Learn Armenian

հայերէն

Language Facts:

Speakers: 5 million
Family: Indo-European
Status: Official in Armenia

Script: Armenian

The first thing to understand about the Armenian language is the two main dialects. Western Armenian is largely spoken by the wide diaspora worldwide and Eastern Armenian is the variety spoken in most of Armenia. There can be big grammatical differences between the two. For example, the indefinite article comes before the noun in Eastern Armenian but after the noun in Western Armenian.
The Armenian alphabet has 38 letters. It’s a very unique alphabet and becoming familiar is the initial step needed to learn Armenian.
Pronunciation can be challenging when learning. Many consonants can be combined together, even at the beginning of words. But with some practice it will become almost second nature. There are also many ejective consonants that must be practiced in order to speak the language well.
Armenian nouns have 7 cases. The 7th case, the locative, is not present in Western Armenian. Nouns have no gender.
Basic word order is Subject-Verb-Object.

Learn Armenian:

Books:

Eastern Armenian for English Speakers – good beginner textbook.

Youtube:

Online:

LingQ – has support for Armenian. Great for reading and vocabulary building. You can also import your own media and manage your known and unknown words.

Ling – Has a course in Armenian . Good for absolute beginners.

Anki deck with ~~ 900 words w/ English translations.

Italki – has several one-on-one tutors for Armenian. Having a native speaker to help you is a great way to improve quickly in the language.

Podcasts:

Courses:

Pimsleur – classic audio course in Armenian. Available in subscription format. Great for pronunciation and dialogues.