Sona Is Teaching Her Children Armenian | Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend

Sona teaches Conan and Matt some Armenian words that she uses with her children. Plus, Conan shares some of the strange Irish phrases he heard growing up.
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ABOUT CONAN O’BRIEN NEEDS A FRIEND
Deeper, unboundedly playful, and free from FCC regulations, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend is a weekly opportunity for Conan to hang out with the people he enjoys most and perhaps find some real friendship along the way. Watch highlights of Conan, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley chatting with celebrities and meeting fans, along with special segments like “Review the Reviewers” and “Big Dick History.”
ABOUT TEAM COCO
Team Coco is the KZbin home for all things Conan O’Brien and the Team Coco Podcast Network. Team Coco features over 25 years of comedy sketches, celebrity interviews and stand-up comedy sets from CONAN on TBS and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, as well as exclusive videos from podcasts like Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,
Literally! with Rob Lowe, Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer, The Three Questions with Andy Richter, May I Elaborate? with JB Smoove and Scam Goddess with Laci Mosley.
Team Coco
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[@johnchiu]

I want to thank Sona for teaching Conan how to be a human.

[@jacobsims8307]

Now if only someone could teach Jordan Schlansky.

[@rynor2691]

@@jacobsims8307 His programming won't allow it since it's filled with other various tasks

[@HGBMD]

Which she’s terrible at doing 🤣

[@QuantumBraced]

Trying to teach...

[@christopherweise438]

She's tried, but i think Liza is the one who made the biggest difference.

[@DarthD00bius]

I have a degree in linguistics that I've never used for anything but it does qualify me to confirm that Sona is right about the expert advice about raising your kids bilingual. There may be a short period when they don't understand that they are separate languages but eventually they get it and can switch back and forth. Brains aged 6 and under are really good at learning languages.

[@pongop]

Very true! Studies show the huge benefits of bilingualism -- cognitive, cultural, and social. Bilingual brains may even be better protected against Alzheimer's. Great episode from PBS Otherwords: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3iqd6aFhbaUd7c

[@DefaultName-du3kr]

I am hispanic and bilingual and my dad used to make fun of me for mixing up English and Spanish. House rule was only spanish in doors and we keep it to this day.

[@matthewgilliland2163]

But will they be proficient in both? Learning language acquisition in college so jq

[@waynepolo6193]

@@DefaultName-du3kr As proficient in the language as the people around them.

[@pcbassoon3892]

​@@matthewgilliland2163 Some people forget the languages that they learn as children, but it really depends on how much you use it. It's still good for brain development either way.

[@ithinkthereforiam]

I spoke Armenian 🇦🇲 growing up and now I’m better with English than Armenian. The youth will naturally learn the language of the country they live in.

[@prowrestlingcountdown208]

Sona is such a delight. I love how she keeps Conan on his toes.

[@georgewillgillette]

Every dysfunctional guy needs a Sona in his life.

[@TheUrbanEpicure]

That was actually a sincere, insightful, topical discussion and still hilarious. Great entertainment.

[@vleaky3430]

Just these 3 talking is sometimes more entertaining than the guests

[@criticallol3039]

The look of indignation and offense on Gourley's face when Sona compared him to Conan 😂

[@cleverusername9369]

I love that his immediate reaction was "how dare you" followed by him INSTANTLY agreeing with her because Sona as usual is absolutely correct

[@luminousdragon]

I wanted him to say "I dont like that, not even fooling"

[@outsidelookinginprod]

Wasn't there an episode where Gourley actually says to Conan that he would find that they have a lot in common if Conan actually got to know him? I can't remember what episode. Been listening to a lot of them recently. Could have been in connection to the reveal that Gourley has Eisenhower's phone

[@Sunprism]

i think one of the keys to Conan's success, he constantly surrounds himself with funny people, and knows how to bring the humor out of them

[@outsidelookinginprod]

I agree but I will add on to that: Conan surrounds himself with talent and then empowers those individuals to meet their potential. He gives them an opportunity to thrive. That is what makes him a good boss and why he retains employees for so long. There are people in many different work environments who are so insecure that they deliberately hinder their employees to make themselves feel better about themselves. Some comedians might try to avoid giving other funny people the spotlight because they don't want others to outshine them. But Conan gives people their opportunities. And I look at this podcast and imagine that when Conan decided to make a podcast, he probably thought I want this to succeed so let's go out there and get a podcast expert who is well loved in this medium, to make sure this show works. So he goes out and gets Matt Gourley. And the results speak for themself.

[@vleaky3430]

@@outsidelookinginprod I love that Conan's podcast can be a whole essay

[@christophertownsend3820]

I could watch Conan, Sona and Matt chat all day. I mean the podcast is great but I would also just love to be a fly on the wall for a lunch with these three. Sona raising her boys to learn Armenian is great. Bilingualism is going to become an even greater asset in the future.

