The trail in the fog in Western Armenian

How the whole thing sounds

The situation: two people prepare to go to the mountains: the forecast, fog, the trail and the decision to turn back. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.

• Եղանակի կանխատեսումը նայա՞ծ ես։

  yeghanagi gankhadesumə nayadz yes

  Have you looked at the weather forecast?
• Այո, առաւօտեան արեւոտ է, կէսօրին՝ ամպրոպ։

  ayo, arravodean arevod e, gesorin ambrob

  Yes, in the morning it will be sunny, at noon — a thunderstorm.
• Ուրեմն շուտ ելլենք։ Արահետը ջրվէժին մօտ կը սկսի։

  uremn shud yellenk' Arahedə chrvezhin mod gə sgsi

  Then let's set out early. The trail starts by the waterfall.
• Վերեւը մառախուղ կայ։ Ժայռերուն մօտ վտանգաւոր պիտի ըլլայ։

  verevə marrakhugh gay Zhayrrerun mod vdankavor bidi əllay

  There is fog at the top. By the cliffs it will be dangerous.
• Իջնենք առուին երկայնքով։ Հոն ցած է եւ ապահով։

  ichnenk' arruin yergaynk'ov Hon tsadz e yev abahov

  Let's go down along the stream. It is lower there, and safe.
• Լաւ։ Բայց խեղդուկ է, ջուր առ։

  lav Payts kheghtug e, chur arr

  All right. But it is stuffy — take water.
• Որոտը լսուեցաւ։ Կարկուտ պիտի գա՞յ, թէ՞ պարզապէս անձրեւ։

  vorodə lsvetsav Gargud bidi kay, t'e barzabes antsrev

  Thunder was heard. Will there be hail, or just rain?
• Յորդ անձրեւ։ Վերադառնանք, ծիածանը ճանապարհէն ալ պիտի տեսնենք։

  hort antsrev Veratarrnank', dziadzanə janabarhen al bidi desnenk'

  A downpour. Let's head back — we'll see the rainbow from the road too.

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
• I missed my stopOn a bus and in the street: a person missed…
• At an Armenian courseAt a language school: level, schedule, price…
• Twenty years laterTwo classmates meet by chance: life stories…
• A bad lineA phone call with a bad connection: asking…