LingoflyAt the café: wi-fi and a charger in Western Armenian
A café in central Yerevan: the wi-fi password, a socket, a dead battery in Western Armenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Հոս վայ-ֆայ կա՞յ (hos vay-fay gay)։» — Hello. Is there wi-fi here?; «Այո (ayo), կայ (gay)։ Գաղտնաբառը (kaghdnaparrə) կտրօնի վրայ (vra) է գրուած (kruadz)։» — Yes, there is. The password is written on the receipt.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a café in central Yerevan: the wi-fi password, a socket, a dead battery. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- shnorhagalut'yun Gab chgay, sagaynThank you. But there is no connection.
- sdatsuetsav Isg mardgotsə nsdadz e, litsk'avorich unik'It worked. And the battery is dead — do you have a charger?
- Վարդակը պատուհանի կողքին է, լիցքաւորիչը պիտի բերեմ։vartagə baduhani goghk'in e, litsk'avorichə bidi peremThe socket is next to the window; I'll bring a charger.
- Շատ շնորհակալ եմ։ Քարտով վճարում կ'ընդունի՞ք։shad shnorhagal em K'ardov vjarum g'əntunik'Thank you very much. Do you take card payments?
Lines one by one
| Western Armenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Հոս վայ-ֆայ կա՞յ (hos vay-fay gay)։ | parev tsez Hos vay-fay gay | Hello. Is there wi-fi here? |
| Այո (ayo), կայ (gay)։ Գաղտնաբառը (kaghdnaparrə) կտրօնի վրայ (vra) է գրուած (kruadz)։ | ayo, gay Kaghdnaparrə gdroni vray e kruadz | Yes, there is. The password is written on the receipt. |
| Շնորհակալութիւն (shnorhagalut'yun)։ Կապ չկայ (gab chgay), սակայն (sagayn)։ | shnorhagalut'yun Gab chgay, sagayn | Thank you. But there is no connection. |
| Մէկ (meg) վայրկեան (vayrgyan)։ Հեռախօսը (herrakhosə) անջատեցէք եւ (yev) նորէն (noren) միացուցէք (miatsutsek)։ | meg vayrgyan Herrakhosə anchadetsek' yev noren miatsutsek' | One minute. Switch the phone off and on again. |
| Ստացուեցաւ (sdatsuetsav)։ Իսկ (isg) մարտկոցը նստած է, լիցքաւորիչ ունի՞ք (mardgotsə nsdadz e, litsk'avorich unik')։ | sdatsuetsav Isg mardgotsə nsdadz e, litsk'avorich unik' | It worked. And the battery is dead — do you have a charger? |
| Վարդակը (vartagə) պատուհանի (baduhani) կողքին (goghk'in) է, լիցքաւորիչը (litsk'avorichə) պիտի (bidi) բերեմ։ | vartagə baduhani goghk'in e, litsk'avorichə bidi perem | The socket is next to the window; I'll bring a charger. |
| Շատ (shad) շնորհակալ (shnorhagal) եմ (em)։ Քարտով վճարում կ'ընդունի՞ք (k'ardov vjarum g'əntunik')։ | shad shnorhagal em K'ardov vjarum g'əntunik' | Thank you very much. Do you take card payments? |
| Իհարկէ (iharge)։ Կանխիկ (gankhig) ալ (al) կարելի (gareli) է։ | iharge Gankhig al gareli e | Of course. Cash is fine too. |
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?
“Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Հոս վայ-ֆայ կա՞յ (hos vay-fay gay)։” (parev tsez Hos vay-fay gay) — Hello. Is there wi-fi here? 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.