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THE ARMENIAN LANGUAGE IS NOT SUBJECT TO SACRIFICE
http://hetq.am/en/politics/a-papyan-16/
[ 2010/05/14 | 11:57 ]
Feature Stories society politics
Go to Yerablour (the national cemetery and memorial in Armenia to
those fallen in war). The most noble among us are buried there.
Perhaps many of them had less knowledge than us, perhaps they would
stumble in speaking Russian and did not know English at all. But they
were Armenian. They were Armenian, because they thought in Armenian.
Language is first of all a mode of thought, and only subsequently
speech. Pick a hundred names at random off the gravestones at
Yerablour and then check to see how many had an Armenian education,
and how many in another language. The numbers will not deceive.
I am ashamed at having to write such rudimentary things. Read the
works by Ludwig Wittgenstein on the philosophy of language and
everything will become clear. Isn't it already understandable,
without reading Wittgenstein, that the Armenian Õ°Õ¡O~A (hats) and
the Russian Ñ...Ð"еб (khleb) have the same meaning ("bread"), but
they comprehend essentially different things? Isn't it clear that the
Armenian child who grew up on Pushkin's fables and the one who was
reared on Toumanyan's tales are different Armenians? The claim that
a good quality education can only be acquired in a foreign language
is false.
The one who is willing to learn does learn, and the lazy one seeks
excuses to justify his ignorance. If knowledge is not a concern for,
say, the national assembly, why ought the student to learn anything?
In truth, I am amazed that they yet learn so much. If there were
the guarantee of a just competitiveness for knowledge in the market,
then each Armenian would know at least three foreign languages.
It is not necessary to cover up the shortcomings of the educational
system and the frailty of its leadership in the Armenian World
(the copyright of this expression belongs to the prime minister) by
relegating the status of the Armenian language to mere household use.
It is always easier, of course, to veil one's ignorance with foreign
words or complex terminology. I bear an Armenian education, but I
started working by translating from one foreign language to another
foreign language. That was what that period of my life demanded.
Armenia is first of all Armenian. Without the Armenian language, there
would be no Armenia. There is no need to deny one's own Homeland, but
simply to improve the teaching of foreign languages in all schools. I
understand that this is a more challenging task than sacrificing the
Armenian language itself.
Ara Papian Citizen of the Republic of Armenia 13 May, 2010
http://hetq.am/en/politics/a-papyan-16/
[ 2010/05/14 | 11:57 ]
Feature Stories society politics
Go to Yerablour (the national cemetery and memorial in Armenia to
those fallen in war). The most noble among us are buried there.
Perhaps many of them had less knowledge than us, perhaps they would
stumble in speaking Russian and did not know English at all. But they
were Armenian. They were Armenian, because they thought in Armenian.
Language is first of all a mode of thought, and only subsequently
speech. Pick a hundred names at random off the gravestones at
Yerablour and then check to see how many had an Armenian education,
and how many in another language. The numbers will not deceive.
I am ashamed at having to write such rudimentary things. Read the
works by Ludwig Wittgenstein on the philosophy of language and
everything will become clear. Isn't it already understandable,
without reading Wittgenstein, that the Armenian Õ°Õ¡O~A (hats) and
the Russian Ñ...Ð"еб (khleb) have the same meaning ("bread"), but
they comprehend essentially different things? Isn't it clear that the
Armenian child who grew up on Pushkin's fables and the one who was
reared on Toumanyan's tales are different Armenians? The claim that
a good quality education can only be acquired in a foreign language
is false.
The one who is willing to learn does learn, and the lazy one seeks
excuses to justify his ignorance. If knowledge is not a concern for,
say, the national assembly, why ought the student to learn anything?
In truth, I am amazed that they yet learn so much. If there were
the guarantee of a just competitiveness for knowledge in the market,
then each Armenian would know at least three foreign languages.
It is not necessary to cover up the shortcomings of the educational
system and the frailty of its leadership in the Armenian World
(the copyright of this expression belongs to the prime minister) by
relegating the status of the Armenian language to mere household use.
It is always easier, of course, to veil one's ignorance with foreign
words or complex terminology. I bear an Armenian education, but I
started working by translating from one foreign language to another
foreign language. That was what that period of my life demanded.
Armenia is first of all Armenian. Without the Armenian language, there
would be no Armenia. There is no need to deny one's own Homeland, but
simply to improve the teaching of foreign languages in all schools. I
understand that this is a more challenging task than sacrificing the
Armenian language itself.
Ara Papian Citizen of the Republic of Armenia 13 May, 2010