At a time when the future of Greek in the third largest Greek city in the world (which is said to be Melbourne) looks rather uncertain, there are still young people who feel strongly connected to their Hellenic identity and love the language so much that they wish to become Greek teachers.
One such case is the young Evangelia (Eva) Agapaki, who earned a mark of 46 in her VCE Modern Greek exam in 2023 and amassed a very good ATAR to make her dreams of studying to become a teacher of Greek and Mathematics at La Trobe University a reality.
“I am not motivated by quick and easy gain. I prefer to invest in my personal value through the education, development and cultivation that I can achieve through studying the Greek language and culture as well as Mathematics. This is what I desire most,” said Evangelia, who, in addition to her intelligence, has a lot of maturity and empathy despite her young age.
Evangelia was born and lived in Crete until she was seven years old.
“I came to Australia when I was very young and, living in an English-speaking environment, it was a daily struggle for me to maintain the Greek language, especially the written aspect,” she told Neos Kosmos.
“Of course, the biggest challenge was for my parents, who always stand me despite the difficulties of daily life. They support me in everything I do and they never stopped speaking Greek to me at home, playing Greek music and watching Greek TV as well as keeping me in contact with the community,” she said.
“All this, I think, helped me to maintain my Greek at a satisfactory level and I am incredibly grateful to them for that.”
Evangelia completed her basic education at St. Monica’s College in Epping, a large Catholic college which has seen the number of Y7-12 students choosing Greek increase year to year because of its support and investment in Languages, offering in addition to Greek, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese.
In fact, according to the school’s Principal, Mr Brian Hanley, the Greek course is one of the most popular foreign language courses at the school that attracts many non-Hellenic students as well.
Aside from Greek and Maths, Evangelia also loves sport and dance.
“I particularly like playing basketball. I also learn traditional Cretan dances and am a member of the Cretan Brotherhood of Melbourne and Victoria dance group. All of these are in a way connected to each other and also to my Greek identity,” she said.
When asked how she thinks Greek is related to Maths, Evangelia replied:
“Maths, in particular, is closely related to the Greek language, since many of the words and symbols used in Maths come from Greek. The Greek language, on the other hand, is also known to have to a mathematical structure. So, each subject helps me understand and learn the other one better,” she said.
“Evangelia also discussed her future aspirations, saying:
“My goal is to teach the Greek language so that it can be passed on to the next generations. In addition, I believe that language studies will help me in the profession I will engage in,” she said.
“I dream of successfully finishing my studies and having a good career as well as travelling the world and discovering new places.”
She closed with a plea for young people “to be proud of their roots, to go to Greek schools and learn the language, which can be difficult at times but will ultimately benefit them greatly in their lives, particularly in helping to continue the Greek culture and language for generations to come”.
“I also want to ask the elders to continue their efforts so that Hellenism is not lost, to tirelessly offer opportunities to the younger generations and to teach Greek traditions, the language, morals and customs every day.”
We wish Evangelia good luck in her studies and hope she realises her dreams and becomes a good example for other young people to follow.
