Armenian is an Indo-European language with over 6 million speakers worldwide. It is also the official language of Armenia.
Learning Armenian can be challenging, but with dedication and practice, reaching fluency is possible. There are a lot of aspects that make the Armenian language unique—like the Armenian alphabet—but once you get familiar with them, you will find it easier to navigate the language.
Whatever your reasons are for learning Armenian, finding resources that cater to your learning goals and preferences is important.
Learn Armenian + Armenian alphabet with these best apps, courses, classes, lessons, podcasts, and more specially made for beginners and English speakers. We’ll highlight the best resources for learning Armenian so you can curate your study plan accordingly. Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Where to Learn Armenian: Resources for Learning Armenian
Let’s start at the very beginning, with the alphabet. It’s the foundation for learning to spell and read in Armenian.
Tools for Learning the Armenian Alphabet
From useful websites to alphabet workbooks, and videos to mobile apps, we’ve got the keys you need to unlock the mysteries of the Armenian alphabet.
Learn 101 breaks the Armenian alphabet down into a table with English-language pronunciation examples, plus a sound bite for each letter. It also shows the Eastern/Western pronunciation differences.
This YouTube video from ArmenieInfo goes through the whole Armenian alphabet one letter at a time, using Eastern Armenian pronunciations. It shows the uppercase and lowercase Armenian letters, as well as the Latin letter a similar sound in English. The voice-overs demonstrate the Armenian pronunciations and their English-language pairings.
This video, from Western Armenian’s channel, shows the names of the letters in the Western Armenian dialect. It also gives written English-language examples of how the Armenian letters would be pronounced in the context of the words they form.
Learn to Read Armenian in 5 Days by Alex Hakobyan, which is available in both ebook or paperback form, breaks down the alphabet into sections and includes many exercises to practice.
Memrise has a short course to review the letters of the Armenian alphabet. You can access the course either through your web browser or through the Memrise app.
While the Memrise course will help with character recognition, it lacks any audio—so you’ll need to combine this course with another resource to make sure you master all those Armenian letter sounds!
Of course, Memrise isn’t the only app available for teaching yourself Armenian letters. For learning the Armenian alphabet on the go with an Android device, try this Armenian Alphabet app by Dimitriy Ivanov. Ivanov’s app allows you to switch between Eastern and Western Armenian pronunciations. It has a learn mode, multiple-choice quizzes, and sound bites for each letter.
If you’ve got an iPhone or iPad, check out this interactive app, which includes quizzes and letter drawing practice. The iOS app, called Learn Armenian Alphabet Now, shows you both the printed and cursive versions of the characters. Like the Android app, it includes sound files, so you can hear how the letters are pronounced.
Just as Armenian has its own alphabet, it also has its own punctuation. For instance, written Armenian uses a colon whereas English would use a period to indicate the end of a sentence. Some Armenian punctuation marks are not always placed where you’d expect in a sentence. You’ll avoid a lot of confusion if you take the time to learn Armenian punctuation early on in your studies!
Armenian Language Courses, Classes, and Lessons
Once you’ve got a handle on the Armenian alphabet, you’ll be ready to rock with your first Armenian language courses. There are several options to suit your style:
Want to learn Armenian while doing chores around the house, working out, or even during your commute? Pimsleur, a well-established language-learning publisher, offers both a Western and an Eastern Armenian audio course. Each 30-minute downloadable MP3 lesson features vocabulary and a practice conversation, getting you engaged at a beginner level and helping you jump right into speaking the language. The grammar notes are sparse, though, so you’ll need to use other resources to strengthen your grasp of the written language as you progress. Bear in mind that you’ll be doing a lot of speaking with these audio lessons—so, if you’re shy, you might consider using the Pimsleur program strictly at home.
Glossika is another audio course that focuses on listening comprehension and speaking. It’s especially good for students at a lower-intermediate level, rather than complete beginners. Like Pimsleur, it skimps on grammar and instruction in the written language.
Glossika is for learners of Eastern Armenian. The lessons can be somewhat cookie-cutter—so don’t expect any insights into Armenian culture as you’re studying the language with Glossika.
