Our Identity

[KanadaHye]

Re: Our Identity

Can you elaborate on that please? When have we put up schools?

Here is a mission statement from the AGBU

· We believe all children can and will learn in an effective school environment.

· We will maintain high expectations and promote academic excellence for all students.

· We will create and support a school culture in which all children feel welcomed, respected, valued, trusted, motivated, and an important part of the school.

· We will provide a safe, nurturing environment and work with children to help them develop reliable study habits for academic success and as life-long learners.

· We will highlight the importance of social skills and moral values and provide guidance for their application in real life situations.

· We will generate an environment where we can learn together and assist each other in all situations, at all times.

· We will encourage a positive school climate of a caring community which respects and values diversity and nurtures everyone's self esteem.

· We will prepare students to become active participants in our democratic and pluralistic society.

· We will foster the Armenian identity of students through the Armenian curriculum.

I think they are failing miserably in a lot of instances... or more likely Armenians are choosing not to learn.


Taking a look at the world map, I didn't even know there were this many AGBU's in the world.

http://www.agbu.org/directory/default.asp

[Lucin]

Re: Our Identity

On the contrary, it's so good that people are learning it! You misunderstood Fe. People don't learn Armenian because they feel sorry for us, lol. All Fe was saying is that it's good to see that kind of enthusiasm and thanked her for taking the time to learn. What's so bad about that? Many Armenians really DON'T have that enthusiasm and this girl does. Through her message, Fe wanted to say that we should cherish our culture, language, etc. more. She didn't make it look like Armenian wasn't good enough. The sad part is that it's really GREAT but many Armenians don't give a damn about it. If you deny this fact then I'm afraid you don't know what's going on today which is a big problem. We all have to appreciate the gravity of the situation.



And how would you know? You make it look like everyone else in the world is cold and heartless. Cite examples from your own life that proves your point because I can prove everything I've said. Anytime I've learned a language, everyone teaching me were more excited then I was and really appreciated my endeavor .... even my Turkish friends who were teaching me Turkish (don't get the wrong idea)!


...When you know what's going on today! Just recently, you found out that there are Armenians who don't give a xxxx about other Armenians, Armenia, or anything Armenian. You have a lot of catching up to do!

Read again what I said. I don't have the time to go through your misunderstandings as you don't bother yourself reading carefully.

The English put schools up and people learned English. The French put schools up, people learned French. Armenians put schools up and nobody cared to learn... not even the Armenians that attended.

Can you elaborate on that please? When have we put up schools?

We aren't IMPERIALISTS but we have become so liberal that we don't even care if our own children learn how to read/write the language and preserve our identity.

I agree. You put it nicely; 'we are not imperialists yet we're liberal'. That's why we should put all our resources into strengthening Armenia the only place where our culture our language and our identity can be preserved, while only hindering the assimilation in the Diaspora as it's just inevitable.

[Anoush]

Re: Our Identity

Reading some of these threads and posts just reinforces my belief that we Armenians indeed do have identity issues and complexes. Just take a look at this thread called ''want to learn Armenian"... A Greek girl wants to learn Armenian, someone is 'thanking' her, the other one jumps to say 'I am pleased and that it is a treat... etc.' as if Armenian language is just not good enough... It's just hilarious how this self-imposed inferiority complex and insecurity works (although unconsciously at times) within some of us... Does an English, French or Italian thank you for learning his/her language? No! Is he/ she pleased!? No! When are we going to get rid of this cultural cringe?

Unfortunately the inferioties worked wonders on us throughout 600 years of not being able to have a country, then the AG, right after that 2 1/2 years of independence and then the communist Russia took over our lands thus giving a good chunks of it to the "azzeri" tatars; then at the same time the survivors from the AG have been scattered all over the world creating little but insecure and sometimes wealthy communities yet living throughout 94 years in their hosted countries. Is it any wonder that although we finaly have our landlocked Armenia with our beautiful Artsax next to it now; however all these negative influences throughout centuries unfortunately are still there; because throughout these ordeals of 900 centuries we have also been assymilated not having a country of our own and then in the AR we've been under the Russian Communisms who took over our country.

It shall take time now to start feeling and having more control over ourselves and our identities. Little by little it shall happen when we together work towards our goals intelligently, productively, determined to make it work psychologically secure for our people and to have our younger generation to learn and utilize our wonderful golden language with 38 letters. We can spell and pronounce any and every language in the world. As a matter of fact a while back our rich Armenian language was contemplated by many countries to make it an international language for it's usefulness and for the extensive useage of letters. Unfortunately it didn't materialize as we were not free and a powerful country at the time.

