Zartsants 2.0 Western Armenian Language Immersion, Online!

PRESS RELEASE:
Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Avenida de: 
Berna 45-A, 1067-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Contact: Vera Cunha
Telephone: (351) 21 782 3658
Web: gulbenkian.pt:
Zartsant 2.0, the magical power of Western Armenian, online
Is it possible to imagine a language aimed at children and young people? 
a program that is only online and yet offers the opportunity to truly 
in the "Suzuelu" language. Advent Külpenkean Foundation against the request 
Yandiman was found when he was forced to delete the Amazing 2020 due to the epidemic 
as a result. After a moment's hesitation, the answer was: "Yes, we should try." And that 
in order to make the decision a reality, he entered an uncontroversial area. Thus, the summer language "camp" that until now is 10 to 24 years old 
He inspired children and young people to learn and create 
in Western Armenian, was transferred to the digital world. To be together, to get closer, 
The feeling of working together, devoting a group to a task is needed now 
that world would be transferred without losing the focus on the language. New 
the initiative was called "Zartsants 2.0", borrowing "Zar" from "Zarmanazan" and 
Keeping the "grid" to remind the new program of the character. Of course, "2.0" is 
symbolized both the difficulties of the alarming number 2020 and Zarmanazan 
the main connection. In March 2020, ideas between companions and organizers 
The online meetings that provoked the exchange started when it became clear that 
it should not be possible to gather physically. There were many challenges 
attractive. find the right balance in front of the poster and away from the poster 
between periods, online workshops requiring participation 
to prepare, for the duration of the program: cheerful presence and regular contribution 
to ensure, to take into account the age differences of workplaces, countries 
to create a schedule that respects the time differences between them, and it is unnecessary 
to say, to be sure that Western Armenian will flourish "naturally" prepared in that way 
in an atmosphere. It was also important for the participants from the first moment 
involve impressions and opinions, ensuring their commitment to new 
regarding the format and necessary parental privileges. One of the important points was to make an accessible platform, Zartsants 2.0 
according to the requirements. Between that platform, the participants could carry themselves 
clarify preferences, gather information about different workshops, 
to be recorded, having their own timeline in front of them. Everyone 
the participants had to be registered for at least three workshops per day (though 
very often, their choice was more than three). The workshops took place 
Through Zoom, each with a duration of 40 seconds. According to the content: 
they were either age-specific or open to all 
it can be the inter-age interaction between the participants. Workshops 
Only the participants were open, but outside, a block was created for the parents 
for informational purposes. All workshops were specially prepared for Zartants 2.0 and every week 
changed. You can remember the order of the proposed materials and workshops 
the following: music, painting, cooking, with movements 
expression, eoka, origami, photography, scientific experiments, 
of writing and reading Western Armenian (as well as literature and 
(philosophy) workshops, subject theater, performing arts, "Zarmanatun" 
preparation of the newspaper, programs of the "Zarmansokh" radio station. There was until 
a workshop dealing with the vocabulary of teaching in the Armenian language, five volunteers 
with participants. The day of Zartsant 2.0 was started by the participants with different content every day 
prepared with a video of "Good Light" and ended with a live stream "Pytotsaran" 
with an interactive program (on YouTube) that included games, concerts 
speeches and online "camp" about everyday experiences 
stories. Since the online platform operated entirely and only in Armenian, soon in Armenian 
A digital dictionary was compiled and made available to everyone. Participants learned the "word of the day" and the online dictionary grew daily 
with words such as "download", "download", "charge", and many others. The dictionary became so rich that it eventually contained 100 words. Moreover, 
600 related words were translated, the Zartantsi system was completely Armenian 
making In this way, a Zartants area was created, in which the Armenian language is spoken 
was completely involved in the digital sphere. 50 teenagers and young people participated in Zartsants 2.0. There are 33 of them 
belonged to the group of 10 to 17 years old, and 17 to the group of 18 to 24 years old. The programmers developed and conducted 22 guides, mostly on vocational issues 
a small group of practicing specialists. The participants "came" from various countries. Argentina, Armenia, Pelchika, Ghana, France, Greece, Lebanon, Portugal, 
Turkey, Great Britain and the United States. From July 12 to August 7 
during four weeks, 1200 images and 250 videos were produced, 96 
workshops were opened via Zoom through 670 meetings, totaling 64,000 
for a moment. On the online platform, 300 pages were prepared and presented, and block 
25 pages were written for parents, of which 70 were used regularly. 
