The new colleague in Western Armenian

How the whole thing sounds

The situation: two people discuss a new colleague: character, actions and whether to trust him. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.

• Ինչպիսի՞ մարդ է նոր գործընկերը։

  inchbisi mart e nor kordzəngerə

  What is the new colleague like?
• Բծախնդիր է եւ վճռական։ Բայց քիչ մը ինքնամփոփ։

  pdzakhntir e yev vjrragan Payts k'ich mə ink'namp'op'

  Meticulous and resolute. But a little reserved.
• Ինծի թուեցաւ՝ նեղսիրտ է։ Երէկ կատակ ըրի, եւ ան լռեց։

  indzi t'vetsav neghsird e Yereg gadag əri, yev an lrrets

  He seemed touchy to me. Yesterday I joked, and he fell silent.
• Ան չարութենէ չէ։ Պարզապէս տակաւին լեզու չէ գտած մեզի հետ։

  an charut'ene che Barzabes dagavin lezu che kdadz mezi hed

  It is not out of malice. He just hasn't found his footing with us yet.
• Իսկ խօսքը կը պահէ՞։ Ես չեմ սիրեր, երբ ինծի ըսածը կը մոռնան։

  isg khosk'ə gə bahe Yes chem sirer, yerp indzi əsadzə gə morrnan

  And does he keep his word? I don't like it when promises to me are forgotten.
• Միշտ։ Անգամ երբ դժուար է՝ ինքնատիրապետումը անոր ուժեղ կողմն է։

  mishd Ankam yerp tzhuar e ink'nadirabedumə anor uzhegh goghmn e

  Always. Even when it is hard: self-possession is his strong side.
• Ուրեմն իզուր պարսաւեցի զինք։ Վաղը պիտի խօսիմ։

  uremn izur barsavetsi zink' Vaghə bidi khosim

  Then I judged him in vain. I'll talk to him tomorrow.
• Խօսէ։ Կարեկից մարդ է, պարզապէս չի պարծենար ատով։

  khose Garegits mart e, barzabes chi bardzenar adov

  Do talk. He is a responsive person; he simply doesn't boast of it.

Lines one by one

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 times
  Teimouri, 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 times
  Xiong 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.

Next

• The whole phrasebookAll situations in one list
• Getting acquaintedA first meeting on the street
• At the caféAn order at a diaspora café
• How to get thereAsking the way to the metro
• At the marketBuying tomatoes at the market, with haggling