The accelerated Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian language courses continue as part of the 2015 “Diaspora” Summer School Program organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora.

Hayern Aysor’s correspondent sat down for interviews with teachers Siranush Minasyan and Hilda Galfaian-Panosian.

Siranush Minasyan is a lecturer at Yerevan State Medical University and is planning on working at the invitation of the Ministry of Diaspora. “I’ve been working with young Diaspora Armenians for the past couple of days, but I already have great impressions. None of the students in my group knows how to read and write in Armenian. They even have trouble speaking. That’s why I start by teaching them the Armenian alphabet. There are children who have trouble understanding and can’t remember the letters. I organize interesting games during the lessons. The children are so attentive during the lessons that they don’t notice how time flies. They even try to learn more during the breaks.”

Hilda Galfaian-Panosian lectures at the University of Sorbonne in Paris. “The RA Ministry of Diaspora has been inviting me to work with Diaspora Armenian youth for the past couple of years now. I have quite a lot of experience in teaching.

I have students under 30 and above 30. There are many difficulties in the learning process, and the reasons vary. Most of the students can’t read and write in Armenian and can’t even speak in Armenian. That’s why it’s very hard to teach them words and sounds in Armenian. For instance, one of my students only understands Arabic. That’s why I teach him through the Audio-Visual Method, that is, through gestures.

I believe we’ll be able to provide the children and youth with some knowledge of Armenian before the classes end so that they can continue to learn Armenian independently in the future.”

Mery Gevorgyan