Reviews (texts)

By Anna Hestler January 31, 2013 At a mini-market on the Greek island of Ikaria, I study the labels on various items, trying to decipher their meaning. It’s been three days since I left my Greek husband back in New York and dove headfirst into a local language immersion course. I’m feeling a tad out of my depth. Read more in Read More

Una bellissima esperienza in un posto magico. Due settimane di corso intensivo con Mihali a Ikaria valgono come un anno di lezioni private ma, in più, in una cornice straordinaria come quella di un paesino sperduto nella natura in un’isola dell’Egeo. Grazie, ευχαριστώ πολύ !Alberto (Trieste, Italy) Read More

What can I say about my experience that nobody has already expressed? For me, when the time came to leave, I couldn’t remember what life was like anywhere else in the world. But that’s just it… in Ikaria, you are able to forget the world and focus on what it is that you came for… Each morning, I awoke to Read More

Send by María Teresa Montaño Martín - Find María Teresa Montaño Martín at social media http://www.facebook.com/mariateresa.montanomartin I attended classes in September 2017 and I really enjoyed the experience. I never thought that in just two weeks you could learn a lot, thanks to the great organization and the great professionalism of the teacher. It has been a great experience, both Read More

Vannesa Janowski's report - 2004 Source: https://hsp.macmillan.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/student_reports/Janowski.pdf Melida Delis' Report - Source: https://hsp.macmillan.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/student_reports/Delis.pdf Angela Wade’s report June–Aug 2005 Source: https://hsp.macmillan.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/student_reports/Wade.pdf Ilyana Sawka’s report 09/16/05 Source: https://hsp.macmillan.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/student_reports/Sawka.pdf Eleni Bensons’ report 2006 Source: https://hsp.macmillan.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/student_reports/Benson06.pdf Read More

This August I again took a two-week course in Ikaria. And again, it was a very pleasant experience. This year there were 14 students and our group consisted of 6 people. I noticed several very welcome changes: The classes were always held in the mornings. This way it was possible to spend the afternoons studying at the beach. Each day Read More

Seit 6 Jahren lerne ich griechisch. Nach 2 Sprachkursen bei einer anderen Organisation wollte ich Neues probieren. Ich fand einen Kurs von 12. - 23. Mai bei Michalis auf Ikaria Wir waren 5 Teilnehmer in 2 Gruppen. Der Unterricht gestaltete sich abwechslungs-reich mit Texten, Übungen, Spielen Projekten, und "Freizeitprogramm" mit Singen, Kochen, Ausflügen. Von morgens bis abends nur griechisch - Read More

Apprendre le grec est un projet que j’ai depuis quelques années mais que j’avais toujours mis de côté par manque de temps, priorité, etc. Il y a un an, j’ai décidé d’agir et je me suis donc inscrite au stage de 3 semaines en aout 2015 à l'Ikarian Centre. J’ai opté pour le logement gratuit, une des cabines situées dans Read More

I am Spanish, 27yo, mathematician, and I study Greek for fun, because I love the country and its people and lived in Athens for a few months yeas ago. I did the summer course and I definitely recommend the Ikarian Centre: great lessons, beautiful school in the mountain, Greek beaches and local parties in small villages. The lessons: with my Read More

Voici mon commentaire bi-lingue ! (mais pas encore en grec...) The curses Center is located in a very beautiful area, with a wonderful view of the sea and the mountains. It is a little far from Evdilos (20 minutes by car). The lessons are well organized, with educational tools to made learning the vocabulary and grammar easier. Sometimes, I found Read More

Watercolour, postcard size. Bea Banfi 2015 Realised during artistic residency in Ikaria Read More

An extraordinary and expiring place, Ikaria has everything an artists needs – colours and a very diverse nature, lovely towns, a peaceful Environment – and white sand and clear sea when you need some test! Team of people very friendly and beautiful and big guesthouse. Definitely recommend. Read More

I am a huge fan of Greek islands. Five years ago I finally started learning Modern Greek. After completing the two excellent Pimsleur’s audio courses I took several consecutive Modern Greeek courses at the Ljubljana University. I am very grateful to my Greek teacher Mrs. Vasso Varsamakidou who taught me so much about Greek language and culture. Although I learned Read More

I spent two weeks in Ikaria having had the program recommended to me by a colleague. I'm a professor of ancient Greek and so know something both about learning and teaching languages: I thought the course was fantastic. The teaching style was dynamic and thorough. The teachers demanded a lot, but it never felt like too much and this they Read More

It was not a good idea for me to come to Ikaria By airplane because Arethousa is so far away from the airport and I was afraid all the time in my taxidrive!I think that the taxijourney was very expencive too. I have Holiday now and the better way for me is the boat to Evdilo. Taxidrivers in the airport Read More

I have been learning greek for quite some years now and have always wanted to go on a summer school where you can take an intensive language class, however most such classes last for a month or two which can be hard to combine with work or other plans. Luckily I got to know about the greek language course in Read More

What can I say about my experience that nobody has already expressed? For me, when the time came to leave, I couldn’t remember what life was like anywhere else in the world. But that’s just it… in Ikaria, you are able to forget the world and focus on what it is that you came for… Each morning, I awoke to Read More

Cari amici che avete voglia di andare all' Ikarian Centre a Salonicco, andateci!! Ho frequentato un corso di due settimane (agosto '11) ed e' stata un'esperienza assolutamente positiva. Dal punto di vista linguistico l'insegnamento e' improntato molto sulla parte orale, conversazioni, dialoghi, canzoni, film (al cinema) senza pero' trascurare la parte scritta e grammaticale. Abbiamo inoltre incontrato persone, greche e Read More

I attended a two-week Greek course in Thessaloniki and I must say that I am very satisfied. I had studied the language two hours a week for only 8 months before I arrived in Greece and I wasn't really able to speak or understand properly. Now at the end of the course I can communicate much better with the Greeks Read More

I can fully recommend studying Greek at the Ikarian Centre. Ikaria is a great place to spend time. The centre is in a rural location in the mountains, not too far from the town, Evdilos, and the seaside. The scenery is amazing and there is lots to see on the island – several excursions were organised. The food is also Read More

I have been studying modern greek for almost 4 years at the Hellenic centre in London- www.helleniccentre.org/greekcourses.htm. I enjoyed this so much, I wanted to advance my greek by doing a more intensive course in Greece for two weeks- at the same time getting away from it all on what was reputed to be a left wing, slow-to-respond island. The Read More

July 16, 2006 We’ve finished the first 5 days of classes. As someone who is not facile with languages, not to mention starting one at my age, I must say that the methods they use here really make learning Greek possible, if you work at it. The hard part is continuing it when you leave, but when you’re here, it’s Read More

July 10, 2006 Prior to coming to this lovely island for our third straight summer, we spent a day in Athens of the sort that you can only do when you are on vacation. That is, after leaving our hotel, we spent several hours looking for a CD with the violinist Yiannis Zevgolis. The instrument museum shop was closed, so Read More