Just out of interest.....

It's good to make the effort .. but there is some truth in what you say .however in my experience so far its more likely easier for Cypriots  to converse in English than to try to understand a foreigners understanding of greek.

I myself am trying with duo lingo app and although only two.weeks 8 have learned through repetition but find it challenging understanding the structure of sentences as wording structure and order changes depending on context.

Several years ago I tried Maltese with the same issues...

Problem of conversing in Cypriot is your unsure if your meaning is fully understood.

My partner speaks 4 languages one of which is Greek.

Years ago we arranged a small building job. The builder didn't speak English. On completion he wanted more money for something.

I confirmed with her and she said price was for finished item. As I had not understood a word of their conversation I was at a loss.

I paid but vowed only to make agreements in future in my native language.

I believe Cypriots providing a service understand there will be more income if the English are catered for.

Having said that my 22 years in Cyprus has been pleasant and a question of working together with other nationalities to achieve positive outcomes.

@Drambuie

The trouble is that the typical Cypriot dialect is rather opaque to anyone other than another speaker of the dialect.  Although Greek is taught in school, many less educated people (especially in the villages) forget what they learned and revert to dialect in their everyday life.

Not to mention, of course, that tradesmen everywhere are past masters at seemingly saying one thing but actually "meaning"  something different: as Sam Goldwyn (allegedly) said, "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on." 

Ignoring his poor English, the principle is certainly worth taking to heart....