With regard to their registration, candidates who are admitted either into a Faculty or a Department must also hold a certificate denoting their command of the Greek language (such a certificate is issued after relevant examinations either by the University of Athens or by the University of Thessaloniki; alternatively, the candidate should hold a certificate of B2 level (or higher, e.g. C1, C2) issued by the Greek Language Centre of Thessaloniki).
Candidates who do not hold any of those language certificates, can only enroll in the next academic year of their admission to a Greek University, on condition that they will by then have obtained the prerequisite language certificate. Otherwise, they have no right to enroll. The examinations for the Greek language certificate are held twice a year: around June and September in Athens, at the Modern Greek Language Centre of the University Campus in Zografou; also, in June and September in Thessaloniki, at the School of Modern Greek Language at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
For candidates that hold a graduation certificate from a Greek or Cypriot Lyceum, no language certificate is required.
The Modern Greek Language Teaching Centre of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is the largest of its kind in the world. Its main goals are the teaching and the certification of the level of knowledge of Modern Greek as a second/foreign language. The courses are divided into levels of language knowledge in accordance with those of the Council of Europe. Once students have completed their course at any given level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2), they will be in a position to understand, write and speak at the level they have reached by the end of the lessons. The examinations for the Certificate of Greek Language Knowledge of the Greek Language Teaching Centre take place every May and September. Students attending the courses of the Greek Language Teaching Centre may participate (after declaring their intention to do so) as well as individuals who wish to obtain the Certificate of Greek Language Knowledge. The Greek Language Teaching Certificate is awarded to each participant who succeeds in both the oral and written examinations, it consists of one level and is equivalent to the Vantage level (Level B2) of the Council of Europe. (Link)
The School of Modern Greek Language of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is offering Greek language and culture courses to foreigners and Greeks living abroad. It also organizes exams for the Certificate of Attainment in Greek for enrolment at Higher or Highest Education Institutes of Greece (level B2) twice a year, every May/June and September. The School’s role is not limited to teaching Greek. It also emphasizes various activities and cultural functions and hosts hundreds of students from all over the world, creating a multicultural environment. (Link)
The Department of Language, Literature and Culture of the Black Sea Countries of Democritus University of Thrace organizes annual courses for newly admitted students from foreign universities, adult foreigners and refugees who are willing to be taught the Greek language and culture. Since the academic year 2004-2005 the Greek language certification tests for Eastern Macedonia and Thrace take place there, supervised by the Greek Language Centre. (Link)
The Center for the Study of the Hellenic Language and Culture at the University of Ioannina offers Greek language courses for students and teachers who are either foreigners or of Greek descent. Its aim is to establish Modern Greek as a second/foreign language and to promote the values of the Greek culture. (Link)
The Centre of Cross-Cultural Education of the Department of Primary Education at the University of Patra organizes Modern Greek language and culture courses for school and university students from abroad as well as for teachers and civilians who are either foreigners or of Greek descent under the condition that they hold at least a diploma of secondary education equivalent to the Greek Lyceum ‘apolitirion’. The courses include 6 to 20 teaching hours, address to students of all levels of Greek language competency and are realized in different periods. Except for the aforementioned courses it is possible that courses of one-month or less duration are formed under the condition that there is a sufficient number of students. (Link)
The Greek Language Laboratory (GLL) of the University of Thessaly is a center of research, analysis, learning and teaching of Modern Greek. It was founded in 1999 and is operating since. Its main aims are to disseminate and teach Modern Greek as a second and foreign language, to study and analyze Modern Greek, mainly through a sociolinguistic perspective and finally to scientifically contribute to educational and linguistic policy issues. It offers summer courses on Greek Language for international students and participates in language projects for immigrant parents. (Link)
The Department of Foreign Language, Translation and Interpreting of the Ionian University is located in Corfu offers Greek Language courses aiming at the promotion of the Greek language among students from foreign universities. (Only students from Erasmus) (Link)
The Department of Philology of the University of Crete offers a Modern Greek Language Program for foreigners, students or not, each year which is structured in three levels (Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced). There is a tuition fee for the courses and students are given the teaching material for free. At the end of the course, students are given a certificate, after a (successful) final exam. (Link)
