The easy way to learn Armenian: a 4-step method

The secret: small, regular steps

Most beginners study for hours in the first week, get tired in the second and give up. The brain can only turn a limited amount of new information into lasting memory at a time; the rest is gone the next day.

That is why the daily goal on LinguDay is 10 words. Five to ten minutes is not tiring, fits into any day and adds up to about 300 words a month. Easy comes from doing a little every day.

Start with pronunciation

If you don’t know how to say a word, it’s harder to remember it. On LinguDay every Armenian word has its pronunciation written in letters you know, and you can listen to it in a natural voice.

Armenian has its own alphabet, so the first days take some getting used to, but words are mostly written as they are pronounced. On LinguDay every word’s pronunciation is given in Latin letters, so you can start before learning the alphabet.

See words in sentences, not alone

A word memorized alone is quickly forgotten; a word that is part of a sentence is remembered with its meaning. Every word comes with an example sentence, and short conversation lessons show words in real dialogues.

There are currently 7 Armenian conversation lessons; the introduction and everyday conversation lessons are free.

Keep moving without forgetting: short reviews

Trying to recall what you learned a few days later is the most effective way to make it stick. The daily test asks about words from recent days and shows which ones need review.

So you learn new words without losing the old ones. Your progress page shows your learned words and study days.

Tips for learning Armenian

• Aspirated and plain consonants

  Armenian has pairs of consonants that differ only by a puff of air: Պ is a plain “p” like in “spin”, Փ is an aspirated “p” like in “pin”; the same goes for Տ/Թ and Կ/Ք. Խ is like the “ch” in Scottish “loch”, and Ղ is close to a French “r”.

• No gender, plenty of endings

  Armenian has no grammatical gender. Cases are shown with endings added to the noun, and “the” is also an ending: տուն “house”, տունը “the house”. The verb often comes at the end of the sentence.