Dear Editor,
By the time it became commonplace to travel to Armenia, my mother was already over 80 years old—but she insisted on going. She didn’t know her exact birthday, as she was born in Diyarbakir and her records had been lost. Having somehow survived, she made it to the U.S. and started over. She had lived through incredible atrocities of humanity, about which she spoke on rare occasions. She went to Armenia with a church group for about one week. When she returned, not surprisingly, she barely spoke of her trip. She did tell me once, about six months after she had returned, that being surrounded by the Armenian language, though so different from the dialect she barely remembered from her childhood, was just as moving as seeing the famous Mount Ararat. She passed away less than one year after her trip.
I am reminded of her comment about language every time I see a picture of Ararat. I do not speak Armenian, nor did she. Nor do so many other older and younger generation Armenians in the diaspora. Being Armenian is something in your heart, she would always tell me. But I knew how important the language was to her, how important it was that there were Armenian schools in the diaspora, and a free homeland where everyone spoke Armenian.
It is these thoughts and memories that come to me when I read about possible changes in schools in Armenia. I, like my mother and so many others, feel that language is very important to a strong homeland. I would like to know more about what is happening in Armenia’s schools to the language we all cherish, but, to be honest, I am surprised at how little is written in our diasporan newspapers about this issue.
And so, I am writing this letter to ask this newspaper, the newspaper of the ARF which has been so important in guarding our heritage and language, to print more articles about this issue, so important to who we are as a people.
Rose Davidian
Worcester, Mass.
For Armenia to become economically self-sufficient in a globalizing world, her children will have to be proficient in the languages of the world economy. If we are to re-create Armenia as the Switzerland of the Caucasus, our childen will have to be able to conduct the business of the world economy. The best and the brightest are leaving Armenia because of the lack of a strong economy, not because of the ability to speak other languages.
I’m sorry to break it to Progeny1, Armenia does not have a weak economy because of a lack of English speaking or other “world economy” language speaking persons, it is loosing the brightest to the lack of a fair, free and just nation. This condition is due to corruption, but a lack of foreign languages. And trust me when I tell you, this coming from someone born in America and lived in Armenia for over 10 years that there are many bright people in Armenia today that have learned and are very fluent in foreign languages that they were able to learn without the proposed schools.
Lack of jobs is what causes the migration of Armenians into Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Dubai. Language is improving in Armenia, many of us have donated our time to teach English classes in Armenia. Especially in the outlying smaller towns, also the Peace Corps is doing a fine job with teaching English as well.
Most Armenians speak 2+ languages, it is not uncommon for them to know Russian, Armenian, English and of course French. I have met some Armenians that know Georgian, Russian, Armenian, Turkish and English.
Bring on the jobs, the people are very well trained and educated. Capitalism is still a relatively new concept to many Armenians, they are use to showing up for a job-sign in and that was that. Any society struggles going from a Socialist based country to a new economic base. Armenia has faired better than the other former soviet states, in 19 short years.