The Greek alphabet doesn't look like ours. Some of the letters are the same as the ones we use in America, but some look entirely different. Below is the Greek alphabet spelled out the way it sounds. You can use your dictionary, encyclopedia or the Internet to look up the word and see what the actual letter looks like. For example, in the "O" section of your dictionary look up the word "omega," it should show you that the Greek letter looks like an upside down horse shoe with feet pointed out. Then you can try to write your name in Greek, like Cassidy, which looks like : kappa, alpha, sigma, upsilon, delta, epsilon. Good luck, and have fun!

·lpha
veÈta or beta (the "eÈ" sounds like the "ee" in lee)
gh·ma
dhÈlta
Èpsilon
zeÈta
Èta
theÈta
yiÛta or iota
k·ppa
l·mdha
meÈ
neÈ
kseÈ
Ûmicron
peÈ or pi
rhÛ
seÈgma or sigma
t·f or tau
epsilon or upsilon
feÈ
kheÈ
pseÈ or psi
omÈgha

Now we'll look at some words that are in Greek:

"thank you" is "efkharisto" (eff-ka-ri-STOW)
"excuse me!" is "sighnomi"! (seeg-NO-meh)
"please" is "parakalo" (pah-rah-ka-LOW)
"good morning " is "kalimera" (kah-lee-MEH-rah)
"good evening (or afternoon)" is "kalispera" (kah-lee-SPARE-ah)
"good night" is "kalinikta" (kah-lee-NEEK-tah)
"come" is "ella" (pronounced AYE- lah) we really like saying ella!
"(it is) very good" is "poli kalo" (PO-lee kah-LO)
"(it is) very nice (or pretty)" is "poli orea" (PO-lee oh-RAY-ah) We really liked saying this to shop keepers. It usually made them laugh.
"where is. . ." is "pu ine. .." (pooh EEH-nay)
"open" is "aniktos" (ah NEEK toes)
"big" is "meghalos" (meg AH lows)
"small" is "mikros" (MEEK rows)
*"new" is "neos" (NEE ohs)
"old" is "palios" (pay lee OHs)

EGYPTIAN WORDS
We weren't in Egypt very long, so we didn't learn very many words. But we did learn some things like:

"shoukran" (showk-RON) is "thank you"
"offwan" (off-WAN) is "you're welcome"
"aiwa" (like the state Iowa) is "yes"
"la" or "la'a" (lah-ah) is "no"
"mumkin" (like pumpkin) is "possible"
"lei" or "lay" is "why"
"ala tour" (ah-lah- TOUR) is "straight ahead"

Egyptian words are usually written in the Arabic alphabet. In ancient times, when Egypt was ruled by the pharaohs, they were written with pictures called hieroglyphs. The "Rosetta Stone," which was found in Egypt near the town of Rosetta about 200 years ago, helped people understand how to read ancient hieroglyphs. It had the same message written in Greek as well as in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Our word "candy" is a derivation of the old Venetian name for the Cretan city of Iraklion, Candia. It was from this medieval fortress town that a sweet we now call Turkish Delight was shipped to Europe.