Learn Armenian

Learn Armenian with guided lessons in sounds, reading, vocabulary and grammar, plus interactive A1–A2 practice.

Learn the alphabet

Small groups of letters, with a capital and lowercase partner for each.

Four letters, eight familiar faces — Meet ayb, ben, gim, da and practise telling them apart.
E, ye, z, and a quiet vowel — Meet ech, za, e, et and practise telling them apart.
A puff of air, a buzz, a vowel — Meet to, zhe, ini, lyun and practise telling them apart.
From the back of the mouth to the lips — Meet khe, tsa, ken, ho and practise telling them apart.
Four new outlines to recognise — Meet dza, ghat, tche, men and practise telling them apart.
Y, n, sh, and o — Meet hi, nu, sha, vo and practise telling them apart.
Ch, p, j, and a rolling r — Meet cha, pe, je, ra and practise telling them apart.
Familiar sounds, unfamiliar shapes — Meet se, vev, tyun, re and practise telling them apart.
Airy consonants and the parts of u — Meet tso, vyun, pyur, ke and practise telling them apart.
O and f: two later additions — Meet o, fe and practise telling them apart.

Compare close neighbours in shape and sound. Slow down, then mix them up.

Similar shapes in both cases — Compare գ ն մ, then ս ո օ, and match each with its own capital. Capital letters can change the outline substantially; learn the pair instead of simply enlarging a lowercase letter.
B and two kinds of p — Eastern Armenian distinguishes voiced բ, plain voiceless պ, and aspirated փ. Aspirated means a puff of air. These are different letters, not Georgian ejectives.
D and two kinds of t — Compare voiced դ, plain տ, and airy թ. Remember the case pairs Դ դ, Տ տ, Թ թ as well as the sounds.
G and two kinds of k — Compare voiced գ, plain կ, and airy ք. Their capitals are Գ, Կ, and Ք. The extra air changes which letter you need.
Plain ch, airy ch, and j — Compare Ճ ճ (plain ch), Չ չ (airy ch), and Ջ ջ (voiced j). Check the outline and the release; they are three separate letters.
Plain ts, airy ts, and dz — Compare Ծ ծ (plain ts), Ց ց (airy ts), and Ձ ձ (voiced dz). Each combines a stop and friction into one consonant.
A trill or a tap? — Ռ ռ is a trill; Ր ր is usually a brief tap. The two r sounds have different letters. Match both with their own capitals.

Meet ու and և, read little words, and bring the whole alphabet together.

Two shapes together: ու and և — Read u as a two-character spelling, and meet the familiar word for “and”.
Your first little words — Read from left to right, recognise the letters, and put their sounds together.
Final review · the whole alphabet — One recognition question for every letter, in a fresh random order.
Final review · capitals and lowercase — Match every capital with its lowercase partner, in a fresh random order.

Pronouns, being, definite nouns, writing, and reading.

People and being — Use Eastern Armenian pronouns and all six present forms of to be.
A book and the book — Use մի and the definite endings -ը and -ն in specified contexts.
Write: all six people — Practice the present of գրել with a complete verb phrase for each person.
Read: all six people — Use կարդալ in present sentences about books.

Finish five core verbs and form negative statements.

Work: all six people — Describe work and distinguish -ել infinitives from finite verb phrases.
Live: all six people — Say where people live using ապրել and a supplied place expression.
Study: all six people — Learn Armenian with the regular present forms of սովորել.
Negative actions and identities — Use negative auxiliaries and distinguish չի from չէ.

Ask for information, mark noun roles, describe, and order food.

Ask for people, things, places, and time — Read Armenian question marks and use the right question word.
Whose book? To whom? — Distinguish ownership, a recipient, and an inanimate object.
Describe, count, and compare — Use unchanged attributive adjectives, selected plurals, and a simple comparison.
Order food and drinks — Read a small menu and make a polite request with an explicit want form.

Travel, past events, future plans, and written review.

At home, at school, and on the way — Separate location forms from destinations and learn selected motion phrases.
From Yerevan and by bus — Use selected ablative, instrumental, and companionship expressions.
Actions that were in progress — Use all six imperfect auxiliaries and contrast present with past.
Completed writing and reading — Use explicit simple-past forms and contrast them with ongoing past actions.
Future plans with -ու — Learn explicit future phrases for the five core verbs and a negative plan.
Read and rebuild a daily-life message — Combine time, home, study, food, and plans in short written sentences.

A complete reference to keep beside your lessons.