The easy way to learn Western 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 Western Armenian word has its pronunciation written in letters you know, and you can listen to it in a natural voice.

The alphabet is the same as in Eastern Armenian, but some letters are pronounced differently (for example Բ sounds like “p” and Պ like “b”). On LinguDay pronunciations follow Western Armenian, so you learn these differences correctly from the start.

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 Western 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 Western Armenian

• The consonant shift

  In Western Armenian some letters are read the other way round compared with Eastern Armenian: Բ sounds “p”, Պ “b”; Գ “k”, Կ “g”; Դ “t”, Տ “d”. So Բարեւ is read “parev”. Learning words by ear gets these right from the start.

• The present tense with “կը”

  In Western Armenian the present tense is made with the particle կը before the verb: կը սիրեմ “I love”. The negative is չեմ սիրեր. There is no grammatical gender, and cases are shown with endings.