the platform. Zartsants 2.0 caused young people and their parents to speak Armenian every day. Around the globe, many families together, scattered in a direct stream 
they enjoyed the events, read the plot or watched the "Bari Lois" videos 
they watched. It is true that there was no physical contact and presence, but there was family 
strong feelings of unity were circulated from one corner of the world to another. "Internet 2.0 for creating, having fun and using the Armenian language 
was based on the phenomena of feeling committed to", said Razmik Panosian. 
The director of the Armenian department. "He gave us a completely new point of view and 
an experience with online jobs as well as learning a language 
direction. His success will be an encouragement to us. we will try in the future 
to stand up to similar initiatives". Zartsant 2.0 took place completely online from July 12 to 
August 7. Participation was reserved for those who had already registered 
Amazing in 2020. The organizer was the Thousand and One World Association 
(France), with the help of Galust Culpenkean Foundation and its close 
in partnership. For more information and to watch the "Zartsants 2.0" video 
visit /website. --
 Zartsants 2.0.  Western Armenian Language Immersion, Online! Can a language immersion program for children and young adults take place? 
exclusively online: This was the question the Armenian Communities Department of 
the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation had to grapple with when Zarmanazan 2020 had 
to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After some hesitation, it answered 
“yes, we must try!” It thus entered some uncharted territory to make it happen. The physical gathering of an educational summer “camp” that inspired children 
and young adults (10 to 24 years old) to learn and create in Western Armenian 
had to be adapted to the digital domain. Special care had to be taken to 
transport online the sense of familiarity, creativity and constant engagement, 
while keeping the language at the heart of the programme. The new initiative was 
called “Zartsants 2.0,” taking the “zar” from Zarmanazan and “tsants” from the 
Armenian word ցանց, meaning network or web. The “2.0” symbolised both the 
difficult year of 2020 and the fact that Zartsants was building on Zarmanazan. Intensive online brainstorming meetings between the facilitators and the 
organisers started in March 2020, once it became clear that the physical 
gathering was not going to take place. There were many challenges that needed to 
be overcome: finding the right balance between screen time and off-screen time, 
designing participative activities online, ensuring ongoing engagement over a 
period of several weeks, mixing workshop groups virtually, time zones 
differences, and, needless to say, making sure that Western Armenian would 
“naturally” flourish in the environment being created. It was important from the 
start to get feedback from the participants to ensure their commitment to the 
new format and to obtain parental approval. It was essential to design a user-friendly personalised online platform 
specifically for Zartsants 2.0. Participants could update through the platform 
their profiles, gather multimedia information regarding the various workshops, 
register for activities and consult their personalised timetables. All 
participants had to take part in at least three workshops per day (although most 
of the time they wanted to take part in more). The workshops were held via Zoom 
with an average duration of 40 minutes. Depending on the content, they were 
either for a specific age group or were mixed-aged to allow for cross-age 
interaction and learning. While the workshops were for participants only, a blog 
was created to inform and involve parents. All workshops were exclusively created for Zartsants 2.0 and changed every week. Activities included, among others, cooking, music and singing, movement 
expression, yoga, origami, crafts, drawing and painting, photography, science 
experiments, writing and reading in Western Armenian (including literature and 
philosophy), theatre with small objects, film making, an in-house newspaper 
(“Zarmanadoon”) and radio show (“Zarmanatsayn”). There was even a workshop, with 
five regular participants, on mathematical vocabulary in Armenian! The day in Zartsants 2.0 would start with a daily surprise, a “Good Morning” 
video created by selected participants, and it would end with an exciting 
interactive live stream show on YouTube that included games, in-house concerts 
and stories of daily experiences at the virtual “camp.”
