![Cyprus, a linguistic time capsule](https://cyprus-mail.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/feature-rebekah-main-Killis-is-a-small-donkey-%E2%80%93-or-man-%E2%80%93-from-the-ancient-Greek-its-killos-or-killis.-In-modern-Greek-its-gaidouraki.jpg)
For anyone learning Greek in Cyprus, the struggle is real.
While mainland modern Greek is taught as a second language to foreigners living on the island and can be used outside the classroom, it does not help when it comes to actually comprehending the Cypriots. Many are left baffled.
The problem is that Cypriot is a dialect which Cypriots speak amongst themselves, while they use modern Greek in schools and