One of My Biggest Regrets...
One of my biggest regrets in life was not learning new languages when I had the opportunity in my younger years. I remember not taking my French classes seriously when I was a seminarian and later on just doing the bare minimum in Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. When I reflect back on those days, I know that I messed up because potential dies if it’s not met with hard work. Now, I find myself constantly lecturing my children to take their French lessons seriously.
I have a deep appreciation for languages because speaking the native language of any country breaks so many barriers and creates a deeper connection with the people we communicate with. It's no coincidence that on Pentecost, the Apostles received the gift of tongues to communicate the Word of God to the world using the native languages of different regions.
Tomorrow morning, the Saint Sarkis Church Suzanne & Hovsep Hagopian Saturday School will welcome its students for a new academic year. Since its inception, our Saturday School has aimed to teach both Eastern and Western Armenian dialects to our students. We strongly believe that learning the language of our ancestors enables our youth to connect with our cultural roots and preserve important traditions, stories, and customs that could otherwise be lost. The study of the Armenian language helps our students understand our cultural practices and fosters a strong sense of identity through their familiarity with their historical background.
One of the things that brings me a unique sense of joy is when I see my children communicating with their grandparents in Armenian. Learning their ancestral language can help our younger generation to communicate more deeply with older generations. This enhances family bonds and preserves family histories. As the offspring of the Armenian Genocide survivors, we all have so many family stories that are passed down orally. Knowing the language can help preserve these narratives, maintaining the family’s collective memory across generations.
Learning a new language, from a psychological and developmental perspective, helps improve cognitive skills, boost creativity, and enhance critical thinking. For Armenians, learning our ancestral language provides a link to our origins and fosters an emotional connection with our rich past. Mastering Armenian can be the start of an emotional journey that instills a sense of pride and belonging. Also, understanding our roots helps us relate to others’ histories and backgrounds.
In 2010, UNESCO declared Western Armenian as an endangered language. Personally, I find this fact very devastating because Western Armenian has helped shape and articulate my thoughts. I have prayed and cursed in Western Armenian, and written love letters and letters of resignation in Western Armenian. I have grown my imagination by reading poetry and literature in Western Armenian, and I would love to see my children and the next generations cherish our beautiful dialect. By teaching and learning Armenian, we can preserve it for our future generations.
Learning and communicating in Armenian is a powerful way to reclaim our history, which our enemies tried to oppress and eliminate during the Armenian Genocide and the subsequent decades when we were forcibly removed from our ancestral lands and dispersed around the world. By learning and communicating in Armenian, we can share our own stories from the perspective of our culture, empowering us to communicate our personal and collective histories.
With these thoughts in mind, I welcome all our students back to our Saturday School. I also encourage parents who have not yet signed up for their children to reconsider and enroll them in our school. I hope you will make the best of the opportunity our Saturday School provides, so you don't have any regrets like I do.
Prayerfully,
