July 4^th marked the first lesson of the Accelerated Armenian Language Course for the Russian-speaking participants of the “Diaspora” Summer School Program. The participants introduced themselves and were introduced to their professor, Nara Sargsyan. During the first lesson, the participants mastered a part of the Armenian alphabet and enhanced their communication skills. They were communicating in Armenian during the lesson.

Vika Mkrtchyan, one of the participants, is visiting Armenia for the fourth time. She has also participated in the “Ari Tun” Program of the RA Ministry of Diaspora. She really wants to learn Armenian because, according to her, every Armenian needs to know, speak and write in Armenian.

“It is very important for us Russian-speaking Armenians to know Armenian so that we can transmit the language to the next generation, which will preserve the language and transmit it to the future generations,” she stated.

Mariam,12, is the youngest participant. Mariam says she had been dreaming of learning Armenian for a long time and now has the opportunity to learn. “I think every Armenian needs to speak in Armenian. I am glad that I am one of the participants of this program. It is nice and interesting to learn Armenian in this environment,” Mariam emphasized.

In her speech, Professor Nara Sargsyan stated that it is very difficult to preserve the language abroad and that this program helps form the linguistic thinking of the participants. The professor said she had good impressions of the first lesson. “I am glad that the participants want and are willing to learn Armenian. In this case, the most important thing is a high level of awareness about preservation of the Armenian identity. This means that the lessons are already a success,” the professor stated.

At the end, the professor administered a test to check the participants’ knowledge.

By volunteer of “Diaspora” Summer School Program Nane Petrosyan