The use of Calabrian Greek can trace its roots to the ancient colonies of Magna Graecia, and possibly earlier[citation needed].

[citation needed] The evidence is based on archaisms in this language, including the presence of words from Doric Greek but no longer used in Greece (except in Tsakonian).

In the absence of a linguistic authority, in the late 1970s, the association Jalò tu Vúa initiated a research group to set up methodological standards to teach Calabrian Greek and draft a grammar for the schools.

The study of Ancient Greek was mainly a work of two monks of the monastery of Seminara: Barlaam, bishop of Gerace, and his disciple, Leonzio Pilato.

Calabrian Greek has never had a broad tradition in music, but there are a number of local folk groups that sing in this dialect.

Inspired by the efforts of Rohlfs, a group of university students looked to further increase the exposure of this dialect by publishing a pamphlet entitled La Ionica.

In 1970, the group established a cultural association named La Ionica and the pamphlet became a magazine, which contained poetry and prose in both Italian and in Greek Calabrian.

Following the example of La Ionica, other local associations were established, including Zoí ce glossa (Life and language) in Reggio Calabria, Cinurio Cosmó (New World) and Jalò tu Vúa in Bova Marina, CUMELCA in Gallicianò and Roghudi and Apodiafázi (Dawn) in Bova Superiore.

Despite the initial activity, the program has not made many advances because of the lack of qualified teachers and the fact that bilingualism is not present in administration.

The gradual decline in the use of Greek Calabrian is mainly from the population viewing it as nothing more than a dialect, a form of expression of the lower classes that is typical of rural and/or illiterate peoples.

Thus, the biggest problem remains the limited knowledge of the language on the part of the teaching fraternity for which bilingualism is not a mandatory element of their qualification.

Some further education of such graduates is offered by the odd cultural association such as Jalò tu Vúa but only by the support of the European Community.