Armenian Language

Kristopher Azizkhani used a sponge to remove the mistakes he made in his erasable book of the Armenian alphabet at Jefferson Elementary School on Thursday. With a black marker, the 6-year-old practiced writing the letters and sounding out words that corresponded with the pictures in his book. As he made his marks and erased them, he did what Armenian students have done for hundreds of years — he learned the language of his ethnic heritage. Kristopher is one of about 20 kindergarten students in the school's language magnet academy.

Children's entertainer Taline is combining a love for her Armenian culture with her love of music. The Glendale resident travels around the world with her show, which features singing and dancing to traditional Armenian songs as well as those she and others have written and her husband has arranged. Her Christmas tour show will make its fourth annual stop on Sunday at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Taline came to the United States at 15. She earned a bachelor's degree in early childhood education from Cal State Northridge and worked as a pre-school teacher for several years before starting her career as an Armenian children's-music singer.

Every once in a while I cross paths with young Armenian men and women who cannot identify with the Armenian culture or people. These individuals are born into Armenian families who speak the language and attempt to instill it in them. For many young Armenians, identifying with the culture is the greatest challenge; but for some there is no desire to look for an identity. I distinctly remember encountering an Armenian who refused to identify himself as "Armenian," or even "Armenian-American."

TODAY Soroptimist International of Glendale presents Kevin Danni telling his firsthand experience story of Sept. 11 at noon in the Glendale Hilton, 100 W. Glenoaks Blvd., Glendale. The cost is $19.50. For more information and to make reservations, call Nancy Kochi at (818) 243-1494. Clifford the Big, Red Dog will visit with children at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 245 N. Glendale Ave., Glendale. Bring a camera to take a picture with Clifford. For more information, call (818)

State Sen. Jack Scott, a Democrat who represents Burbank, Glendale and La Cañada Flintridge, is urging those interested in shifting their professional abilities into teaching by participating in a "fast-track" teacher- credentialing exam. One exam is scheduled for June 10 and another for Aug. 5. The registration deadline for the June exam is May 11. Aspiring teachers can dramatically reduce the time to earn a teaching credential by passing the Teaching Foundations Exam also known as the Early Completion Option.

Ani Amirkhanian Her living room is decorated with African, Indian and Moroccan artifacts and contemporary Armenian art adorning the walls of her home, nestled in the Adams Hill neighborhood. For Glendale resident Anahid Keshishian, art and culture have always been a significant part of her life. Keshishian has dedicated herself to philology, the humanistic study of language and literature that consists of history and the arts. "All the arts are a form of language," Keshishian, 50, said.

Ani Amirkhanian His Holiness Karekin II and his entourage of clergy were greeted by a crowd of cheering students, parents and administrators at Glendale High School's auditorium Monday, where he touted the role of education and the importance of youth. The pontiff, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, accepted the traditional mix of Armenian bread and salt as a symbol of unity and brotherhood as it was offered by two young girls -- students -- in traditional Armenian dress.

ANI AMIRKHANIAN I have one of the most common Armenian names ever. The name Ani could very well be the most common female name in the Armenian language. In school, growing up, there would be at least two Anis in every class. When the teacher would call on one Ani, another Ani would immediately respond to her name as well. Some of my friends in school were named Ani. There was one year, in the third or fourth grade, that there were four Anis, including myself, in the same class.

Josh Kleinbaum Vrej Agajanian's first political lesson came from excerpts printed in an Iranian newspaper in 1960. Agajanian, then a 9-year-old boy living in Tehran and already fascinated with politics, remembers reading quotes from the presidential debates between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. From reading the excerpts, he believed Nixon won the debate, making better arguments on the issues. But Agajanian remembers that most people who watched the debate on television gave the edge to Kennedy.

With each box carried into the parking structure across the street from the Glendale Central Library, the library's collection of Armenian- language books grew. And grew. And grew some more. Movers delivered about 12,500 Armenian-language books to the library on Wednesday, a collection so large that the books are being stored in the parking structure instead of the library. The collection, donated by the now-defunct American Armenian Interna- tional College, quadruples the library's current collection of Armenian- language materials.