The Centre for the Greek Language is a non-profit organization established in Thessaloniki supervised by the Greek Ministry of Education and cooperating with the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs. It provides candidates with the opportunity to acquire the Certificate of Attainment in Greek following examination held once a year every May. The levels for which the Certificate is issued are four (A, B, C, D) and four are the skills examined: listening, reading, writing and speaking. (Link)
The Athens Centre is an educational organization affiliated with more than 20 American colleges and universities which offers courses on Modern Greek to adults, both beginners and advanced, throughout the year. The syllabus for each level has been created to teach the language to adults of all nationalities emphasizing spoken Greek, with parallel development of reading, writing and comprehension skills. (Link)
The School of Greek Language & Culture “Alexander the Great” is located in Athens as an individual sector of the British Hellenic College for the teaching of the Greek language to foreigners. Each course for every level (A1-C2) starts on the first Monday of each month. The typical minimum duration of which is 2 weeks, meaning 40 hours. In the educational program visits to museums, dinning out with teachers and students, participation in cultural presentations about the Greek language and projection of Greek movies are included. The School cooperates with EURANEK in many European projects. Except for Athens, there are such schools also in Thessaloniki, Mesologgi and Chania as well as in Sofia and Philipoupolis (Plovdiv) in Bulgaria. (Link)
The Hellenic-American Union offers courses in Modern Greek to foreign adults students in Athens. Intensive and non-intensive courses are offered throughout the academic year and they cover all levels of language competency (A1 – beginners to C2 – advanced learners). Students learn to speak, read, write and understand Modern Greek in a motivating and collaborative atmosphere. At the same time, they are prepared to participate – if they want – to the Examination for the Certificate of Attainment in Greek. (Link)
The Hellenic Culture Centre is a private organization specialized in teaching Greek as a second and as a foreign language. It started working in 1995 on Ikaria island, Aegean Sea, where it organized with great success during ten years one of the first summer schools for Greek in Greece, with Greek courses, cultural activities and teacher training for teachers of Greek as a foreign language. It continued its actions in Athens, where it is now based, and in selected places in Greece and abroad (Lesvos Island, Aegean Sea- Brussels). It is addressed to adults of any nationality who wish to learn or improve their Greek Language skills and to get to know Greece and its culture, to foreign residents of Greece, people of Greek origin living abroad, interpreters and translators and to students of Modern Greek in Universities abroad. It cooperates with relevant organizations in Greece and abroad and participates in national, European and international projects. (Link)
The International Center for Hellenic and Mediterranean Studies (DIKEMES) is a non-profit organization that promotes the Greek culture through its educational programs. It is located in Athens and its Greek language courses are addressed to students from North American universities through the College Year in Athens (CYA). DIKEMES also offers Greek culture courses certified by the University of Birmingham in the UK. English is a prerequisite, as it is used as a support language. (DIKEMES Link , CYA Link)
The Institute for Balkan Studies (IMXA) is an independent legal entity governed by private law, under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs in Thessaloniki. It organizes Greek language courses for speakers of other languages on three levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced). It also runs the International Summer School for Greek Language, History, and Culture which offers foreign students and scholars the opportunity to cultivate a knowledge of the Greek language and to learn more about the Greek history and culture. (Link)
The Ionic Centre offers Modern Greek language courses on all levels in Athens and Chios throughout the whole year. (Link)
Lexis Greek Language and Culture Centre is operating in Hania of Crete. The Centre offers programs to adults of every nationality who want to learn Modern Greek, to improve it or to perfect their knowledge of the language, and at the same time discover Greece itself, via lively teaching methods and also through various activities that the Centre offers outside the classroom. It covers all the levels of knowledge of the Greek language, from the beginners level to the level of perfection based on the corresponding levels from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. (Link)
AEOLIS – The Cultural Development Society of Lesvos Island develops cultural activities and initiatives, mainly in the area of cultural tourism. It runs an international summer programme on Greek Language and Culture with people from all over the world especially designed in order to address the educational needs of non-native students. (facebook)
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This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) through the Operational Programme «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014-2020» in the context of the project “Study in Greece: Extroversion – Internationalization of Greek Universities (MIS 5071330).