Since the online platform functioned completely in Armenian, a range of digital 
Armenian vocabulary was made available. Everyday participants learned “the word 
of the day” adding to the searchable online dictionary with words such as 
“download” (ներբեռնել), “link” (յղում) and “to charge” (լիցքաւորել). The 
dictionary grew to 100 words. In addition, 600 related terms were translated to 
make the Zartsants interface fully Armenian. In short, Zartsants created a space 
in which the Armenian language was fully integrated into the digital sphere. Zartsants 2.0 had 50 participants. Of these, 33 were in the 10 to 17 age group, 
and 17 were in the 18 to 24 age group. The programme was animated by 22 
facilitators and supported by a very small team of technical experts. Participants “came” from the following countries: Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, 
Canada, France, Greece, Lebanon, Portugal, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United 
States. In a period of four weeks (12 July to 7 August), 1200 images and 250 
videos were produced, 96 workshops were held via 670 zoom gatherings for a total 
of 64,000 minutes. 300 pages were designed on the online platform and 25 blog 
posts were written for the parents, 70 of whom used the platform on a daily 
basis (in addition to all the participants and facilitators). Zartsants 2.0 motivated youth and parents to speak Western Armenian daily. Many 
families around the world came together to enjoy the live stream events, read 
the blog, or watch the “Good Morning” videos. Despite the lack of a physical 
gathering, a strong feeling of familiarity and empathy was created through vast 
distances and multiple time zones. “Zartsants 2.0 relied on creativity, fun and motivation as propellers of the 
Armenian language,” said Razmik Panossian, the Director of the Armenian 
Communities Department. “It gave us a whole new perspective and experience 
regarding engaging online activities for language learning, day in and day out. We will certainly look at its success, and explore the possibilities of 
supporting similar initiatives in the future,” he concluded. Zartsants 2.0 took place completely online from 12 July to 7 August. Its 
participation was limited to those who had already registered for Zarmanazan 
2020. Zartsants 2.0 was organized by L’association Mille et un Mondes (France), 
with the support of and in close collaboration with the Calouste Gulbenkian 
Foundation. For more information and to view the Zartsants 2.0 video visit: 
/
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Zartsants 2.0: Linguistic immersion in Western Armenian, online! Is a language immersion program for children and youth 
adults can take place only online? This is the question that the 
Department of Armenian Communities of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 
was forced to ask questions when Zarmanazan 2020 had to be canceled due to the 
Covid-19 pandemic. After hesitating a little, she replied: “Yes, 
we have to try” and at the same time she entered into a territory 
previously unexplored. The real gathering within a language camp, thanks to which so many 
children and so many young people (between 10 and 24 years old) had established a relationship 
so enriching with Western Armenian, now had to be 
replaced and adapted to the new conditions, specific to the digital era. He 
had to ensure that being together, creativity, commitment were 
preserved, while maintaining the language at the heart of the program. The news 
initiative was called “Zartsants 2.0”, where “zar” was borrowed from 
Zarmanazan and “tsants” is the Armenian word for “network”. Obviously, “2.0” was emblematic of the year 2020 and at the same time symbolized 
time the fact that Zartsants was an emanation of Zarmanazan. Intense reflection therefore began in March 2020 between the 
facilitators and organizers, when it became clear that the camp was not 
could not be held in face-to-face mode. There were many challenges to overcome 
: find a satisfactory balance between time spent in front of the screen and 
off-screen time, design interactive online activities, ensure 
that participants remain focused over a period of four weeks, 
juggling virtual workshops, differences between time zones, 
and of course ensure that Western Armenian flourishes “naturally” 
in the environment thus created. It was important to have from the start the 
feedback from participants to make sure they were part 
involved in this new business, without forgetting parental consent. We needed to design a personalized online platform that was easy to 
