Armenia

Armenia possesses one of the world's oldest and most distinctive cultural identities, shaped by millennia of history, a unique alphabet, and the enduring influence of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenians take tremendous pride in their cultural continuity, maintaining traditions that predate many modern civilizations. The Armenian alphabet, created by the monk Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD, is considered a cornerstone of national identity. With 38 letters specifically designed to represent the sounds of the Armenian language, it enabled the translation of religious texts and helped preserve Armenian culture through centuries of foreign rule and occupation.

Christianity is central to Armenian cultural life. Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD, making it the first nation in the world to do so officially. The Armenian Apostolic Church remains deeply woven into daily life, celebrations, and national consciousness. Monasteries such as Geghard and Khor Virap are not only religious sites but powerful cultural symbols visited by Armenians and tourists alike. The monastic ensembles of Haghpat and Sanahin, both designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, further reflect the country's extraordinary legacy of religious architecture and craftsmanship.

Armenian cuisine reflects both the country's geography and its cultural exchanges over centuries. Staple dishes include khorovats (barbecue), dolma (grape leaves or vegetables stuffed with spiced meat and rice), lavash (a thin flatbread recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage), and manti (small baked dumplings typically served with yogurt and garlic). Lavash in particular holds ceremonial importance at weddings and holidays, where it is draped over the shoulders of newlyweds as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune. Music and dance are vital expressions of Armenian culture. The duduk, an ancient double-reed woodwind instrument carved from apricot wood, produces a haunting, soulful sound that UNESCO has recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Traditional folk dances, often performed at community gatherings and celebrations, vary by region but share expressive, rhythmic movements rooted in ancient customs. Armenia also has a rich classical music tradition, with composers such as Aram Khachaturian — best known internationally for his Sabre Dance — having achieved global recognition in the twentieth century. Hospitality is a deeply ingrained cultural value.

Guests are typically welcomed with generosity, and sharing a meal is considered an important social ritual. The apricot holds special symbolic meaning in Armenian culture — the country is widely regarded as one of the fruit's earliest cultivated homelands, and the species name Prunus armeniaca reflects this association — and it appears frequently in cuisine, art, and cultural references. Literature and oral storytelling also occupy an honored place in Armenian tradition, with the medieval epic poem the Daredevils of Sassoun celebrated as a defining work of national identity and recognized on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Armenian greeting in the morning is bari aravot (good morning), in the afternoon barev (hello), while in the evening it is bari yereko (good evening) and bari gisher(good night) when going to sleep. At school when the kid meets one of his/her teachers he/she usually adds comrade and the teacher’s surname after the greeting expression of good morning, For example, if the teacher’s surname is Hambardzumyan the kid would great him with “good morning, Comrade Hambardzumyan!”

Armenians greet each other with a handshake, and close friends greet with kisses on the cheek. Men and women show affection for friends of the same sex.  It is as common to see two men walking down the street arm in arm as it is two women.

It is considered polite to visit without an invitation.  As a sign of love and respect, most social gatherings include toasting each family's good health and good luck.

Urban Armenians wear the styles of Europe. Jeans are popular among the youth. Traditional costumes include baggy pants worn under long overcoats. Regional accessories include sheepskin hats, engraved metal belts, and jewelry.  Women traditionally wear their hair in two long braids.

Armenians like borscht (beet soup); khorovadz (roasted meat), potatoes and stews. Some delicacies are fresh trout from Lake Sevan. grapevine leaves stuffed with rice, dolma (herbs), lavash (flat bread) harissa (chicken porridge) and madzun (yogurt)

In villages Armenians have private houses, many having small farming plots and small barns. Adults when first married usually live with their parents with the new bride moving into her husband's parent's home. Children usually care for their parents in old age. Grandparents play a large role in raising their grandchildren.

When the bride and groom enter their home for the first time as a married couple lavash (flat bread) is placed over their shoulders for good luck. On the fortieth day the bride's parents visit her in her new home and give her a ozhit  (the personal possessions of a bride usually including clothes, accessories, and household linens and wares)

In urban Armenia, most families live in apartment buildings ranging from four(4) to fifteen(15) stories high.

Armenian men like to play backgammon and chess in city parks when the weather is nice. In the summer trips to the beach at Lake Sevan and picnics in the countryside are common. Soccer is the most popular sport. Skiing and Tennis are also popular.

The usual day of the child going to school starts with the alarm clock or with one of the parents’ voices aimed at waking up the child. After getting out of bed the child usually gets busy with his personal hygiene and when he/she is clean, clothed and hair combed it is time to have breakfast. For breakfast children usually eat boiled or half-boiled eggs or an omelet and drink a cup of sweet tea with cheese, butter, jam, or honey spread on bread.

Children usually go to school near their house. Depending on the distance some go there on foot others by public minibusses since there is no transportation provided by the school system or state. If the child is in elementary school i.e. too little to go to school alone, usually one of his parents, or relatives takes him to school and then meets him to take him back home when the classes are over. In villages, children don’t take transportation to school as there are no public or state transportations inside any village in Armenia. So for village children, the only choice to get to school is on foot.

