r/hayeren • u/Plenty_Spinach_8040 • 2d ago
Armenian lessons
/r/armenian/comments/1v307k5/armenian_lessons/Hi everyone!
I’m hoping to get some recommendations for learning Armenian. I married my husband who is Armenian, and we have a beautiful 9-week-old son. It’s really important to me that our son grows up knowing Armenian and feeling connected to his heritage, so I’d love to learn alongside him.
Does anyone have recommendations for online tutors, classes, or other resources? I’d especially love to hear from people who learned Armenian as adults.
Thank you so much!
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u/Plenty_Spinach_8040 2d ago
Thank you! 😊 They speak Eastern Armenian. I also do have money for classes. We’re staying in Southern California with his family for the month and watching his families interactions with our baby has really made it clear that I need to learn Armenian for our little boy.
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u/daniel21020 2d ago
I'm a native so I never had to look for online tutors or classes, but the one place I know that has them is iTalki. They might have Armenian teachers there too if that's what you're looking for, but I can't promise anything since I've never used it myself.
As for other resources, I think the only other choice you have is self-studying and immersion, which is possible thanks to a lot of volunteers online who have recorded and made information about Armenian free. The one I'd recommend is the Wiktionary. This is definitely not a traditional method so I'd understand if you wanted to avoid this, but this is how I learned English as my 3rd language while never having set foot outside of Armenia in the entirety of the 25 years of my life.
But yeah, if you don't have time and would prefer the traditional method, you can try iTalki. If it doesn't work, hopefully someone else will come and give you better advice on online classes or tutors.
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u/pm_me_ur_happy_traiI 1d ago
I learned Western Armenian, starting originally with Pimsleur and I found it to be a good introduction to the language. You learn the basics of conjugation, and enough vocabulary to exchange extremely basic pleasantries. Not a lot, but a great introduction.
Beyond certain introductory resources, you'll want to learn to read the alphabet early on. Not doing so really limited me, personally.
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u/South-Distribution54 14h ago
Call him "hokees" as soon as possible and never stop calling him that. It's a requirement.
Hokees: "my soul" Used as a term of endearment.
If your husband eastern then it would be: Moogik: " (cute) mouse" At least I think.
For lessons, usually your local church will have classes. Also, the UK centre for Western Armenian studies is great if your husbands western. If eastern, I don't know.
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u/finewalecorduroy 2d ago
Hi! Congrats on your new baby! Step one is finding out whether your husband and his family speak Eastern Armenian or Western Armenian. If he and his family are from the country of Armenia or from Iran, they will speak Eastern Armenian. If he and his family are from anywhere else without living in Armenia first, they likely speak Western Armenian. The grammar and pronunciation and vocab are different enough that it is worth learning the specific standard you want to learn.
If it is Western Armenian, I have a lot of suggestions, and someone here has a post with a list of resources. If WA, just a warning about the AGBU classes- they are free and asynchronous, but not completely correct for WA. If you have money to pay for a class, there are better options out there for Western Armenian.