The online educational platform teaching Greek to foreigners abroad (staellinika.com) is now available for French and German speakers as well, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Monday.
The platform, which provides language and culture lessons, is now available in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, besides Greek.
According to the ministry, the platform is a result of collaboration between the ministry's General Secretariat of Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (the initial donor), and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University.
The French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish versions were funded by the ministry.
All applications on it are free and are addressed to individual users as well as schools, for which there are specialized services to support teachers.
The platform staellinika.com is constantly being developed with new teaching apps and new languages.
"The Greek language and Greek culture are a huge power for diaspora Greeks, an integral component of our identity," Deputy Foreign Minister Giorgos Kotsiras said.
"Therefore, promoting Greek learning is our constant aspiration. In this direction, we are using up-to-date technology, especially the Internet, to provide the young people of the diaspora and foreign speakers the opportunity to get in touch directly with the Greek language and our cultural resources," the deputy minister added.
The expansion into French and German, he said, will open up this digital tool to an even greater audience globally.
The enrichment of staellinika.com is part of the Strategic Plan for Greeks Abroad (2024-2027), Kotsiras noted.
Secretary General John Chrysoulakis invited young diaspora Greeks who live in French- or German-speaking regions to make use of the tool and boost their connections to Greece.
(See English-language version HERE)
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