Dody Tsiantar, professor of journalism at the Columbia University in New York and Niki Georgatou, business executive in Greece, have launched a campaign for the promotion of Greek language in the Greek schools of the U.S.
Initially, the two women founded the Hellenic Book Club, a program specially designed for Greek schools which in collaboration with publishing houses in Greece, distributes a list of Greek educational books to Greek students. The program returns 20% of sales back to schools as a cash donation or with the equivalent amount of books.
According to Tsiantar, the demand is increasing as there is a shortage of these books in the U.S. “Within two years of operation of the Hellenic Book Club we have collaborated with 40 schools and we believe that soon their number will exceed 100,” she stated.
The two women have also created a dictionary addressed to Greek students called “Say it in Greek.” The dictionary contains 350 words both in English and Greek, including a phonetics guide on how to pronounce the words in Greek. The dictionary was a great success not only among students, but also among immigrants of second and third generation who want to improve their Greek even among people of other nationalities.
Tsiantar says that she loves the Greek language and that she has managed to transmit this love to her child who also speaks Greek fluently, despite being a third-generation immigrant.
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