[@Maria-nr4of]

Good for you Sona, you're speaking with your kids Armenian. Most of the young generation don't know Armenian and that is sad. It's good not to forget our mother tongue. Abris!

[@retrovelcro]

Found Conan's discussion of his family inventing words interesting. I was watching a clip of a documentary yesterday about the vernacular in Appalachia. And the elders were talking about how they invented words all the time and how it's part of their culture. They also talked about how their lineage is mostly from Irish settlers. Very cool.

[@TenTenJ]

Very cool, do you remember the name of that documentary or where you watched it? The Appalachia form the foundation of American culture.

[@retrovelcro]

@@TenTenJ "Appalachian English" by The Language and Life Project around 2:46: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmTMqHSPabCff7c

[@pedxing]

I live in the US, and had a German teacher in 7th grade who had a Mexican wife and they had a 4 year old daughter who for a short time would just wander in and out of all three languages. it was super cute, not at all a problem during her development, and then became an incredible asset as a young lady. She even decided to pick up a couple more as time wore on. =)

[@Nonresponder01]

Children can learn multiple languages at the same time and be proficient and fluent at all of them. It's amazing. The max I know are my cousin with 3 languages, but I've heard of kids who learned 5 at the same time. I believe it's actually better for development to learn multiple languages at the same time too. Word association, logic, and such.

[@johnchiu]

That little girls name? Conan O'Brien

[@XercesandAlexander]

@@johnchiu I knew it, he seemed way too comfortable in the telenovela in Mexico he did.

[@breadandwater7038]

who tf would think its hard for development? it sounds like some american bs

[@istdochallesegal3427]

@@breadandwater7038 Sorry, the correct answer is: scientists (all around the globe). Children who grow up bi-/multi-lingually initially have smaller vocabularies in each language than their single-language peers, but they eventually catch up.

[@QuantumBraced]

They'll learn English just from living in the US, it's near impossible not to. They'll go to English-speaking schools and speak English with their friends and also pick it up from pop culture. So it's fine to only speak Armenian in the house to make sure they learn it.

[@AquilaLupus9]

Yeah. Conan speaks from a place of not growing up bilingual.

[@Greg-vf8ri]

And I guarantee they will appreciate being bilingual when they get older. As someone who became bilingual later in life, its like having an instant connection with a stranger sometimes and gives you so much more perspective.

[@cascade9584]

yeah was about to say. Even outside the US/UK living in the western world you will 100% pick up English without trying because all movies, tv shows and songs are in English

[@howdareyou41]

can you understand English? because they're clearly joking.

[@matthewcoates756]

Mila Kunis is a perfect example. Grew up speaking Russian/Ukrainian with her family, even after she moved to the USA at age seven. By age 14, she spoke English like a native. And she repeatedly said in interviews that she still speaks Russian with her family.

[@pacmanshooter247]

Conans dead stare at 4:59 is absolute gold.

[@michaelgordon3552]

Well done, Sona! Anush!! 🇦🇲❤️

[@whiskeyclones7161]

I’m familiar with some Armenian culture because one of my favorite bands is System of a Down. It’s a beautiful culture! I actually learned an Armenian folk song called ‘Bari Arakeel.’

[@TenTenJ]

The Good Stork

[@nj12344]

System of a Down is Armenian? 😂

[@Леголас03]

​@@nj12344yes

[@jeremyc9593]

@@nj12344 Yes, and?

[@QuantumBraced]

Isn't it amazing that small children can just become fluent in a language automatically without putting any effort into it? That's like magic to me.

[@allieSunl]

I love that they are raising their kids bilingual! I wish my parents had spoken a second language.

[@yafetsan]

You can do that with your kids.

[@juhaleskinen7383]

My country (Finland) has two languages, Finnish and Swedish, yet I don't understand anything about Swedish. :D

[@alex0589]

Both parents being from Armenian families, it would be insane not to!

[@dannyman1943]

@Juha same here...Texas had English n Spanish n only learned English 😄

[@EmpyreanLightASMR]

I hope they incorporate more Armenian in the podcast, who wouldn't want to learn a few extra words? Trying to remember Anush lol

[@bryanfahey3144]

My wife is Serbian and I am American- we are doing the bilingual teaching and our 3 year old can already fluently speak back and forth both languages and understands. It’s great to do this while they are young! Sona is right!

[@karthikkr93]

After I was born, my mom taught me Tamil first, to the point when I was getting ready to go to school my dad was worried I wouldn't speak English loll Worked out in the end though, went to med school and actually got to use the language when I went to Medical School in India

[@cleverusername9369]

I'm glad that you specified that your mother taught you Tamil "after (you) were born" and not before 😆

[@pongop]

Nandri!

