Theo Todman's Book Collection (Book-Paper Abstracts)

Notes

• This is a very well printed book, but it is just the print-out from the on-line course (50languages: Armenian for English Speakers).
• I bought the book because I wanted an Armenian Grammar which had the Armenian script printed clearly. Well, this is half-way there, in that the script is very clear. Unfortunately, as the website admits, this is just a phrase-book, and the grammar is left completely unexplained.
• So, it hasn’t really fulfilled its purpose. And while the script is clear, it’s not much help in deciphering the tiny, italic, blotchy script full of serifs that seems to be the standard. Maybe once you’re thoroughly familiar with the tidy on-line script, which is what is reproduced in the book, the traditional fonts won’t be so forbidding.
• There is no explanation of the script in the book, but it’s available on the 50Languages site at 50languages: Armenian Alphabet, on Wikipedia and on other Armenian teaching sites.
• Finally, though it’s not explained, the text appears to be Eastern Armenian, as spoken in Yerevan, rather than Western Armenian, as spoken in the Armenian diaspora.
• One thing that’s really useful is that the transliteration is preserved throughout, as well as the script of the language being learnt.