Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Parev (hello) and pari yegar (welcome) to the second episode of “Hrayr Teaches John Western Armenian”! In this episode we introduce the pronoun ‘you’ (tun) and a suffix for ‘-your’ (-t). We start with a sassy phrase involving love, of sorts. Then Hrayr reads the first jivjiv of the season about “you” on pg. 82-83 of #jivjiv language.

Finally try and figure out our weekly riddle, taken from a 20th century Armenian language workbook created at AGBU Detroit written probably by either Zareh Melkonian, Keghanoush Keledjian, or other Armenian teachers (for the full scanned volume see hrayrvaraz.com/read).

Get your copy of the second volume of #jivjiv created with artist Amy Kazandjian (instagram.com/amykazn) who did the cover art and the gorgeous color illustrations inside, printed by Abril Books (abrilbooks.com/jivjiv) where you can purchase your own copy!

Also definitely check out the Queer Armenian Library that John founded and continues to tend (queerarmenianlibrary.com). For more about Hrayr and his Western Armenian world explore his website (hrayrvaraz.com). We are glad you’ve joined us on this language journey, tzë (bye)! 🐗

Today's riddle:

«Ճերմակ դաշտիկ,

Սեւ-սեւ հունտիկ,

Ձեռքով ցանես,

Լեզուով հնձես։»

“A cute white plane,

little black seeds,

Sow with your hand,

Reap with your tongue.”

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Parev (hello) and pari yegar (welcome) to “Hrayr Teaches John Western Armenian”! This episode is our series premiere where Hrayr teaches John a useful phrase related to what Hrayr’s mind is like pre-coffee.

And then we move on to a riddle, which is how we will end every episode.

For the rest of the season, we will also have a third segment mid-episode where Hrayr reads one of his bilingual jivjiv poems from “#jivjiv language”. This is the second volume created with artist Amy Kazandjian (instagram.com/amykazn) who did the cover art and the gorgeous color illustrations throughout the two volumes, printed by Abril Books (abrilbooks.com/jivjiv) where you can purchase your own copy! For more about Hrayr and his Western Armenian world explore his website (hrayrvaraz.com).

Also definitely check out the Queer Armenian Library founded and tended by John (queerarmenianlibrary.com) and The Gaily Show (thegailyshow.org). We are glad you’ve joined us on this language journey, tzë (bye)! 🐗

Today's riddle:

«Քոյրեր են երկուորեակ,

Միշտ միասին կ՚ապրին

Միասին կ՚աշխատին՝

Չեն տեսներ իրար…։»

“They are twin sisters,

Always living together

Together they are working -

And they don’t see each other…”