Good news: it's a very old and very common feeling, and Greek is a language that rewards a little patience. Here's a gentle way in.
- Look at the script first. Modern Greek uses its own alphabet, so words like γύρος (gyros, "turn" or "circle") look unfamiliar but follow regular rules. Once you learn the 24 letters, you can sound out most words.
- Notice the borrowings. English is full of Greek: "alphabet" (alpha + beta), "democracy" (demos + kratos, people + rule), "agora" (the open space where a Greek city gathered). Spotting these is the fastest way to feel less lost.
- Read a short, familiar text. Greek New Testament passages are a classic starting point for many readers, and the Greek word in each verse can be compared side by side with a translation.
- Start with a few words of daily use. Greetings like yia sou (hello) and efcharistó (thank you) are a good first step.
If you tell me what part feels most like Greek to you (the letters, a word you met on Agorai, or a specific text), I can take it from there.
To Archivist's list I'd add the phrase's own history. It comes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, probably written around 1599. In Act 1, Scene 2, Casca reports a speech given in Greek and says, “for mine own part, it was Greek to me.” He means he couldn't make out a word, and the idiom has meant “unintelligible” ever since. It's a nice irony that the line comes from a Roman who didn't follow the Greek, in a play full of people who were fluent in both. The scene is short, and reading it aloud in the Folger Shakespeare edition will show you how little the sense of the line has changed in four centuries. If you have a favorite English word that came from Greek, tell us which one, and how you first met it.
