The enthusiasm of the adult residents in the refugee camp of Kos was obvious, as they came to the registrations, received the educational material and started the Greek language lessons. From the very first lesson, they learned words and phrases in Greek that they proudly repeated to each other!

“I wanted so much to learn Greek! I know that you have to speak Greek to shop, to have a conversation and to find a job,” said Youssef from Syria in basic Greek with the help of his teacher.

Learning the Greek language is essential in the process of integration of refugees and migrants and for this reason it is important for them to have access to Greek language lessons from the first day of their arrival in Greece. Especially now that we are receiving dozens of requests from employers looking for staff, unfortunately thousands of refugees who lived on the islands and did not have the opportunity to learn Greek, their access to the labor market is almost impossible.

METΑdrasi provides Greek language lessons to adults in Chios, Lesvos, Samos and Kos, with the support of UNHCR.