Learn 101’s website takes a clear, systematic approach to teaching Eastern Armenian. The site uses simple drawings to represent basic word concepts. These are paired with Armenian words, sound files, and phonetic transliterations. Moving on from basic ideas such as colors, numbers, and articles of clothing, the vocabulary expands to common phrases, and grammatical structures such as conjunctions and verb conjugations are introduced.
Armeniapedia hosts a Wikipedia-style presentation of Eastern Armenian lessons. It’s somewhat dry but provides a very thorough explanation of the linguistics and technical aspects of the language. If you prefer a highly structured, formal approach to language learning, this method might appeal to you.
The Machtotz Association sponsors a website to help you learn Western Armenian. It features lessons and dialogues from books for young learners, some interactive exercises, a lexicon, and a guide to the Armenian alphabet. The site also integrates tools to draw the Armenian letters and record yourself pronouncing Armenian words. While there is some audio, it’s not fully integrated into the textbook lessons. This might be a better site for someone focusing on the written language, who isn’t too concerned about developing conversational skills.
If you’re looking for custom, one-on-one tutoring with a private Armenian language instructor, consider italki. Essentially a marketplace for both tutors and professional language teachers, italki helps you narrow your search for the right teacher. You can search based on the instructor’s availability, experience, lesson focus, and other parameters.
While the site doesn’t have separate categories for Western or Eastern Armenian, you can often tell from an individual instructor’s video or introductory information which form of Armenian they speak. Flexible for your learning needs and your schedule, and hosting instructors with a variety of hourly rates, italki makes finding private Armenian lessons a fairly easy process. This option is especially useful for those who want to master the art of Armenian conversation.
For a more traditionally structured classroom experience with the convenience of distance learning, Armenian Virtual College offers both Western and Eastern Armenian courses for speakers of English.
Mango Languages has an Armenian course that will help you learn conversational basics, as well as some grammar and cultural information. Each conversation is broken down into smaller chunks and repetition is used. You can also use the voice comparison feature to record your own pronunciation attempts and compare the sound and waveform with a native speaker, although this is a bit fiddly. Words and phrases are presented in the Armenian alphabet, but you can hover over the green “listen” button to see a phonetic version of what’s being said in Armenian. The Mango Armenian lessons have a limited curriculum, targeted at beginners. The lessons cover basic topics such as greetings, travel, shopping, and food.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no indication of whether you’re learning Western or Eastern Armenian. The good news is that you might have free access to these lessons, courtesy of your local public library.
Armenian via Video Lessons on YouTube
YouTube hosts a few series of video lessons for Armenian learners: 
Peace Corps Armenia presents a more comprehensive series of Armenian Virtual Language Course Videos to help you learn Eastern Armenian. The series explores the origins of the language, the Armenian alphabet, and other important fundamentals. There’s a lot of footage shot “on location” in the Republic of Armenia, which adds some great atmosphere and gives you a feel for the culture. While the sound quality can vary due to location shooting—you’ll hear the Armenian breeze rushing past the microphone in some outdoor shots—these videos generally have high-quality production values. Each dialogue is broken down by phrases. Written Armenian is presented frequently, so you get more practice with reading fluency in the target language. The lessons themselves are organized quite logically, and concepts are explained slowly and carefully.
Hayeren Khosink Audiovisual Course for Western Armenian may seem a bit intimidating at first since it’s taught primarily in Armenian. To learn basic concepts, like the seasons of the year, colors, and numbers, you’ll watch amusing skits and dialogues. The written component of the lessons is a bit lacking, but this Rosetta-Stone-like technique forces you to focus more on the sounds of the words. It might be better to try this course after you’ve learned a little basic Armenian.
YouTuber Vika Tutor, who styles herself as “Your Armenian Coach,” takes a phonics-based approach to introducing beginners to Eastern Armenian. If you want to focus on how the Armenian alphabet sounds, this is a methodical approach.
Learning Phrases with Chris and Friends published nearly nine hours of Armenian learning content in a single video. At the top of the screen is the Armenian phrases in yellow; a phonetic version follows in gray, with the English translation at the bottom. After the word or phrase is read in English, a native Armenian speaker pronounces the Armenian phrase multiple times. The phrases are pronounced slowly, which is great for beginning learners. The downside is that the form of Armenian used is not identified in the video.
