Eastern Armenian or Western Armenian? Which One To Learn?

Let’s Discuss

We receive this question quite often: what do you do if your whole family or the people around you speak Western Armenian (the one most of the diaspora uses), and that’s the version you already understand well or just a little… but you actually want to learn Eastern Armenian?

Is that even possible? Will the two get mixed up? What if you end up not speaking either of them right? Or what if you just get confused, even though Eastern Armenian somehow feels more “right” to you? And yeah, the Armenian the people in Armenia speak today can sometimes be hard to understand, and it might feel like it’ll take forever to learn it well.

Honestly, this is a super interesting situation in the Armenian community. Lots of people grew up hearing Classical Armenian in church, or Western Armenian while living abroad. But it’s totally normal to want to speak Armenian with all Armenians, no matter which version they use.

Yes, the two versions are different,  and sometimes the differences are pretty obvious. But once you learn one and understand the other, you can totally communicate without problems. Don’t worry about  this to occur “we’re both speaking Armenian but we won’t understand each other.” Most Armenians easily understand  both versions pretty well.

People in Armenia usually understand both Eastern and Western Armenian super fast. So really, it all just comes down to what you want to learn.

In our classes, we teach Eastern Armenian, the version spoken in the Republic of Armenia, especially in Yerevan. Most of our materials and lessons are in Eastern Armenian. If that’s the one you want, we’d love to have you join us.

Our future students should also know that while you’re learning, we’ll happily explain the differences between the two versions and show examples so everything makes sense. You won’t end up confused or stuck between the two.

The only tricky parts are small cultural differences, some Russian loanwords, and certain modern slang or speech habits. But we go through all of that, explain it clearly, and little by little you’ll see how everything fits. Regarding the most charming part, the Armenian t humor,  yes some  sometimes miscommunications happen on the way , but it’s totally normal, and explainable and  the fear about it passes  quickly.

Our goal is to help you understand modern Armenian fast, including the culture, everyday life, and how people actually talk.

Even if you only understand Western Armenian right now (or don’t really speak either one), learning Eastern Armenian is totally possible and recommendable especially if you wish to travel to Armenia often or want to settle there. The knowledge you already have will actually make the process faster. And in the end you’ll understand both versions way better, and you might even start speaking both sooner than you expect.

We can’t wait to meet you and start learning Armenian together.