Just the other day, my daughter said to me, mom you know when you speak Armenian it really sounds so nice to my ears. It sounds very nice and much better than the English language. I was overjoyed to hear this from my girl and I kissed her for it. You see my dear friends, it's true Armenian is very useful and a beautiful language. I just wish we all continue to speak it more often both in Armenia and in the Diaspora. Let's all of us together make it work!!!!!

[Sako]

Re: Our Identity

I don't know why they bother going to the U.S. History has shown if you wait long enough, the U.S. will come to you

English might die out faster than you think. You take a look at the U.S and Canada, Australia, UK, etc... the multilingual ethnic people are outnumbering the WASP's.... it's just the government/schools/businesses that are enforcing the English language. I agree that English is so widespread that it appears there is no turning back.... but everyone that has other languages in their tool chest aside from English will be at a great advantage.

Sure, but if they even only know English, they'll be able to communicate somehow no matter where they go!

The English put schools up and people learned English. The French put schools up, people learned French. Armenians put schools up and nobody cared to learn... not even the Armenians that attended. We aren't IMPERIALISTS but we have become so liberal that we don't even care if our own children learn how to read/write the language and preserve our identity.

~I rest my case~

[KanadaHye]

Re: Our Identity

English will always be the most used language, I have no doubts. Why? Because it's simple and easy to learn. Everyone will know at least a little English. English's influence on the world won't drop in ten years. Things don't change that fast...



You can't say that. Many, many people are going to the US now. It's a dream of every Armenian to go to the US ... not Russia, and many go there in the end. Sure, there are thousands that go to work in Russia but if they didn't, they wouldn't need Russian. Fact is, if we weren't part of the USSR and the AG didn't take place, we wouldn't have such a big connection to Russia. What makes you think we need more Russian then English? You proved my point yourself. If Armenians go to Russia, they'll need Russian. But if they go anywhere else, they'll need English because everyone knows a little bit of that. You can communicate somehow. Whether you know Russian in that case doesn't really matter. Your talking politically, not rationally, Karo. I don't know Russian very well but I don't seem to miss out from much. If I didn't know English though, I would've lost A LOT.

I don't know why they bother going to the U.S. History has shown if you wait long enough, the U.S. will come to you

English might die out faster than you think. You take a look at the U.S and Canada, Australia, UK, etc... the multilingual ethnic people are outnumbering the WASP's.... it's just the government/schools/businesses that are enforcing the English language. I agree that English is so widespread that it appears there is no turning back.... but everyone that has other languages in their tool chest aside from English will be at a great advantage.

Reading some of these threads and posts just reinforces my belief that we Armenians indeed do have identity issues and complexes. Just take a look at this thread called ''want to learn Armenian"... A Greek girl wants to learn Armenian, someone is 'thanking' her, the other one jumps to say 'I am pleased and that it is a treat... etc.' as if Armenian language is just not good enough... It's just hilarious how this self-imposed inferiority complex and insecurity works (although unconsciously at times) within some of us... Does an English, French or Italian thank you for learning his/her language? No! Is he/ she pleased!? No! When are we going to get rid of this cultural cringe?

The English put schools up and people learned English. The French put schools up, people learned French. Armenians put schools up and nobody cared to learn... not even the Armenians that attended. We aren't IMPERIALISTS but we have become so liberal that we don't even care if our own children learn how to read/write the language and preserve our identity.

[Sako]

Re: Our Identity

Reading some of these threads and posts just reinforces my belief that we Armenians indeed do have identity issues and complexes. Just take a look at this thread called ''want to learn Armenian"... A Greek girl wants to learn Armenian, someone is 'thanking' her, the other one jumps to say 'I am pleased and that it is a treat... etc.' as if Armenian language is just not good enough...

On the contrary, it's so good that people are learning it! You misunderstood Fe. People don't learn Armenian because they feel sorry for us, lol. All Fe was saying is that it's good to see that kind of enthusiasm and thanked her for taking the time to learn. What's so bad about that? Many Armenians really DON'T have that enthusiasm and this girl does. Through her message, Fe wanted to say that we should cherish our culture, language, etc. more. She didn't make it look like Armenian wasn't good enough. The sad part is that it's really GREAT but many Armenians don't give a damn about it. If you deny this fact then I'm afraid you don't know what's going on today which is a big problem. We all have to appreciate the gravity of the situation.

It's just hilarious how this self-imposed inferiority complex and insecurity works (although unconsciously at times) within some of us... Does an English, French or Italian thank you for learning his/her language? No! Is he/ she pleased!? No!

And how would you know? You make it look like everyone else in the world is cold and heartless. Cite examples from your own life that proves your point because I can prove everything I've said. Anytime I've learned a language, everyone teaching me were more excited then I was and really appreciated my endeavor .... even my Turkish friends who were teaching me Turkish (don't get the wrong idea)!

When are we going to get rid of this cultural cringe?

