Laleo Language

25/02/2026

"You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter)." But how do you pronounce Cephas?

Is it "SEE-fas"? Or "KEFF-as"?

Half-way in between! Greek doesn't have a 'C'; the word in the New Testament is Κηφᾶς. In modern Greek, it would be pronounced kee-FASS (with the emphasis on the second syllable).

18/02/2026

"παραδιδωμι" means "to give over"; when speaking of people, it's usually translated "betrayed". Jesus said he would "be given over" (passive voice) to sinful men; but Paul says that Jesus gave *himself* over.

Moreover, uses the singular -- not "the one who loved us and gave himself over for us", but "the one who loved *me* and gave himself over for *me*".

Jesus knows, loves, and gave himself over for each of us individually.

Follow us for more insights from New Testament Greek!

11/02/2026

The English word "church" comes from Greek, but not the way you'd expect.

The Greek word your Bible translates as "church" is ἐκκλησία (ekklesia) — those called out (ἐκ "out" + καλέω "to call"). But that's not where "church" comes from.

κυριακὴ οἰκία (kyriakē oikia) — "the Lord's house," from κύριος (kyrios, "lord") — is thought to have been picked up into Proto Germanic as \*kirika, which in Old English became cirice, Middle English chirche, and finally modern English church. The same root became kirk in Scottish and Kirche in German.

Somewhere the idea of "church" got confused between the people and the building.

Follow us for more insights about New Testament Greek!

03/02/2026

We've had to RESCHEDULE our popular Greek Crash Course! This is your chance to join us for a 4-hour workshop that will get you reading the New Testament in its original language from day one. No prior experience needed. Click below for the new date and all the details!

laleolanguage.com/courses/grc-crash-course?utm=fb-post

Read your first scripture in 20 minutes. Our 4-hour crash course in Cambridge gets you reading the New Testament in Greek. No prior experience required.

19/01/2026

Laleo gives you selections from the New Testament where you already know most of the words already -- there's only one or two that you don't know or are weak on. Below is a visual representation -- a "heat map" of how difficult the algorithm thinks each word is for the person it recommended this verse to.

This is called the "N+1" rule in language learning: the idea that you should try to read or listen to things where you already know most of the words. "N+1" is conceptually simple, but implementing it is hard -- how do you actually find something to read where you already know most of the words?

That's where Laleo's Guided Immersion algorithm comes in. Our algorithm does the work, choosing a selection tailor-made for you, and won't stop until you can read the entire New Testament.

If you're in Cambridge, sign up for our free Greek Crash Course, 31 January! https://www.laleolanguage.com/courses/grc-crash-course?utm=fb-page

Learn Biblical Greek through Guided Immersion. Our algorithm finds texts at your perfect difficulty level with built-in spaced repetition. Free beta.

14/01/2026

Unusually specific Greek words: τρίμηνον (triminon), a three-month period.

I always enjoy discovering "unusually specific" words in other languages. English has fun words like "a twelvemonth" or "a fortnight"; Koine Greek apparently has "a three-month".

Follow us for fun facts about Biblical Greek; learn to read the New Testament in Greek yourself at https://laleolanguage.com

11/01/2026

ἐγώ ("eh-GO") means "I", and it's where we get words like "ego", "egocentric" and "egotistical" from.

And what could demonstrate a solid ego more than saying, "Truly truly I tell you, before Abraham came to be, I am"?

07/01/2026

How are airplanes, shoplifting, and John 10:18 related?

Airplane comes from the Greek word αιρω (airo, pronounced like "arrow"), which means to "lift" or "raise". But it can also mean "take", just as "lift" can sometimes mean "take" in English.

And that's the word Jesus used when he said of his life, "No one takes (αἴρει) it away from me, but I lay it down by myself." This translation is accurate and natural English, but in making it "natural", loses some of the structure that gives it rhetorical force. Note the parallels and contrasts:

οὐδεὶς (nobody) -> ἐγὼ (I)
αἴρει (lifts) -> τίθημι (lay down)
αὐτὴν
ἀπ
ἐμοῦ (me) -> ἐμαυτοῦ (myself)

Learn to read New Testament Greek and get insights for yourself at https://www.laleolanguage.com

03/01/2026

Want to read the New Testament in the original Greek?

I'm running a free 4-hour workshop in Cambridge on 31 January. No prior experience needed.

The method is called Guided Immersion — real scripture from the first minute, at a level you can actually understand. No artificial sentences, no grammar tables to memorize.

Afterward, continuing takes about as much time as a daily Wordle puzzle.

Details and booking: laleolanguage.com/courses/grc-crash-course?utm=fb-page

Read your first scripture in 20 minutes. Our 4-hour crash course in Cambridge gets you reading the New Testament in Greek. No prior experience required.

02/01/2026

This year, what if your daily brain exercise actually led somewhere?

Each Greek selection takes about a minute — the same time and mental effort as a Wordle puzzle.

The difference: after a year of Wordle, you're good at Wordle. After a year of Greek, you're reading the New Testament.

Free 4-hour crash course, Saturday 25 January in Cambridge. No experience needed.

laleolanguage.com/courses/grc-crash-course?utm=fb-page