LAPL Blog
David Turshyan, Librarian, International Languages Department

Armenian Portraits
Does every portrait tell a story? The origins of the English word "portrait" trace back to the French portraire, which comes from the phrase trait pour trait, meaning "line by line," describing the process of creating a likeness.
French Bilingual Books
Here is a riddle in French:
- Je parle toutes les langues et j'ai tout le temps la tête à l'envers. Qui suis-je?
- I speak all languages, and I always have my head upside down. Who am I?
Armenian Classical Writers
Here is a centuries-old Armenian riddle by Nerses Shnorhali.
No feathers and no wings it has,
Swifter than a bird it flies,
From land to land it tours and turns,
With companions it returns.
The Book of Flowers
Picture a book that can gracefully endure the trials of the centuries—the water, the fire, the sword. What will this book be about? In what language will it be? There is an old legend about an artist-scribe who was being burned along with a precious manuscript.
Yiddish: a Living Language
When in the second half of the last century Isaac Bashevich Singer was awarded a Noble Prize for Literature, he raised an interesting question: “People ask me often, ‘Why do you write in a dying language?’” And he tried to explain: “There is a quiet humor in Yiddish and a gratitude for every day of life… e
The Man Who Planted Trees
“For a human character to reveal truly exceptional qualities, one must have the good fortune to be able to observe its performance over many years.