32-year-old Italian Federica Palazzi moved to Armenia from Rome with her husband 9 months ago. Her husband has opened his own pizza factory in Kapan.
“I learn Armenian because my husband works in Armenia”.
“Armenian is a very difficult language and I have difficulties in adapting it, making my own. I have been learning this language for four months so far”.
“Besides Armenian, I also know English and Russian, I like calmness in Armenian: is not an annoying language”.
Federica’s teacher, Petrosyan Loreta tells that the pronunciation of the Armenian soft “r” is the most difficult for Federica:
“She always pronounces it like hard “r”. Just imagine how ridiculous it turn out to be when she pronounces hard “r” instead of soft “r” in some Armenian words. There are many funny cases: once because of mispronunciation she said “whore” but meant to say “grandchild”.
During four months of learning Armenian, Federica’s thick notebook was already filled with various exercises, translations, and unfamiliar words.
“I could not give up studying Armenian because, after a month of spending only on the alphabet, I felt pity for my efforts. I will continue learning. I need this language also to be able to survive in Armenia. In the future I would also like to have my own restaurant here”, Federica smiles and hands her homework to the teacher…
Zarine GRIGORYAN
