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Kristi Rendahl

Kristi Rendahl

Kristi Rendahl is associate professor and director of the nonprofit leadership program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Prior to starting with MSU in 2017, she worked for over 20 years with nongovernmental organizations on several continents, including living in Armenia from 1997-2002. She speaks Armenian and Spanish.
Kristi Rendahl

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8 Comments

  1. While I do speak fluent Armenian, I too had difficulty with with some of their words
    and the one that “bugs” me to this day is “eli” used at the end of one of every two
    sentences by everyone! The good news however was that I learned Korean (in
    Korea) and carried a nominal conversation in three months and fluently in six!
    Thanks in large part to the many sounds that the 38 letter alphabet rendered!
    Oh, by the way, I trust you realize that being labeled an Odar Is complimentary!

  2. I am also guilty of using “eli” far too often. It says so little, yet so much!

    Congratulations on learning Korean; you should take pride in that!

    As for being an Odar, I consider an integral part of my identity.

  3. Kristi,

    Such a “hamov-hotov” article. I am sure you know what I mean.

    “Lav eli” is a really interesting and somewhat funny expression. I hadn’t realized by now that it actually had many possible interpretations, and you gave a couple of really good ones. Don’t you think that people also use it quite often instead of saying “please” when they try to ask someone for something? For example, if you want someone do something and they refuse, you say “laaav eli.”

    I think another uniquely Armenian expression is “tsaved tanem,” literally translated as “let me take your pain” or something like that. Have you heard that one?

  4. Gina,

    You are quite right about the other use of “lav eli”! And yes, somehow the piece is incomplete without “tsaved tanem.” I’ve taken to saying it in English, too, along with sayings like, “Tak teghits e xosum” (S/he’s speaking from a warm place).

  6. Random Armenian,

    No, I can’t think of an instance when it would be used like that. Words like “lav” or “yeghav” are more appropriate for OK.

  7. Kristi,
    What a delightful article! I love your explanation of various lav elis and tsaved tanem! :-)

    BTW, Sevak is my favorite too! Thanks for the fun reading.

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