There are many schools near each other and the ages of those schools are different. There are old buildings and also very new ones built in the post-war period and the number of children studying there also differs. There are about 160 – 300 children at a school. A typical Armenian school classroom usually has desks for children, a desk for the teacher, a blackboard, domestic flowers on the windowsills, and wallpapers concerning the subjects taught in the classroom. Some classrooms also have bookshelves for different books. Many schools have different classrooms for different subjects and those classrooms are equipped with corresponding equipment. But this does not apply to every school. Many schools do not have audiovisual equipment. There is a computer room nearly in every school and, perhaps, this is the best and the most interesting classroom for the children.

A typical day at school starts with the bell ringing. Then the teacher enters the class and all the children greet him/her with bari aravot (good morning). Children who study in the primary grades usually have four lessons. Every lesson is 45 minutes long, and between each lesson there is 5 minutes break. After the second lesson, the break is a bit longer - 10 minutes long. Usually, pupils bring something to eat during the breaks. This can be apples, biscuits or sweets. There is also a buffet in every school where the pupils and teachers can buy sandwiches, patty, doughnuts, khachapuri (Georgian cuisine dish made from cheese and pastry in layers), zhengyalov hats (Armenian cuisine dish made from pastry and herbs (literal translation is bread with greens)), drink tea or coffee. Secondary education in Armenia is compulsory. The duration of secondary school in Armenia is 11 years (two years ago it was 10 years) and it has three levels. The first level is the primary school ( 1-4 grades) where children study from the age of 6 till 9. The second level is the Intermediate School (5-9 grades) where pupils study from the age of 10 till 15. Here children get general education. It is also called incomplete secondary education and after finishing it pupils obtain a Certificate of Basic Education. Having graduated from the intermediate school they can go either to High School to continue their education or to specialized secondary and technical secondary educational institutions. The third level is high or senior school (10-11 grades) and pupils study there from the age of 16 to 17. After graduating from high school pupils obtain a Certificate of Full Secondary Education. More than 75 percent of pupils move to high schools. Only pupils who have unsatisfactory grades or satisfactory grades and who are going to become musicians move to specialized secondary or technical secondary educational institutions. The grading system at schools has changed recently in Armenia. Before it had 5 grades like all the former Soviet countries. The mark “2” was equal to “unsatisfactory”, “3” was “satisfactory”, “4” -“good” and “5” was equal to “excellent”. Now there are 10 grades, from which 1,2, 3 are considered to be “unsatisfactory” marks; 4,5,6 are “satisfactory”; 7,8 are good; 9,10 are “excellent” marks. In Armenia, primary and intermediate schools are usually in the same building. High school can also be in the same building but this is not the case in all school buildings. The subjects taught in primary schools are mother language, fine arts, technology, mathematics, music, and physical culture, which children study from the first grade and the Russian and English languages from the second grade. In some schools in Armenia, the French or German language is taught instead of English. The primary language for the children who attend school is Armenian. They can speak Russian with their family members sometimes but they don’t speak English at home. Maybe this is because Armenia is a former Soviet country and also because children watch a lot of films and animated cartoons in Russian on TV. The number of students per teacher differs as it depends on the number of children in the grade. It can vary from 15 to 30. The headmaster of the school has all the authority of the school, all the teachers and children are under his/her supervision while the teachers are responsible for their classes only. Children don’t wear uniforms at school, everybody is free to wear whatever he/she wants. Children usually don’t have their lunch at school if they don’t have extracurricular activities. They just come home after school and have their lunch at home. In case they have extracurricular activities they buy whatever there is in the buffet and have their lunch there after school.

Some schools have a few extracurricular activities, for example, chorus, circles of Armenian language and literature, physics, chemistry, volleyball, and basketball. It depends on the school. On holidays kids at the primary level usually have shows or dramas dedicated to the holiday. There are also other extracurricular activities in the public system and private entities for the children. Girls usually go to music or chorographical schools, painting circles, circles for singing, knitting, while boys start training Karate and playing football from an early age. Playing chess and tennis is also popular among kids. There are not as many extracurricular activities for the kids in villages and they usually get involved in the activities that are offered by their school. Pupils go to school from Monday till Saturday in Armenia. This means that they have only Sunday as a weekend. At weekends kids usually get ready for their Monday lessons, play in the yard with their neighbors, watch animated cartoons and play computer games which is the most popular activity among kids.

In the evening when the child returns home he/she usually has dinner and learns his/her lessons. After all the lessons are done children either play computer games, watch cartoons or go to sleep. Village children usually help their parents to look after domestic animals after school.

Education plays a central role in the lives of most children and their families. Since the school program has become difficult to study during these last years parents spend a lot of time with their children to make them learn their lessons. The school program is so complicated that parents hire individual tutors for their children for each subject. The average child’s day is overloaded as he/she comes home from school and after having his/her lunch many go to a tutor.