What does “ta leo monos mou, ta akouo monos mou” mean in Greek?
Σκηνή σε κομμωτήριο στο Ηράκλειο
B2 Greek listening practice · Standard Greek · Curated for upper-intermediate learners
Greek has a complete one-line phrase for “nobody is listening to me”: τα λέω μόνος μου, τα ακούω μόνος μου (“I’m saying it to myself, I’m hearing it myself”). The line is said with a sigh or a small smile, half-frustrated and half-resigned. Greeks pull it out in family arguments and meetings where someone has stopped listening.
This clip drops the phrase into a haircut scene set in a Heraklion (Crete) salon: the speaker rambles about meeting someone, realizes the listener has tuned out, and delivers the line. Cretan Greek tends to soften certain consonants, giving the phrase a regional accent, but the idiom itself travels across the Greek-speaking world.
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this B2 Greek listening practice listening practice?
General Greek frequency
Spoken Greek frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s B2 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-GR 2017 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Greek family dramas and prime-time sitcoms (Παρά Πέντε, Στο Παρά Πέντε)
- ▸In Greek workplace arguments and political debate panels
- ▸In Greek stand-up comedy about not being heard
- ▸In Greek literature on Cretan rural life (Nikos Kazantzakis’s Zorba the Greek)
- ▸In Greek family WhatsApp chats when someone is being ignored