Western Armenian

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n8an
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Western Armenian

Postby n8an » 2017-07-11, 15:32

Is anybody learning Western Armenian? :D

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linguoboy
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby linguoboy » 2017-07-11, 16:43

I gave it a shot many years ago, but I was stymied for lack of good materials. I learned the alphabet, some vocab, and some simple sentences.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

n8an
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby n8an » 2017-07-12, 3:57

linguoboy wrote:I gave it a shot many years ago, but I was stymied for lack of good materials. I learned the alphabet, some vocab, and some simple sentences.


It's a shame.

I've found some good resources, but unless you have Armenian diaspora friends then you're pretty alone. There's basically zero TV or music produced in the Western dialect anymore, and listening to Eastern Armenian becomes quite confusing with the pronunciation and grammar.

I have Armenian friends who speak Western Armenian but they don't speak it very well and have no interest whatsoever in helping me learn. I was even "hanging out with" an Armenian who asked me to learn Armenian...but was completely helpless at helping me learn.

księżycowy

Re: Western Armenian

Postby księżycowy » 2017-07-12, 14:50

I have some pretty good resources (imo) lying around my house. I have no idea if or when I will study it, but I have wanted to study Armenian (Eastern and Western) for a while now. Though I do have a slight preference to the Eastern dialect.

n8an
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby n8an » 2017-07-12, 15:07

księżycowy wrote:I have some pretty good resources (imo) lying around my house. I have no idea if or when I will study it, but I have wanted to study Armenian (Eastern and Western) for a while now. Though I do have a slight preference to the Eastern dialect.


There are definite advantages to learning Eastern.

Most of all - you can actually speak it in Armenia. You can also listen to Armenian music/watch Armenian TV. Linguistically, too, the Eastern dialect has a different pronunciation for every single letter, whereas Western combines some letters.

All three of those factors are really annoying me right now as I learn Western. I'm planning a trip to Armenia, and I know that I'll be stuck a lot of the time. I also hate that I don't have songs to sing along to. And the pronunciation differences are more annoying than I expected because I feel like I really struggle with spelling at times.

That being said, I do prefer the sound of Western Armenian. I also think Eastern Armenian is far too Russified. And not to forget - I really like the fact that I'm learning a language that is more or less dying with time, and I like to think that I'm helping keep it alive.

Also, all my Armenian friends speak Western.

It's still really annoying that I can't use apps like HelloTalk much because everybody there speaks Eastern Armenian.

księżycowy

Re: Western Armenian

Postby księżycowy » 2017-07-12, 17:12

n8an wrote:I really like the fact that I'm learning a language that is more or less dying with time, and I like to think that I'm helping keep it alive.

I used to feel that way about studying Irish. Now I've kinda cooled off that opinion...

n8an
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby n8an » 2017-07-13, 16:39

księżycowy wrote:I used to feel that way about studying Irish. Now I've kinda cooled off that opinion...


Yeah, understandable.

I think if my friends spoke Eastern I wouldn't even consider Western, but all my friends are diaspora Armenians so... :para:

Even my friend who lives in Armenia speaks Western.

I do hope it pays off. I think I will get to understand Eastern because I'm trying to keep aware of the differences where possible and I will listen to music as much as possible.

Anyway, ինչ պես էք?

lipanantsi
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby lipanantsi » 2018-01-11, 7:03

hi guys! i am actually learning western armenian. it all started because i fell in love with an armenian fellow. the fact that i actually live in a country where there is a surviving armenian diaspora (lebanon) helps a lot as it exposes you more to the language. it is true that there arent as much material as there is for eastern armenian... but nevertheless i have found two really good books 1) Western Armenian for the English speaking world, a contrastive approach by Dora Sakayan and 2) J’apprends l’Armenian - Chirak imprimerie (in case you know french). Also i have been watching kids shows in west. armenian (i know that sounds deseperate but it really helps) its called Tallin and friends. you’ll find it on youtube. they have songs that stick to your brain and fixes vocab into your memory. anyway hope this help! Tsdesutyun!

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linguoboy
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby linguoboy » 2018-01-11, 16:02

Sakayan's book is $200+ on Abe Books.
Last edited by Aurinĭa on 2018-01-28, 13:15, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Edited to remove copyrighted material
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

księżycowy

Re: Western Armenian

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-11, 17:49

Abril Books (A store based in California that specializes in Armenian books) has some books for sale for Western Armenian. Including Sakayan's two books (one for Western and one for Eastern) for a less exoratent price (though still a bit hefty; I think last time I check it was 90$ for hardcover).

I'll try to remember to post a link later. Can't at the moment.

EDIT: Link.

lipanantsi
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby lipanantsi » 2018-01-27, 8:53

so are you guys progressing? g harachanan gor? i want to suggest adding the website Nayiri to your material set. it is really helpful as it is an online dictionnary that translates words from english/french/spanish... to western armenian and vice versa! you can use it to actively keep track of your memorized vocab or even add to it when desired. of course you cannot translate whole sentences as we all know this would not be accurate.

Ps: i downloaded Sakayan’s book for free and printed out. it had cost me no more than 25$.

Anw, best of luck!
Jad

księżycowy

Re: Western Armenian

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-27, 11:48

Concidering it appears to still be in print, I'd be careful about advocating the downloading of non-officially released PDFs. Just saying.

lipanantsi
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Re: Western Armenian

Postby lipanantsi » 2018-01-27, 12:18

lol why what could happen?

btw its G haratchanak gor*? :oops:

księżycowy

Re: Western Armenian

Postby księżycowy » 2018-01-28, 12:18

I invite you to read the forum rules: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=42144#p923509 (in particular section 4.6.2)

In short: you could get banned. We don't mess with copyright laws here.

księżycowy

Re: Western Armenian

Postby księżycowy » 2018-03-13, 14:04

Just in case anyone comes to this thread and hasn't seen our poll in the Georgian forum, please check out this poll that will help us decide what to do with the Northwest, Northeast Caucasian, Kartvelian languages and with Ossetic and Armenian.

viewtopic.php?f=22&p=1103268#p1103268


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