our existence.
We structure our lives around her and our two hour once weekly class. She has pushed us, worked us, entertained us, corrected us with such a generosity of spirit and always with a game at the end of every class.
She is a treasure. Melbourne’s Greek Community is lucky to have her.
Deborah Parsons
And of course a dedication in Greek…
Επειδή η γλυκιά Ελένη μας δεν μας επιτρέπει ούτε μια λέξη στα αγγλικά, θα γράψω στα ελληνικά.
Το κάθε μάθημά της αρχίζει με το χαμόγελο της Ελένης και μια ευγενική λέξη στον καθένα ξεχωριστά.
Τα μαθήματα είναι μια χαρά – μας διδάσκει με σαφήνεια, υπομονή, γιούμορ, μεράκι.
Ξέρει πώς να εξηγήσει όλα τα δύσκολα σημεία με μεγάλη σαφήνεια.
‘Εχει γνώσεις και διερευνητικό μυαλό, και μας εμπνέει – μας ανοίγει ελληνικούς ορίζοντες που μας εμπλουτίζουν για πάντα.
‘Εχω πολύ respect και ζεστή εκτίμηση γι’ αυτήν, και σας ευχαριστώ γι’ αυτή την ευκαιρία να της στείλω χίλια ευχαριστώ!
Μαρλέν/Marleen Foda