Mr. Mihran Jizmejian (Canada) wrote...
Dear Friends:
I have been enjoying reading the articles published in the Armenian Evangelical Church - Chanitz Youth.
The Armenian language problem, be it reading, writing or speaking in the Western world and the Diaspora is becoming extremely difficult. The question is, can we fight against assimilation? If yes, for how long?
Yes, may be we can put up a strong fight through our educational systems in our schools, but what is the persentage of the children who attend Armenian private schools? Speaking for Canada and specifically Toronto, I can say that out of an Armenian population of more or less 25,000, we have a maximum of 400 students in our two private schools. To make matters worse, the students in the mentioned schools more readily communicate in the english language than Armenian.
What is the solution to keep our armenianness in the Diaspora. It is not easy. The process of educating armenianness must start at home, parents must be the first teachers and also the role models for their children and must work hard to instill in the children the pride of being an Armenian.