YEREVAN - Anahit Stepanyan is the only member of her Armenian family, who writes and speaks Arabic. Now a student in the Arabic Studies Department at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Yerevan State University, Anahit enjoys reading Arabic novels and even faultlessly recites classical poems. "I went to Egypt on a course lasting almost seven months, allowing me to come into close contact with the Egyptian people and learn about their traditions," she told The Egyptian Gazette in Arabic. Anahit is fond of reading the books by Egypt's Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz and author Youssef Idriss. "I've also read The Yaqubian Building," she said enthusiastically, referring to the gripping bestseller by Egyptian writer Alaa el-Aswani. But Anahit, like many of her colleagues, feels sad because there are not many Arabs in her landlocked country of almost 4 million, who can speak Arabic. "Once I leave the classroom, I find no-one to talk to in Arabic. As you know, practice makes perfect." Around 4,000 Armenians have studied Arabic language and literature at this department since it was created in 1940. Some 250 students are currently enrolled in the department, supported by the Egyptian Fund for Technical Co-operationwith the Independent States of the Commonwealth, a governmental institution set up by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to assist the independent countries of the former Soviet Union. Armenia is the second biggest beneficiary from the regular courses organised by this fund. More than 1,660 Armenians had attended these courses by the end of 2008, according to official Egyptian figures. Egypt has also supplied the Arabic Studies Department in Yerevan with a library containing books about the Arabic language and literature. In 2000, a lecture hall was donated by the Egyptian fund to this department, named after First Lady Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. "I appreciate the tangible assistance offered by the fund to our department, including courses for students in the Arabic language," said Sona Tonikyan, the head of the department. "On returning home, students usually say they have fallen in love of Egypt." Tonikyan, herself a graduate of the same department, attributes the growing interest among Armenians in Arabic to their eagerness to learn about the Islamic culture. "Another reason is the similarity between Armenian and Arab traditions," she told this newspaper. Most Armenian ambassadors in the Arab world are graduates of this department, according to Khairy Hamed, the representative of the Egyptian fund and a lecturer in the department. "The fund spares no effort to provide the department with all its needs," he stressed. "Besides courses for students, Egypt arranges courses for teachers. Ten Armenians teaching the Arabic language will soon go to Egypt to attend a twoweek course on instruction in Arabic."