...When you know what's going on today! Just recently, you found out that there are Armenians who don't give a xxxx about other Armenians, Armenia, or anything Armenian. You have a lot of catching up to do!

[Lucin]

Re: Our Identity

Reading some of these threads and posts just reinforces my belief that we Armenians indeed do have identity issues and complexes. Just take a look at this thread called ''want to learn Armenian"... A Greek girl wants to learn Armenian, someone is 'thanking' her, the other one jumps to say 'I am pleased and that it is a treat... etc.' as if Armenian language is just not good enough... It's just hilarious how this self-imposed inferiority complex and insecurity works (although unconsciously at times) within some of us... Does an English, French or Italian thank you for learning his/her language? No! Is he/ she pleased!? No! When are we going to get rid of this cultural cringe?

[Sako]

Re: Our Identity

The world is changing, English is losing it's power and will lose more of it's power. New languages will come and it will be eastern languages. English is important right now but in 10 years who knows.

English will always be the most used language, I have no doubts. Why? Because it's simple and easy to learn. Everyone will know at least a little English. English's influence on the world won't drop in ten years. Things don't change that fast...

And for Armenia it's more important to know good Russian than English, cause Armenians go to Russia, there are people going there to work. Armenia right now hasn't much to do with the English world it will be important in the future maybe but no body knows so they'll need both but more Russian knowledge.

You can't say that. Many, many people are going to the US now. It's a dream of every Armenian to go to the US ... not Russia, and many go there in the end. Sure, there are thousands that go to work in Russia but if they didn't, they wouldn't need Russian. Fact is, if we weren't part of the USSR and the AG didn't take place, we wouldn't have such a big connection to Russia. What makes you think we need more Russian then English? You proved my point yourself. If Armenians go to Russia, they'll need Russian. But if they go anywhere else, they'll need English because everyone knows a little bit of that. You can communicate somehow. Whether you know Russian in that case doesn't really matter. Your talking politically, not rationally, Karo. I don't know Russian very well but I don't seem to miss out from much. If I didn't know English though, I would've lost A LOT.

And I live in Belgium, knowing English here is normal but Russian if you know that you cn reach great heights in many companies.

And I've lived in so many countries and no matter where I've gone, I've been able to normally communicate because of my good English skills. If you lived say in India, would your Russian be used at all? You need Russian because you live in Belgium or some other country where Russian is important. But when you look at the bigger picture, English has been and is still very important. More important then Russian. English keeps our people connected to the world and can help them advance faster and move on. Russian just keeps them more connected to Russia!

Some big players are going to be China and India for sure... maybe even Brazil. So the more languages you can pick up, the better. Knowing Russian is an asset when you're living right next to the big bear.

Of course. I'm not saying let's not learn Russian. I'm saying we're Armenians and Russia shouldn't influence us so much. We're not Russians! I'm saying this again, do you think the Russians want to learn Armenian? They don't use Armenian words in their casual conversations. So why the hell should we use Russian words? Most here don't even learn Russian. They just use Russian words while talking goghakan! It makes them look cooler, lol.

Saco, I am with you on this one all the way. Also Mos points out correctly how strong the Russian influence has been and its side effects.

Absolutely. I'm not underestimating the Russian influence. All I'm saying is that this is our country now and it should look like our country ... not a part of Russia. I can't remember all the times I talked about Armenia and people thought I was talking about Russia. Many people know our country that way. They don't know who we are but we can change that.

We are Armenians for Christ sake, not Russians or Americans. Sure, we will continue to honor our host countries as Diasporans with public and military services and being productive members of the society……………… but at the end of the day we are who we are.

Perfectly said. I have absolutely nothing more to add.

[Eddo211]

Re: Our Identity

Saco, I am with you on this one all the way. Also Mos points out correctly how strong the Russian influence has been and its side effects.

We are Armenians for Christ sake, not Russians or Americans. Sure, we will continue to honor our host countries as Diasporans with public and military services and being productive members of the society……………… but at the end of the day we are who we are.

I know what you mean Saco, I in my opinion,
honestly think that the Armenains in Armenia are
still in the Soviet era mode, because to them that
lifestyle was good for them. After all Armenia has
really never gone through any good eras' of it's own.

Icy............good analogy.

[Anoush]

Re: Our Identity

Our School


No man could have created a school
More joyful and magnificent
--- Than him and I
--- Father and son:

As a teacher, I have rendered.
As a student` he received intellect,
He learned by heart
His Armenian golden novel:

I have introduced him
Our school plan.
I simply said,
First lesson
You are Armenian, my son.
Second lesson, and similarly,
You have a country
Her name is` Armenia
Mostly it's stone; above it however
there's a feast like table with abundant
Greenness:
The third lesson in particular
Be loyal to your Mesrobian traditional language
Till your death.

Now, you may go.