Learning Greek in Athens: courses and exams

You can live in Athens on English for a while. You can't get long-term residence or citizenship without Greek, and you'll miss half the jokes.

The short version

The University of Athens runs the city's best-known Greek courses for foreigners, from €450 for a six-month evening course to €1,230 for an eight-month intensive in 2025–26. Students of Greek origin get a discount [1][2].
The official proof of Greek is the Certificate of Attainment in Greek, levels A1 to C2, run by the Centre for the Greek Language [4]. You can even sit it in Sydney or Melbourne [5].
EU long-term residence after five years requires good knowledge of Greek and some Greek history and culture, unless you've lived here legally for 12 years [7].
Citizenship by naturalisation means passing a separate written exam, the PEGP, on Greek language, history, geography, culture and institutions [6][8].
Grew up speaking Greek in Australia? You may test higher than you think, but your reading and writing will probably need the work.

Why bother with formal Greek?

Plenty of Aussies get by in central Athens with English, a smile and "efharisto". Younger Athenians often speak excellent English. But three things change once you're staying:

Admin. KEP counters, tax offices and landlords work in Greek. Gov.gr has English pages, but many forms and letters don't.
Status. Long-term residence and citizenship both test your Greek [6][7].
Belonging. Greek social life runs on long conversations. Your neighbours will forgive mistakes, but they'll warm to you faster when you try.

Where to learn in Athens

University of Athens

The Modern Greek Language Teaching Center at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (often called the Didaskaleio) is on the Zografou campus. Its 2025–26 programme shows the range [1][2][3]:

Course (2025–26)	Hours	When	Fee
8-month intensive, beginners	20 hours a week, 28 weeks	Mornings, Mon–Fri, 9am–1pm	€1,230 (€870 Greek origin)
6-month course, A1 to C2	8 hours a week, 20 weeks	Evenings, 5pm–9pm, twice a week	€450 (€320 Greek origin)
Greek citizenship course	6 hours a week, 28 weeks	Morning or evening options	€530

The intensive takes complete beginners towards B2 level in one academic year, with 37 ECTS credits for students who pass the final test and attend at least 80% of classes [1]. That's a full-time commitment, which suits people on a study visa, partners not working yet or retirees.

The evening course is the practical choice if you work. It starts in December, with registration and a placement test in late October and early November [2].

The citizenship course runs for the full academic year, but it needs at least 12 students to go ahead. You'll need your high school or university certificate, verified and officially translated into Greek, to enrol [3]. For Australians, that means getting your Year 12 certificate or degree apostilled through DFAT and translated before you arrive.

Registration for October courses usually closes in mid-September, so plan ahead [3]. The university also lists summer and online courses, which help if you want to start before you move.

Other options

Private language schools and cultural institutes. Athens has several established schools teaching Greek to foreigners, including the Hellenic American Union. Compare class sizes and whether they prepare you for the official certificate.
Your municipality. Some Athens municipalities and community organisations run low-cost or free Greek classes for residents. Ask at your local town hall (dimarcheio) or KEP.
One-to-one tutors. Useful for heritage speakers who need targeted work on reading and writing.
Language swaps. Many Athenians want English practice. Swapping an hour of each over coffee is how plenty of Aussies get conversational.

The Certificate of Attainment in Greek

If you need to prove your Greek, this is the certificate. The Centre for the Greek Language, supervised by the Ministry of Education, runs it at six levels from A1 (elementary) to C2 (excellent) [4]. There are versions for children aged 8 to 12, and an A2 for professional purposes.

The main exams are held every May at centres in Greece and abroad. For October 2026, the Centre ran an extra session only in Greece and only at A2 (professional purposes) and B1, with registration from 1 to 15 September 2026 [4].

Good news for anyone preparing before the move: the May exams are also held in Australia. In 2026 the Greek Community of Melbourne hosted them from 19 to 21 May, with registration from 1 February to 20 March, at A$160 per level for A1 to B1 and A$180 for B2 to C2 [5]. Macquarie University in Sydney is also an exam centre.

Level	What it roughly means	Who usually needs it
A1–A2	Basic survival Greek	Beginners checking progress; some job applications
B1	Intermediate, everyday independence	A common target for residence and work
B2	Good working Greek	Many university and professional settings
C1–C2	Advanced to near-native	Translators, teachers, Greek-language study

Check the exact level any office or employer wants before you book. Requirements vary and change.

How much Greek you need for residence and citizenship

EU long-term residence

Under Greece's Migration Code (Law 5038/2023), non-EU nationals can apply for EU long-term resident status after five consecutive years of legal residence. One way to show integration is good knowledge of the Greek language and of elements of Greek history and civilisation. The alternative is 12 years of legal residence [7]. The application fee is €150 and you apply online with the Ministry of Migration and Asylum [7].

Absences of up to six months in a row, and ten in total, don't break the five years [7]. That matters for Aussies who spend Christmas at home.

Citizenship by naturalisation

Naturalisation is a separate route, and it needs more years of residence first. Before you can apply, you must pass the Certificate of Adequacy of Knowledge for Naturalisation, known by its Greek initials as PEGP [6][8]. It was introduced in 2020 and tests:

Greek language
Greek history and geography
Greek culture
How Greece's constitutional institutions work

You apply for the exam on gov.gr using TAXISnet codes [8]. It runs twice a year, usually in April and November, and costs €150 per attempt. The Ministry of Interior publishes a pool of sample questions [6]. Pass rates in 2025 ran from about 45% to 51%, so don't treat it as a formality [6].

People who completed nine years of schooling, or six years of secondary school, in Greece are exempt, as are graduates of Greek universities [6].

If you're Greek-Australian

If you have a Greek parent, you may not need naturalisation at all. Citizenship by descent is a registration process with no language test. See our guide on that before you start studying for the PEGP.

Tips for heritage speakers raised in Australia

Lots of Greek-Australians arrive in Athens speaking kitchen Greek: fluent with family, shaky on paper. A few things we hear again and again:

Take the placement test seriously. Don't sign up as a beginner because you can't spell. You'll be bored. Many courses, including the University of Athens, place you by test [3].
Expect vocabulary from another era. Greek in Melbourne and Sydney absorbed English and kept older expressions. "Kara" for car and "marketa" for market will get a smile in Athens. Modern standard Greek moved on.
Focus on reading and writing. Spelling and formal register are usually the gaps. A tutor for a few months often does more than a full course.
Ask about the Greek-origin discount. The University of Athens charges students of Greek origin less, with proof [1][2].
Consider certifying before you leave. Sitting the exam in Melbourne or Sydney gives you a document you can use in Greece from day one [5].

For everyone else, a simple plan works: learn the alphabet before you land, do an evening course in your first year, and sit B1 at the end of it.

Want a language swap partner or a study buddy for the PEGP? Join Cooee Greece, our Facebook group for Australians in Greece, at /join/. Someone there has already made every mistake you're about to make.

Learning Greek in Athens: courses, certificates and the citizenship test