THE SINGAPOREAN TEEN WHO'S LEARNING ARMENIAN - VIDEO

[Yervant1]

THE SINGAPOREAN TEEN WHO'S LEARNING ARMENIAN - VIDEO

22:25, 10 Jul 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Sixteen-year old Singaporean Karmun Khoo has dedicated the last
several months to learning Armenian,The Armenite reports.

Why has she decided to learn Armenian? "I think the real question
is: Why would I decide not to learn Armenian?," Karmun says. "There
are so many attractive features inherent to the language, like its
illustrious history (Armenia was a monolingual country by 2nd century
B.C. and founded the world's oldest national church). Current events
in Armenia also make the language exciting, especially in a world
where Armenia is trying to better itself and recover from past wounds.

The language is like chess: infinitely complex and yet deceptively
simple. The availability of online classes was also a big selling
point for me and, well, I just wanted a challenge."

The hardest thing about Armenian is the words with "r" (Armenian
"Õ~L").

"I can't roll my Rs, so any word with Õ~L Õ¼ in it is challenging
to me.

Thanks to my experience with other phonetically confusing languages,
like French and Russian, I haven't found Armenian pronunciation
too difficult. Learning to read and write nearly killed me though,
because lots of letters look the same! I don't think I can come
up with a "hardest word," because they're all pretty hard, but I
always stumble over "Õ°Õ¥Õ¼Õ¸O~BÕ½Õ¿Õ¡O~AÕ¸O~BÕµO~A," which means
"TV set." Hey-roo-stahts-tweets?"

"Õ"Õ¡Õ¶Õ" Õ¬Õ¥Õ¦Õ¸O~B Õ"Õ´Õ¡Õ¶Õ¡Õ½, Õ¡ÕµÕ¶O~DÕ¡Õ¶ Õ´Õ¡O~@Õ¤ Õ¥Õ½:"
("The more languages you know, the more of a person you are),"
Karmun Khoo says, adding that she would not mind learning Grabar
(Old Armenian). "I would definitely consider learning Grabar, except
I'd probably be hard-pressed to find someone who's willing to teach
it to me. Apparently, many ancient Persian and Syriac manuscripts
have survived only in their Grabar translation, so if I learned how
to read it, I might discover something new about the world. That is
always a tempting prospect.

Still, my main goal right now is to learn Armenian well, and to
appreciate its heritage and history."

The girls says she would like to go to Armenia. "Of course I would go
to Armenia! I keep planning trips, but my plans always fall apart. I
really like the sound of Vagharshapat, so I would like to go there.

Also, the Etchmiadzin Cathedral sits there - and what would a visit to
Armenia be without visiting the Apostolic Church's own "Vatican City"?

I would also stop at Lake Sevan, because if its pollution worsens,
it might not remain picturesque much longer. The obvious attractions
such as the Zvartnots Cathedral, as well as the capital city of
Yerevan, would also be must-sees. And my last wish would be to visit
a traditional Armenian village, where the scenery is beautiful and
the food, authentic."

Õ~FÕ¡ÕºÕ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¯ (hare)- is Karmun favorite word in Armenian. "I
also like that Armenians have a single word for "coat of arms":
Õ¦Õ"Õ¶Õ¡Õ¶Õ·Õ¡Õ¶ or zinanshan. Making me choose a favorite word is
like choosing a favorite hair on my head! There are some that I like
more than others, but Armenian wouldn't be so special without all
its words combined."

http://thearmenite.com/2015/07/the-singaporean-teen-whos-learning-armenian-a-qa-with-karmun-khoo/

http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/07/10/the-singaporean-teen-whos-learning-armenian-video/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5UN3HaSLdo