Armenian
Armenian — Indo-European family, about 6–7 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: Aybuben — the Armenian alphabet, 39 letters, created in 405 AD. This site has 4060 words and 40 letters with audio.
Where to start
First words
Every conversation starts with them — and so does the first impression: one greeting in the local language and you stop being a stranger within a second.
- Բարևbarevhisounds like ba-REV, stress on the last syllable, as in almost every Armenian word
- Բարև ձեզbarev dzezhellodzez means 'to you': the polite greeting for strangers and elders; barev alone is for friends
- Բարի լույսbari luysgood morningbari — kind, luys — light: literally 'kind light'
- Բարի օրbari orgood afternoonthe same bari as in barev; or means day
- Բարի երեկոbari yerekogood eveningyereko — evening. Morning, day and evening all follow one pattern: bari + the time of day
- Ցտեսությունtstesut'yungoodbyefrom tesnel — to see; literally 'until seeing', the same build as 'until we meet again'
- Հաջողhajoghbyethe informal send-off between friends; at root it means 'successful'
- Շնորհակալությունshnorhakalut'yunthank youlong word, but only one stress, on the last syllable: shnor-ha-ka-lu-TYUN
How it sounds
Five words spoken aloud: click the speaker and pick the translation. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.
- What is this word?
It is Բարև (barev) — hi.
- What is this word?
It is Շնորհակալություն (shnorhakalut'yun) — thank you.
- What is this word?
It is Ինչպե՞ս ես (inchpes es) — how are you?.
- What is this word?
It is Դուք (duk') — you (plural).
- What is this word?
It is Բարի երեկո (bari yereko) — good evening.
About the language
| Native name | Հայերեն · hayeren |
| Official in | Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (de facto) |
| Also spoken in | Russia, the USA, France, Georgia, Lebanon and Iran |
| How many speakers | about 6–7 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue) |
| Family | Indo-European family, its own branch with no close relatives |
| Writing | Aybuben — the Armenian alphabet, 39 letters, created in 405 AD |
| Writing direction | left to right |
Hard: a brand-new alphabet and aspirated consonants English does not have.
Easy: no grammatical gender, stress almost always on the last syllable, many recognizable loanwords.
What Russian speakers most often take it up for: moving to Yerevan, work, family, roots.
How lessons work
A lesson is up to half an hour a day, split into three to five short sessions. A word comes back not on the course's schedule but at the moment you are about to forget it: the interval is computed by an algorithm from your own answers.
- The longer you want to keep a word, the rarer its repetitions should be. To hold it for a week, review every day; to hold it for a year, about once a month.checked many timesCepeda et al., 2008, Psychological Science 19(11) · Over 1,350 participants, tested after delays of up to a year. The best gap is about 20% of the target interval on a horizon of weeks, and 5–10% on a horizon of a year.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Pay someone to study and they study less, not more. Praise and a clear explanation of their mistakes do the opposite — they help.checked many timesDeci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, Psychological Bulletin 125(6) · 128 experiments. Material reward: d = −0.40 for taking part, −0.36 for finishing. Praise and feedback: +0.33.
Frequently asked
Where to start learning Armenian?
With the script: 40 letters are worked through in a week or two, and after that words stop being pictures.
How many people speak it in Armenian?
About 6–7 million speakers — an estimate from Ethnologue. Nobody runs an exact census of languages, and sources disagree by noticeable amounts.
Is Armenian hard?
A brand-new alphabet and aspirated consonants English does not have. At the same time, no grammatical gender, stress almost always on the last syllable, many recognizable loanwords.
Where is it spoken in Armenian?
An official language in: Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (de facto). Noticeable communities: Russia, the USA, France, Georgia, Lebanon and Iran.
Is Armenian in Duolingo?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Duolingo’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Armenian in full: 4060 words, with audio, the script explained, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.