Recommended books 
Here are some books I recommend. Because I come from Germany, most of these are useful for German speakers. I also include some books you shouldn't buy, because you'll be issued them in the MTC or when you arrive in Greece. Disclaimer: I liked these books, and they helped me. You may learn differently, or look for something else in a book. Your mileage may vary.
If you have a comments on these books or would like to submit some titles of books that have helped you, e-mail me with your suggestions and I'll add them to this page.
Also, I don't know which books the mission and the MTC currently issue the missionaries. About the time that I left, they were re-evaluating which books missionaries use frequently, and, as a consequence, some the books I'm recommending you buy may already be standard issue. Can anyone send me the list of currently issued books? Either e-mail me, or send it to me by post (my address is in the "about myself" page). Thanks a lot!
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I bought this book before my mission and was very glad I did. It helped me a lot. I read through it before I entered the MTC, and while I hadn't learned any of the contents by heart, the fact that I'd seen the matter before made it easier to learn. I also consider it a good grammar reference, and used it as such both in the MTC and during my mission.
A good two-way dictionary, with a good set of Greek grammar tables (verb, noun, and adjective endings, etc.). Notable also for the fact that in the Greek-to-German section, it shows the conjugation pattern of verbs and the ending patterns for irregular adjectives. The pocket edition of Langenscheidt's dictionary doesn't contain these indications, and so if you're looking for a pocket dictionary that you can carry around with you, I'd go for
This is the standard Greek grammar that is used in schools. A good basic guide to Greek grammar. It cost 355 drachmas when I bought it, so very affordable. (I believe this is now issued to all missionaries?)
This is Triandafyllidis' original work; the school grammar is an abridgement, and this is the real thing. It contains lots of rules, also about the polytonic system (the school grammar is only about monotonic).
This is the first edition of the complete bible in demotic; previously, only the New Testament was available in Demotic, while the complete Bible was available only in the "original" Ancient Greek (the Septuagint translation) or in katharevousa (the "Βάμβας" translation). When I went on a mission, this translation hadn't appeared yet, and in the MTC we were issued the Vamvas katharevousa translation. However, rumour says that now missionaries are issued this Bible instead. It's not a real translation from the original languages, but only a "modernisation" of Vamvas. (I suppose in this respect it's a little bit like the New King James Version.) It cost me 4500 drachmas. The best place to get it is the bookstore "Ο Λόγος", Εμμ. Μπενάκη 28, Αθήνα.
