Playing Armenian Traditional Games and Learning Armenian

1 min read

Games and sports play an important role and speak a lot about the culture of people, which is no different in our beloved Armenian motherland. I have been volunteering with Birthright Armenia at the end of May of this year. From the early days of my volunteering, when I came to live with my host family, I was positively surprised by my dear host mother inviting me to play backgammon, a very traditional game around here and which unfortunately I had never tried in Brazil.

Learning Armenian and Playing Nardi

However, no experience with this classic game would not stop us from playing it, as my host mother was very commendable and taught me the ground rules. We started to play it every day, day after day. I loved the game, and when I already mastered the basics, I also started to play backgammon and chess with the neighborhood of my host house, an opportunity I had and am having to play with excellent players and still practice my Armenian language.

I established strong connections with my neighborhood that were clearly initiated by our rounds of backgammon, chess, and conversation attempts in Armenian. If you are also a Birthright volunteer or intend to become, I strongly recommend that you immerse yourself in the local culture, this includes games and sports such as NARDI -նարդի (backgammon in Armenian).

Photo Credits: Breno Kechichian