handle, especially for Zartsants 2.0. The participants went like this 
able to update their profile from the platform, they would have 
access to a series of multimedia information concerning the various workshops 
offered, register for the activities of their choice, and consult their employment 
personalized time. All participants were required to take part in at least 
three workshops every day (in reality, they often wanted to participate in many 
only three workshops left). The workshops took place online via Zoom and 
lasted on average 40 minutes. Depending on their content, they were planned 
either for a specific age group, or on the contrary for participation 
mixed in terms of ages, in order to allow interaction and learning in 
common. The workshops were reserved for registered participants, but 
parents were kept informed thanks to a blog created especially for them. All the workshops were designed and created exclusively for Zartsants 2.0, 
and they changed from week to week. The activities included between 
others: cooking, music, singing, body expression, yoga, origami, professions 
textbooks, drawing, painting, photography, science experiments, reading and 
writing in Western Armenian (literature and philosophy included), theater 
objects, cinema, publication of a newspaper (“Zarmanadoune”), preparation of a 
radio show (“Zarmanatsaine”). There was even a workshop, with five 
regular and enthusiastic participants, on mathematical vocabulary in 
Armenian! The Zartsants 2.0 day began with an original video, a “Hello”, 
prepared by some of the participants, and it ended with a broadcast in 
live, interactive, broadcast from YouTube, which included games, 
internal concerts and stories about the experiences lived during this “ 
virtual camp. Since the online platform operated only in Armenian, it was necessary to 
make Armenian vocabulary available to all participants 
regarding the digital world. Each day, participants learned “the word 
of the day", which was added to the dictionary available online, which was 
therefore enriched with words such as “download” (ներբեռնել), “link” (յղում) or “ 
load” (լիցքաւորել). Ultimately, the dictionary included a 
hundred words. In addition, nearly 600 different terms have been translated in order to 
to have a Zartsants interface entirely in Armenian. In short, Zartsants has 
managed to create a space in which the Armenian language was fully 
integrated into the digital sphere. Zartsants 2.0 had 50 participants. 33 of them were in the group 
aged 10 to 17, and the remaining 17 in the 18 to 24 age group. The 
program was led by 22 facilitators and benefited from the help of a small 
team of technology experts. The participants “came” from 
following countries: Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Lebanon, 
Portugal, Türkiye, United Kingdom and
United States. Over a period of four weeks (from July 12 to August 7), 
1200 images and 250 videos were produced, 95 workshops opened their doors, 
with 670 Zoom meetings, for a total of 64,000 minutes. 300 pages were 
designed on the online platform and 25 blog pages were written for 
parents, read by 70 of them, who used the platform regularly 
(in addition to all participants and facilitators). Zartsants 2.0 served as motivation to encourage young people and their parents to 
speak Armenian daily. Many families across the mode 
are thus brought together to follow the events live, to read the blog, or 
to watch morning videos. Despite the absence of physical contact, a strong 
sense of community and empathy was created over long distances and at 
across multiple time zones. “Zartsants 2.0 was based on creativity, fun and motivation, as 
incentives to use Armenian," Razmik Panossian, director of the 
Department of Armenian Communities. “This allowed us to acquire a 
completely new perspective and valuable experience regarding 
online activities for language learning, day by day. We 
we will certainly witness its expansion in the months and years that 
come, and we will therefore explore the possibilities of coming in 
helps with this type of initiative,” he concluded. Zartsants 2.0 took place online from July 12 to August 7. Participation 
was limited to those who were already registered for Zarmanazan 2020. Zartsants 
2.0 was organized by the Mille et un Mondes association (France), in 
close collaboration with the Calouste Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. For more information and to watch the “Zartsants 2.0” video visit the website: