μιλάτε ελληνικά;

Do you speak Greek? (translation of the title of today's post) Note here they use a semicolon instead of a question mark. Also of note, in numbers, they use a comma where we would use a period. For example $4.50 is 4,50 euros.

I didn't do much today in the sense of seeing sites or historical things, so I wasn't sure what I was going to write about. As I was sitting here practicing my modern Greek, it came to me. I thought I'd teach you a few Greek phrases.
I ventured out to four different stores today. I picked up bug spray, hair products, and a mug from a store called the Hondos Center. Then I went to a pharmacy to get rubbing alcohol. My third trip was to a Scout Store for some high quality plastic food storage containers. I'm just now realizing I don't actually know if these have a short name, I wanted to say "Tupperware" instead but realized that is actually a brand and not the name of the thing such as Kleenex being what we call facial tissues even though Kleenex is actually just a brand. Back on topic now.... My final trip was to a supermarket for eggs, butter, and milk. During all of these interactions I used varying amounts of Greek. Sometimes I feel very confident in my interactions and my Greek, other times I feel embarrassed and unintelligent. I know most of the 'get by' basics, but I can't go much beyond the surface. Today, I knew I would have trouble trying to ask for specific products, so I used a translator before I left and wrote them on a piece of paper in Greek. I did this because I knew that even though many people here actually speak English, I was going to use some obscure words they don't hear as often and may not know.
My usual approach if I know I will need to ask a lot of questions, thus speaking a lot and also using a lot of words I don't know in Greek, is just to immediately ask if the person speaks English.
Otherwise I try to communicate in Greek knowing I will only have to say things like Hello, Good Morning, Thank you, Do you accept credit cards?, Yes, and No.
If for some reason the person starts speaking to me in Greek more than the numbers of what my purchases cost, I also am quick to say "I don't understand" in Greek.
The above phrases are what I'm going to share with you today. I will put the English phrase, then the phrase in Greek, then an English pronunciation. The capitalized parts are where the accent goes.

Do you speak English? - μιλάτε αγγλικά  - meeLAHteh ahngleeKAH

Hello - γεια - yah (informal);   γειασας - YAHsas (formal)

Good Morning - Καλημέρα - kahleeMEHrah

Thank you - ευχαριστώ - efhahreeSTOH

Yes - Ναί - Neh

No - όχι - OHhee

I don't understand - Δεν καταλαβαίνω - thehn kahtahlahVEHnoh


Most people here know some English. We have encountered a few who don't, but there is usually someone nearby who does. The day we rode from the airport to our residence, the taxi drive told us that most people are required to learn English if they want to get a job. Another student at the school here said that in school they often learn at least one other language and English is an important one as it is what most people take as a second language. I would love to be fluent in another language.