Discover Armenian is designed for those who want to learn
how to speak, read, and understand Western Armenian in real life situations. It
can be used as a stand-alone course, as a curriculum for home schooling, or as a
supplement to formal classes. The goal is to make Western Armenian come alive
with sights, sounds, stories, songs and cultural content. The course is highly
interactive and flexible, permitting each learner to study according to his or
her own style or pace. Since the ability to understand Eastern Armenian and
Church (Classical) Armenian constitutes part of the proficiency and cultural
knowledge of Western Armenian speakers, the course provides a basic introduction
to them as well.
Each unit has three main sections:
Discover In this section you will discover words and grammatical forms using
pictures and audio as well as written clues and explanations. This section has
four parts: (1) Vocabulary, (2) Conversation, (3) Grammar, (4) Reading.
Practice In this section you will have the chance to practice what you have
discovered. The exercises are based on useful words and phrases from everyday
speech. In Practice mode, the program corrects each answer as you go along. When
you select the wrong answer, the program will prompt you to try again. If after
several attempts you are unable to select the correct answer, you can select the
Show Answer button. Ideally you should do the practice exercises until you make
few or no mistakes. This section also has four parts: (1) Vocabulary, (2)
Conversation, (3) Grammar, (4) Reading.
Master In this section you will have the chance to test your mastery of the
material. The Master section aims to help you measure your progress and to
challenge you by presenting what you have learned in new contexts or with some
new material so that you develop skills and strategies to maximize your newly
acquired knowledge of Armenian for the three core communications skills:
speaking, understanding and reading. In Master mode, the program grades the
answer when you complete all the answers, or you select the Check button. This
section can be used as a pre-test before starting the unit, to see how much you
already know, or need to learn, as well as a proficiency test after completing
the unit.
Each unit has a story and a song. The story feature is usually an English
language article on some important aspect of Armenian history or culture. The
songs are a time-tested way of reinforcing language skills as well as important
for their cultural content. In addition, singing is an important part of
Armenian community life and knowledge of songs is part of the linguistic and
cultural proficiencies of Armenian speakers. The song units permit you to sing
along with the vocalist, or to sing karaoke, by lowering the recorded vocal
volume and singing to the accompaniment.
The 5 Basic Units are designed for complete beginners and those who do not feel
proficient in the Armenian alphabet. These units teach hundreds of basic phrases
used in ordinary conversation as well as several hundred words. They also teach
the alphabet and Armenian pronunciation in a fun and engaging way that has stood
the test of time. Finally, the basic units introduce more than 75% of the most
important grammatical patterns and suffixes for Armenian nouns and verbs. With
this basis, you will be able to carry on simple conversations, meet people, tell
about yourself, and ask simple questions, and negotiate your way through dinner
in Armenian.
We recommend that everyone go through the Basic Units, since they provide the
framework and methodology for the program, especially the grammar discovery
sections, which are quite short. If they are too easy, you can always skim them
quickly and move on. Youre in charge of your course of study.
The 18 Thematic Units are designed to deepen your knowledge of Armenian relating
to different subjects or topics. These units can be studied in any order,
depending on your interests and needs. You can skip around within or between
units or work through each unit in order.
The program puts a number of utilities at your disposal through out the process:
1. Unit Map this menu is always available on the left side of the screen. It
shows you where you are in the unit by highlighting the section you are
currently working on.
2. Lesson Map this is a complete map of the program and is located in the Help
Menu, which enables you to access any screen directly from the index.
3. Dictionary this dictionary is a floating box, which you can keep open and
use at any time to check a word or phrase.
4. Phrasebook this is a compendium of common expressions and everyday
dialogues which you can refer to independent of the lessons.
5. Culture/Music this is a menu of all the story and song units
6. Grammar this gives a complete summary of all the grammar presented in the
lessons, plus paradigm charts for quick reference.
7. Help in addition to guidance about the program, the help menu contains
options for setting the environment, sound levels, and other global aspects of
the program.
8. Alphabet for all the Basic units, an alphabet chart is provided for quick
reference under the left hand unit menu.
9. Listen button in many exercises there is a button which permits you to hear
a native speaker say the word or phrase on the screen. In the Conversation
templates you have the option of hearing the conversation word by word or phrase
by phrase.
10. Transliteration option in many exercises there is a button which permits
you to see the Armenian word or phrase transliterated in Roman characters.
11. Translation help in nearly all cases you can click for a full translation
of the sentence or phrase you are working on in any exercise. You should try
first to figure out the meaning yourself using the dictionary or referring back
to the Discovery section in that unit, but if you are having difficulty, you can
always get the translation which appears in the bottom of the exercise window.
12. Noah Noah, who according to the Bible landed in his Ark on Mt. Ararat in
the Armenian Highlands, is your companion on this program. This character is
usually located in the lower left corner of your screen. In addition to
providing general information or pointers about the unit or exercise, Noah will
coach you through the exercises and program. If you do not want his help, you
can close Noahs portal and can recall him through the Help menu.
Flashcards
To help you practice when away from the computer, the program comes with
printable flashcards that are found in the flashcards.pdf file in the Discover
Armenian folder. The flashcards are in .pdf format and can be opened and printed
with Adobe Acrobat reader, which is available free on the internet. The
flashcards are designed to be printed on the front and back of a single 8 1/2" x
11" page, then cut with scissors or a paper cutter. If you would like, you can
print them on heavy stock paper so that the cards will last longer.
"Discover Armenian" is a registered trademark of The C.A.K.E. Foundation.