Tell me what happened in Western Armenian

How the whole thing sounds

The situation: one person tells a story about a spoiled evening; the other asks again and judges. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.

• Երէկ երեկոն փճացաւ։ Պատմեմ կարգով։

  yereg yeregon p'jatsav Badmem garkov

  Yesterday the evening was spoiled. I'll tell it in order.
• Պատմէ։ Բանն այսպէս եղաւ՝ ինչէ՞ն սկսաւ։

  badme Pann aysbes yeghav inchen sgsav

  Tell it. So it went like this — where did it begin?
• Ամէն ինչ սկսաւ անկէ, որ մեքենան չաշխատեցաւ։

  amen inch sgsav ange, vor mek'enan chashkhadetsav

  It all began with him: the car wouldn't start.
• Իսկ ատոր ի՞նչ հետեւեցաւ։ Թաքսի կանչեցի՞ր։

  isg ador inch hedevetsav T'ak'si ganchetsir

  And what followed that? Did you call a taxi?
• Կանչեցի, բայց ամենաթեժ պահին սկսաւ անձրեւ։

  ganchetsi, payts amenat'ezh bahin sgsav antsrev

  I did, but at the very height of it the rain began.
• Քիչ մնաց ուշանայիր։ Ինչո՞վ ամէն ինչ աւարտեցաւ։

  k'ich mnats ushanayir Inchov amen inch avardetsav

  You nearly missed it. How did everything end?
• Վերջիվերջոյ հասայ, բայց թատրոնը փակ էր։ Ներկայացումը յետաձգած էին։

  verchivercho hasa, payts t'adronə p'ag er Nergayatsumə hedatskadz ein

  In the end I got there, but the theatre was closed. The show had been postponed.
• Ես պիտի չհաւատայի, եթէ ինքդ չպատմէիր։ Այդպէս եղաւ։

  yes bidi chhavadayi, yet'e ink't chbadmeir Aytbes yeghav

  I wouldn't believe it if you hadn't told me yourself. So it went.

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
• The new colleagueTwo people discuss a new colleague…
• Getting acquaintedA first meeting on the street
• At the caféAn order at a diaspora café
• How to get thereAsking the way to the metro