The “golden age” of learning the Modern Greek language in Victoria lasted, from the 1980s to the early 1990s, but it has laid the foundations for a thirst for learning one’s language in the diaspora.

The golden age began with the second wave of migration where many of my compatriots arrived in Melbourne in the middle of the last century with “a suitcase full of dreams” and with the hope that they could “keep their spoken language alive” in Australia.

Some parents networked and through “word of mouth” were able to find afternoon and Saturday schools and ascertain the school’s performance. Based on this testimony, parents made their decisions regarding the best choice for their children’s Greek education.

Some students benefited from the experience of learning “Ελληνικά” whilst others were challenged and suffered due to the lack of pedagogy that existed in the Greek education program. Most, if not all, adults who answered the call to teach “Ελληνικά” felt that they were duty-bound and were innovative with their teaching methods.
Significant advances were made in several areas including education, involvement and representation of Greek patriots in decision-making boards, in academia and in government.

We were spurred on to introduce learning “Ελληνικά” in the State School curriculum in both the primary and secondary sectors. Even the Ministry of Education of Victoria and South Australia funded the creation of curriculum resources in the form of readers to suit the needs of learners not of the first generation. As an educator, I was privileged to be appointed to teach “Ελληνικά” at an Inner-City school known at the time as Richmond Girls’ Secondary College. This meant that my students were able to mix with other students in and out of the classroom and speak “Ελληνικά” with each other during the day and then go to other Greek Community events, such as music events, picnics, theatre, dances and family gatherings. They listened to the Greek radio station and played Greek records.

I am very optimistic that a new golden era of learning “Ελληνικά” in Victoria is beginning through higher levels of innovation and research as illustrated by a study of “the vitality and the presence of Modern Greek in contemporary Australia” which was commissioned by the Modern Greek Teachers’ Association of Victoria (MGTAV), and researched and authored, by Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education of the University of Melbourne. Another innovation is the writing and the illustration of 24 picture story books featuring Little Anna as the protagonist. This is the pioneering work of students with three expatriate teachers, Niki Farfara-Paschou, Ourania Papageorgiou and Peristera Papageorgiou.

As a community we need to provide more opportunities for listening to and speaking Greek so that our young generation can communicate with us in Greek.

*Maria Makris, née Ereglidis, is a retired teacher of Modern Greek, Humanities and Commerce.