|
 |
Curious About Armenian? | ||
Tags: Armenian | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| tanya b Senior Member United States Joined 4769 days ago 159 posts - 518 votes  Speaks: Russian | Message 1 of 18 15 April 2012 at 1:42am | IP Logged | ||
|
Are you curious about Armenian? I thought I was the only one. But, actually, there are some on this forum who are also curious about it, as I was stunned to learn recently.
I speak as a non-Armenian who is fully fluent in it--speak, understand, read and write. The first time I heard Armenian I thought it sounded like every language I had ever heard, but spoken backwards. Sometimes it sounds a little like Navajo. Actually, in some ways, Armenian is a fusion of 4 languages... Farsi--it sometimes has a Persian swing to it, but Farsi is more playful. Greek--it is a classical IE language with no close relatives. Georgian--it is chock-full of crunchy consonant clusters. Russian--many nouns and adverbs on loan from Russian. What's hard about it? The alphabet. The pronounciation, especially consonants, but the vowels are pronounced exactly the same as in Spanish. What's easy about it? The grammar--no gender, very few irregular verbs, and rather simple noun case inflections, much easier than Russian for example. I recommend learning Eastern Armenian, it is much more widely spoken. Sardarabad Armenian Bookstore, Glendale, CA, USA has 4 CDs and a book called "Learn to Speak Eastern Armenian". Call them or go to their website. There is also Armenian language TV available in the US 24/7 thru satellite. Check it out. Most of the languages of the Caucasus are really cool, and Armenian is the most accessible to those in the West. Armenian sounds so different from any other language that even world class linguists wouldn't recognize it if they heard it. As a foreigner fluent in Armenian, you will definitely be a big fish in a little pond. I was asked to be on an Armenian language TV show in 2009, but my husband wasn't too keen on the idea. I was expecting my second child, and I would have been terrified. Hajoghootyoon (success) Edited by tanya b on 15 April 2012 at 1:48am 12 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Quinn Senior Member United States Joined 6314 days ago 134 posts - 186 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian, Spanish | Message 2 of 18 15 April 2012 at 2:24am | IP Logged | ||
|
Great information. Thank you!
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ellsworth Senior Member United States Joined 4948 days ago 345 posts - 528 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Irish | Message 3 of 18 15 April 2012 at 3:36am | IP Logged | ||
|
Thank you so much! I am really interested in Armenian and it definitely on my list of
languages I want to study so this is quite helpful. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6220 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 4 of 18 15 April 2012 at 6:34am | IP Logged | ||
|
Thanks Tanya b!
I'm thinking about learning Armenian for the next 6 week challenge. I figure if I can at least learn the alphabet in 6 weeks it will be a huge accomplishment :-) It is amazing how little is out there for self-instruction compared to other languages; especially considering there are more Armenian speakers in the diaspora than in Armenia itself! Tanya b I saw on another post you used "Spoken Armenian". Does anyone know where to find CD's for this course? I can only find tapes and I don't have a cassette player. Do you recommend "Learn to Speak Eastern Armenian"? Thanks again, what a fascinating language and country! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Merv Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5264 days ago 414 posts - 749 votes Speaks: English*, Serbo-Croatian* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 5 of 18 15 April 2012 at 6:44am | IP Logged | ||
|
Too bad Armenian is spoken by such few speakers that I would probably only learn it if I moved there and/or my
wife was an Armenian speaker. The people, history, and country are fascinating and close to my heart. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6263 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 6 of 18 15 April 2012 at 1:22pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I visited Armenia in 1993. I was walking in a park in Yerevan and an old man behind me barked something at me. He was quite persistent and finally I said in Russian, "Sorry, I don't understand Armenian."
It turned out he wanted to know the time - he had seen I was wearing a wristwatch. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6220 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 7 of 18 15 April 2012 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | ||
Actually, in the Los Angeles area there are a thousands of Armenian speakers. There is even a little Armenia around Hollywood. When I was in Boston I met a ton of Armenian speakers as well (great Armenian restaurants as well!!) I'm sure New York has a bunch as well. I read that there are more Armenian speakers outside of Armenia than in Armenia itself! True though, most people seem to learn it for heritage reasons or extended travel in Armenia. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ellsworth Senior Member United States Joined 4948 days ago 345 posts - 528 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Irish | Message 8 of 18 15 April 2012 at 10:11pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Well there is are lots of Armenia churches but I don't know what dialect they would speak
there. 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
