The Armenian Communities Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is happy to announce that Zarmanazan, the Western Armenian language immersion programme, will expand in 2024. It will take place both in France and in the United States.

Zarmanazan is a place where children, teenagers, young adults, teachers, and facilitators from the Diaspora are joined by the common willingness to learn and explore the Western Armenian language to its fullest.

 Zarmanazan is composed of three distinct but interconnected parts:

• A programme for 10- to 17-year-old children and teenagers (in France and in the US).
• A programme for 18- to 24-year-old young adults (in France).
• A university certificate programme for teachers of Western Armenian (in France).

Children, teenagers and young adults participate in various immersive activities adapted to age groups. Multi-age activities are strongly encouraged as well. These include visual arts and audio-visual workshops, music, theatre and movement, creative writing, literary readings, outdoor games, crafts, and nature-based explorations.

All activities are created and led by a talented and qualified team of facilitators. The young adult workshops involve expressive elements, therefore require an intermediate comfort level in Armenian.

The first ever U.S. Zarmanazan camp will take place near Los Angeles from 7 to 27 June 2024. Applications are open until 31 January 2024 at 11 pm California time.

The eighth France Zarmanazan camp will take place in the French Alps from 11 July to 6 August 2024. The applications will be open from 10 December 2023 to 15 February 2024, 23:00 GMT.

Applications will not be accepted after the deadlines. The number of spaces is limited for both camps.

For more information and to register, visit zarmanazan.com