LingoflyAbout work in Western Armenian
Two acquaintances talk about work and vacation in Western Armenian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Ի՞նչ (inch) մասնագիտութիւն (masnakidut'yun) ունիս (unis)։» — What is your profession?; «Ես (yes) ծրագրաւորող (dzrakravorogh) եմ (em)։ Հեռաւար կ'աշխատիմ (herravar g'ashkhadim)։» — I am a programmer. I work remotely.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two acquaintances talk about work and vacation. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- yes dzrakravorogh em. Herravar g'ashkhadimI am a programmer. I work remotely.
Lines one by one
| Western Armenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ի՞նչ (inch) մասնագիտութիւն (masnakidut'yun) ունիս (unis)։ | inch masnakidut'yun unis | What is your profession? |
| Ես (yes) ծրագրաւորող (dzrakravorogh) եմ (em)։ Հեռաւար կ'աշխատիմ (herravar g'ashkhadim)։ | yes dzrakravorogh em. Herravar g'ashkhadim | I am a programmer. I work remotely. |
| Գրասենեակ (kraseneag) չե՞ս երթար (yert'ar)։ | kraseneag ches yert'ar | You don't go to an office? |
| Շաբաթը (shapat'ə) մէկ (meg) անգամ (ankam)։ Հոն (hon) հանդիպումներ կ'ըլլան (g'əllan)։ | shapat'ə meg ankam. Hon hantibumner g'əllan | Once a week. There are meetings there. |
| Իսկ (isg) արձակուրդ (artsagurt) ե՞րբ (yerp) ունիս (unis)։ | isg artsagurt yerp unis | And when is your vacation? |
| Յուլիսին (hulisin), յաջորդ ամիս (hachort amis)։ | hulisin, hachort amis | In July, next month. |
| Հիանալի է։ Լաւ (lav) արձակուրդ (artsagurt)։ | hianali e. Lav artsagurt | Wonderful. Have a good vacation. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Western Armenian in this situation?
“Ի՞նչ (inch) մասնագիտութիւն (masnakidut'yun) ունիս (unis)։” (inch masnakidut'yun unis) — What is your profession? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.