Armenian Language

ANI AMIRKHANIAN Extracurricular activities such as dance and singing lessons at the Armenian Society of Los Angeles were an added bonus to my Saturday Armenian classes. No student ever graduated Saturday Armenian school without being instilled with some musical talent. Singing lessons were offered with little instruction and excluded any formal training in note reading. The instructor, who was also the language teacher, would accompany the students with his violin.

PATRICK AZADIAN As an Armenian, it seems almost every task has a certain element of suffering attached to it. My theory is that 3,000 years of oppression in the hands of foreign invaders has introduced a "suffering gene" to the Armenian makeup. It makes us suffer even on a simple trip to Trader Joe's. Moreover, it is not uncommon that in certain situations we fabricate an oppressor, and willingly fill the role of the oppressed. One note of caution on this column to the ultranationalists: The following contains plenty of embellishments and nonscientific generalizations; put on your light-hearted hat. On the matter of crossing the street Some Armenian-American senior citizens, who would not be able to fast-walk to save their lives, will attempt to cross Brand Boulevard at undesignated areas during rush hours.

On a Saturday morning in a brightly lit classroom at the Burbank Adult School, a group of students are practicing their language skills. Except it's not English they're learning. It's not even Spanish. It's Armenian. Though its Western counterpart has been on an UNESCO endangered language list for a few years, there seems to be a demand for Armenian-language skills in Southern California, a mecca for the Armenian diaspora that has settled more steadily in the area over four decades.

Robert Shaffer GLENDALE -- The owner of a television network that brings Armenian programming to Glendale is saying cable television company Charter Communications is being unfair to the city's Armenian population. Allen Silliphant, co-owner and president of Wallis/Silliphant Communications, the company that leases channel 17 on Charter for Armenian and ethnic language programming, said the cable company is raising their prices to force him out of business.

As Aline Bezdikian’s children have matured, so have the topics of her children’s books. Bezdikian wrote her first children’s book in Armenian in 1999, when her daughter Lori was 4. That book, “Lori and the Rosebud,” was geared toward 5- and 6-year-olds, and grew out of what Bezdikian regarded as a dearth of contemporary books in Armenian for children. In December, Bezdikian published her sixth book, “Letters to Dikran the Great,” which is suited to young readers closer in age to her son Nareg, who is 9, and daughter Lori, now 12. Bezdikian’s books have evolved as her children have grown, she said, because they are the primary inspiration for what she writes.

There is a class at the Glendale Central Library that might not exist if not for Elizabeth Grigorian. Since 2005, Grigorian, a community outreach coordinator at the library, has taught a free class on computer basics at the library. At first, Grigorian taught her computer class for seniors in the community before noticing that many of Glendale’s Armenian-speaking adults were missing out. Grigorian arranged to teach the same computer class in Armenian. It took her seven months to translate her 125-page instructional booklet from English to Armenian.

Four years after launching the district's first Armenian heritage program at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Glendale Unified officials on Wednesday welcomed Armenia's Minister of Diaspora Affairs Hranush Hakobyan to the site. “I am absolutely thrilled and impressed with how our kids in such a short period can be perfectly fluent in both languages, Armenian and English,” Hakobyan said through a translator. Hakobyan toured classrooms where students, many wearing traditional Armenian clothing, greeted her with songs, poems and small gifts.

Even though of Armenian descent, I (and many others) find it extremely rude and offensive that the new culture of Armenians in our community insist on speaking in their own language in public places. And they do not even attempt to use a lower tone of voice. These are young and old alike who know the English language but refuse to use it (again in public). In past generations, individuals were so grateful to be part of our wonderful country that they went out of their way to learn and speak the English language.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) will sponsor an informational fair for first-time home buyers Saturday at the Glendale Elks Lodge, 120 E. Colorado St. The fair -- presented by Schiff, Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and the city of Glendale -- will offer participants booths with experts who can answer questions regarding loan qualifications, prices and affordability, credit issues and how to fix up a new home. Admission to the fair, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is free.

Actress presents poetry evening Zhenya Avetissian, a well-known stage actress in Armenia, performed an evening of Armenian poetry and talked about her career Tuesday night at the Luna Playhouse in Glendale. The appearance was coordinated by Aramazd Stepanian, artistic director of the Luna Playhouse, after he had seen her in the all-Armenian language play "Let's Save Our Souls" at the Star's Theatre in Glendale. Stepanian heard the actress hadn't left town on Sunday and decided to call and invite her to present an evening of poetry and reminisce about her life, he said.