[@MirkoSick]

Matt was absolutely on fire in this one, hilarious 😂

[@francescomariaraimondo3395]

Conan's mum using "Jesus, Mary and Joseph" cracked me because I hear that alot from elderly people here in Italy (it's "Gesù, Giuseppe e Maria" here, and sometimes they add "siete la salvezza dell'anima mia" 'cause it rhymes and it literally means "you are the deliverance of my soul").

[@theshriekinghominin1760]

In the Philippines, that would be "susmaryosep" for Hesus, Maria, and Joseph. Didn't know Italy has the same thing.

[@francescomariaraimondo3395]

@@theshriekinghominin1760 At this point I guess it's anywhere with a substantial presence of Catholics. It wouldn't surprise me to know that it's the same in Spain, Portugal or a good chunk of Latin America

[@AquilaLupus9]

@@francescomariaraimondo3395 You're right. In Mexico, people say, "¡Jesús, María, y José!"

[@matthiasblum6555]

Here also, Bavaria the Catholic part, Jesus, Maria und Josef. Sometimes 'Herrgott hilf' as cry for help if someone is dense... Kreizkruzifix as a swearword also, it means Crucifix dammit kind of...

[@BertRussie]

I am an Indian Catholic from South India and we say "Eeso Mariyam Youseppe"

[@Aliiii831]

My parents spoke to me in Armenian and Arabic first before learning English at school. We were also taught Spanish in school too starting from 1st grade all the way through college (though my Spanish is not that strong because I never practice). I think it’s a wonderful thing, especially since Western Armenian (the dialect some Armenians like Sona and I speak) is actually becoming extinct. Abris Sona.

[@AttilatheThrilla]

When I was born my parents only spoke Hungarian to me and I learned how to speak English in school and now I’m bi-lingual.. I appreciate it because it’s fun to know another language fluently

[@redwoods7370]

Especially Hungarian. A unique language. You are lucky.

[@TenTenJ]

That’s great, it’s one of the hardest languages to learn.

[@KarasMP]

Funny stuff. Sona is great sidekick to Conan.

[@ConanThreepwood]

I love that Conan's dad is this serious and epidemiology expert but deep down he is a dork that makes up crazy phrases

[@aritrabha]

7:21 I love how smoothly Conan slips from gibberish to sincere modes...

[@benzaiten933]

having a child grow up bilingual is always a great asset. I talked with a co-worker a while ago who's of second generation Italian descent and she and her husband decided against raising their children bilingual, thinking it'd be better for them to integrate with only the local language. but once the children grew older they came to regret this decision as the children picked up Italian at school but had to learn it like everyone else, no advantage from their upbringing.

[@BoogerDad]

Sona has been preparing for kids since she met Conan. Lol. And now the same things she's learned to do when it comes to dealing with Conan will serve her well throughout the early years of her kids.

[@jacksak]

Trying to think of words to describe Sona and came up with: happy, solid, strong, smart, healthy, genuine...

[@peacefulguy4145]

The real ones are out here "Flanging and swanging" 😂 love it.

[@AplusNerd777]

Just let them learn English in school like most kids who grew up speaking their native tongue.

[@TheErik249]

You can't help but love this woman... Sona. She's genuine. She's real. She's got soul. A REAL woman.

[@fattidiliberta]

♥

[@jimin4537]

my parents also taught me and my brother armenian first and now we're both bilingual and i am so thankful they did that.

[@JMusar795]

4:58 cold-blooded 😂😂😂😂!!!!!

[@taputechnic]

I know two Spanish-Japanese couples (in different countries), and one Russian-Spanish couple. Each parent speaks to their kids in their native language, and they're not even trying to teach their kids the native language, assuming correctly that they'll learn it simply by living. It's gotta be pretty awesome to grow up trilingual.

[@pongop]

This is awesome! It's cool to learn some Armenian words. I have a friend named Anoush and now I know what their name means.

[@SamuelSmithJ]

Sona's podcast is going great. I'm glad Conan was nice enough to pay for all of it.

[@steveconn]

Anyone who hasn't seen The Promise with Oscar Isaac about the Armenian genocide by the Turks in WWI needs to see it. Invaluable, suppressed history lesson.

[@emreorhan827]

Seriously, man. How on earth you guys can relate anything Armenian to Turkish people? Just chill out. This video is about a mother teaching her kid mother language, that’s all. I am Turkish and I have a lot Armenian friends living in Turkey. Don’t spread negative energy and hatred.

[@RS_N5]

@@emreorhan827 how is educating people about the Armenian genocide is "spreading negative energy and hatred"? The Armenian diaspora in the United States was formed from refugees from Turkey, due to the genocide (80% of the historical homeland of Armenians is located in eastern Turkey, where there is not a single Armenian left).

[@bailysbeads2057]

@@emreorhan827What's wrong? Did he strike a nerve?

