Speak Cretan in 15 minutes! (1)
West Crete Journal, June 2006

Nearly a year after the Cretan dialect was officially accepted by the European parliament as one of the official European minority languages (in the esteemed company of Welsh, Gaelic, and Basque), we thought it may be useful for clients to impress the local people by learning a few words and phrases of this ancient language.  To start this learning course, you will need to have a rapier wit, be fluent in modern Greek, and probably suffer from an obscure personality disorder.

Here is this issue's Cretan vocabulary, from which we will form a Very Useful phrase below:

Cretan

Greeklish

English

Αμπλά

abl-AH

sister

Γλακώ

glak-OH

I run

Κατσούλι

kat-SOO-lee

cat

Κουζουλί

koo-zoo-LEE

crazy

Κουλούκι

koo-LOO-kee

puppy

Μαντάτα

man-TA-ta

news

Μπέμπω

b-EH-bo

I send

Όντε

OH-de

when

Οψές

op-SAYS

yesterday

Today’s Very Useful Cretan Phrase
(writ large for those of you who may think it's a knitting pattern)

Οψές όντε νε γλάκουνα για να πάω στο Ταχυδρομείο, να μπέψω τσ’απλάς μου ένα γράμμα με τα μαντάτα του χωριού, είδα ένα κουζουλό κουλούκι να κηνυγά την κατσούλα μου.

Yesterday, when I was running to the Post Office to send my sister a letter with the village news, I saw a crazy dog chasing my cat.

Say this to your Cretan friends and watch their reactions!  We're sure they will be so pleased, that they will pester you daily about when your next Cretan lesson is due. Or they may just start avoiding you in the street ...