INTRODUCTION

The Armenian language (called hayeren in Armenian) comes in two distinct flavours; arevelahayeren (which means Eastern Armenian) which is spoken in the Republic of Armenia, in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and in the Armenian community of Iran; and arevmtahayeren (Western Armenian) which is spoken by Armenians living in Turkey and throughout the Armenian diaspora (except for Iran) although owing to more recent waves of immigration, the eastern dialect is increasingly being spoken in the diaspora alongside the western. The differences between the two dialects are not great, and they are mutually comprehensible.

I think the western dialect has a very beautiful sound to it and it is also the Armenian which was spoken by my own ancestors, however I decided to concentrate more on learning Eastern Armenian because, as the official first language of what is now the internationally recognised Armenian State, its continued existence as a living language seems far more secure than that of Western Armenian.

These lessons, then, will be in Eastern Armenian.