You already know 8 Greek letters before learning anything. They look the same as their Latin counterparts and make essentially the same sound.
These are true friends — no memorization needed. You just recognize them. Greek gave the Latin alphabet most of its shapes, so many letters are direct ancestors of what you already know.
Coming from Cyrillic? You'll notice something odd: Η looks like H, but in Greek it sounds like "EE" — and P looks like P but sounds like R. Those are false friends and they're in Lesson 2. For now, enjoy the wins.
In later lessons you'll meet the false friends, then the genuinely new shapes. But first: 8 letters, zero effort.
Your first 8 letters
Α
α
"AH"
like "a" in fatherDE: wie in Bahn
Ε
ε
"EH"
like "e" in bedDE: wie in Bett
Ι
ι
"EE"
like "ee" in feetDE: wie in sie
Κ
κ
"K"
exactly like K
DE: wie in Karte
Μ
μ
"M"
exactly like M
DE: wie in Mutter
Ο
ο
"OH"
like "o" in oceanDE: wie in Boot
Τ
τ
"T"
exactly like T
DE: wie in Tisch
Ζ
ζ
"Z"
like "z" in zooDE: stimmhaftes s wie in sagen
Lowercase forms (grey) are used inside words. Most are identical to their uppercase — except μ (looks like a script m with a tail) and τ (looks like a cross without the left arm). Both sound exactly as expected.
Z note: In German, "z" sounds like "ts" (as in Zeit). Greek ζ is the voiced Z of English zoo — in German that sound is spelled "s" before vowels, as in sagen.
Drill — flash the letters
A letter appears. Think of its sound, then reveal to check.
0 of 0 correct
What sound does this make?
Α
Word challenge — sound it out
Now try real words using only your 8 letters. Tap each one to reveal — and listen to the pronunciation.
ΜΑΜΑ
ΑΤΟΜΟ
ΤΟΚΙΟ
ΜΟΤΙΒΟ
ΑΜΟΚ
GeoGuessr tip: After Lesson 2 you'll be able to read ΑΘΗΝΑ (Athens) — Α·ΘΗ·Ν·Α = "A-thee-na". You already know the first and last letter. One more lesson and you're reading the Greek capital.
🎉
Lesson complete!
Ask your teacher anything. If something in this lesson is unclear, just ask a follow-up in the chat. Your teacher (Claude) can explain any letter, word, or concept in more depth.