Learn Armenian with Apps
Perhaps you’d like to learn Armenian a little more casually—or you simply don’t have time to devote to formal lessons or long videos. No worries! There’s an app for virtually everything these days, including learning Armenian.
The 50 Languages app, available for both iOS and Android, opens up your Eastern Armenian learning experience with vocabulary by category. Listen to the words being pronounced as you look at both the word in the Armenian alphabet and its Latin alphabet transliteration. There are interactive exercises to strengthen and test your Armenian knowledge, and you can even practice on 50 Languages’ website. While 50 Languages will give you a strong grounding in basic vocabulary, it doesn’t delve into grammar or syntax.
The Memrise app gives you mobile access to both Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian courses. Some of the Memrise courses are concentrated studies of specialized Armenian language topics, such as for essential verbs, business terms, dialogues, and names of animals. Memrise can be enjoyed via a web browser but really shines as a free Android or iOS app.
Anki, which is available for both iOS and Android, is a highly customizable build-your-own-flashcards app that’s great for language learners. It supports embedded images and different character sets, so you can eliminate translations for basic words in favor of a visual representation. While learning to use Anki requires a bit of work, it has won some vocal supporters who rave about its capabilities. Rate your retention of various Armenian words you’re studying. The spaced repetition algorithm will present them frequently enough to make sure you don’t forget difficult words, without completely forgetting to quiz you on better-retained words.
Sponsored by the Armenian heritage organization Birthright Armenia, the AYOlingo – Learn Armenian app (for both iOS and Android) focuses on Eastern Armenian. It includes structured lessons, pronunciation practice, review modules, and a social component with virtual friends and leaderboards. Spurring you on with friendly competition, AYOlingo may give you just the push you need to study Armenian consistently.
Named after the man who created the Armenian alphabet, the Mashtots – Learn Armenian app by InConcept Labs will give iOS users a solid foundation in Western Armenian. It features interactive learning games, grammar tips, and statistics to track your learning.
Play your way to learning set phrases in Eastern Armenian with uTalk, an app that takes a gamified approach to language learning. For a modest monthly fee, you can use uTalk to teach yourself basic Eastern Armenian expressions and vocabulary. You’ll get plenty of practice speaking and listening, but you’ll need to supplement your Armenian grammar and learn sentence structure using other resources.
Learners of Western Armenian can practice with childlike joy using the Gus on the Go: Western Armenian for Kids app (iOS or Android), sponsored by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU). There’s also a version for Eastern Armenian (iOS or Android). This simple, game-based approach is a fun way for the whole family to start learning Armenian together.
Fill-in-the-blanks fans might enjoy Clozemaster, which uses multiple choice to help you practice intermediate-level Armenian vocabulary in context. The English-language translations of the Armenian sentences are in fine print, so you can focus on the Armenian and test your reading comprehension in the target language. The app doesn’t specify whether it uses Western or Eastern Armenian, though.
Tandem, HelloTalk, and Speaky are language exchange apps that allow you to connect with native speakers to practice Armenian. One of your icebreaker questions with potential language exchange partners will probably be, “Do you speak Eastern or Western Armenian?”
Lomol Language’s Learn Armenian | Armenian Translator Free app for Android has many nice features—including a phrasebook, vocabulary by category, audio, and a built-in recorder to evaluate your own pronunciation. And, of course, it offers a text translation function. Unfortunately, the developers don’t indicate whether this app teaches Eastern or Western Armenian. It’s also not available for iPhone or iPad users.
Podcasts for Learning Armenian
For audio language learning in a more modern format, Learn Armenian Online presents podcasts for those learning either Eastern or Western Armenian. These are available on a number of popular platforms, including Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
For more advanced Armenian learners, who are looking for an immersive podcast experience, the SBS Armenian podcast features global news, interviews, and shows that cover a variety of topics. While some English-language content is included, the bulk of each episode is in Armenian.
Since the SBS Armenian podcasts originate in Australia, it’s most likely Western Armenian.