[@waterrbb]

Armenian diaspora built their whole national identity around the supposed "genocide" they cant exist without that

[@hammadahmed8690]

Gourley being offended when Sona compared him to Conan lol

[@stoli8226]

I can’t explain how much i love this man. He is so kind and pure love you conan

[@LynnieDW]

My mom’s first husband, Paddy, was part Irish. He loved the word “beige” she said. He had a green jacket, but would ask, “Darling, can you get me my beige jacket?” I never knew him, but know he was funny. (Killed on horseback, very sad time for my mom and my older brother). But humor lives on!

[@GullibleTarget]

The man was colour blind and died on a horse. I don't see the comedy. Edit: Bwahahahahahahaaaa🤣🤣🤣

[@krylesangerbeaver]

Conan: "You and I have been friends for a long time" *Sona inside her head* I've known you a long time Sona: "Uh huh"

[@darkinstinctful123]

Can we just have the whole episode on video format. pretty please.

[@Mandy.Corcoran]

I was looking for this comment. I second this!

[@Knightraven000]

I commend Sona so much! My heritage is so important to me and is so is my language. People who are not born in the US or are of another heritage need to impart that to their children.

[@cleverusername9369]

I used to be a veterinary technician at an animal hospital where three of my patients were ferrets named Jayziz, Mahry, and N'Josif so when you say their names aloud you're forced to say Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in an Irish accent. Side note: Matt looks excellent with a beard, Sona is almost aggressively beautiful, and Conan is present.

[@rebeccafriedrich8035]

My sister had three little Babydoll sheep that she was originally going to name Athos, Porthos, and D'Artagnan, but my nephew had trouble pronouncing "Athos" without sounding profane, so instead we named them "Three," "Musket," and "Ears."

[@alex0589]

Conan is definitely here, very much.

[@VahanPanikian]

Every single Armo in the world reverts to Armenian when they have children. I am born and live in Canada. No need for Armenian. As soon as my wife gave birth we instantly reverted to speaking Armenian to our kids. They are now tri-lingual.

[@TenTenJ]

Vahan, I appreciate you for doing that. Also, I know it’s considered funny to use the word armo, but I wish people would stop using it. It’s a made up word by young boys who were jealous of and looked down on Armenian who went to Fresno California to work the fields and got perfect grades in school as they had no formal education after the genocide. It is a contraction between the word “negro” and Armenian, and is used derogatorily and condescendingly. We don’t use the word “negr0” or “nigg3r,” neither should we use the word armo. William Saroyan and Armenian American historians have documented this. IMHO, it’s another form of Armenian suppression.

[@stellaadler120]

@@TenTenJ thanks for sharing that

[@cicero2794]

Always enjoy these guys no matter what the topic is.

[@vleaky3430]

I can honestly just listen to these 3 talk for hours

[@grokeffer6226]

Being able to speak more than one language would be an asset. ** Conan's performance in Sharktopus is a big part of what made that movie what it was.

[@Me-on1tq]

I think I like her more now that I know she's Armenian

[@thatkimhope]

“Yeah, we want them to have little accents” 🤣 aaaaaah, Sona (wipes away tears of laughter)

[@teejaybee8222]

Sona's right! Teach them the language that is not taught in schools. The children will learn English in school, from friends, and from televison/internet. I wish my mother taught me her language when I was a baby, but she was afraid that I would develop an accent! It's not true! Now I'm too old to pick up the second language now and speak fluently.

[@noelramirez1551]

You could develop an accent ive seen some Hispanics develop one by speaking mostly Spanish instead of English

[@chitototoy176]

I am of the firm belief that sona's biological composition is 90% laughter

[@alno2554]

02:01 - Conan asking Bley if striking him occasionally was okay and Conan cutting him off mid “uhhhh” gave off mad classical Simpsons vibes. 😅😅😅

[@Evilharryx]

The first word Sona said has an equivalent in Spanish. That word is: “Provecho” and is used almost at the same circumstances.

[@JackyJames1]

I'm a new subscriber . Miss sona is so funny and honest :) I love Conan , best improv. ever lol :)

[@IamLegendNC]

I am so in love with Sona😍

[@chriswalkenspal]

I am loving all of Gourley's shirts. Makes me miss his James Bonding podcast

[@rspirate4931]

You guys are so funny made my day

[@thehappychappy6396]

You guys should just start the podcast from the second you all walk into the room

[@thehappychappy6396]

That could be the intro similar to The Ricky Gervais Show intro

[@trinyvega]

I hope we could get full video episodes someday!! Love you guys!!, Connan is my first celebrity crush.

[@daivboveri]

Alternate title: Sona treats Conan like a baby

[@HGBMD]

You have to be specific because that’s every Conan and sona video EVER 🤣

[@christopherweise438]

@@HGBMD - That's why we love them.

[@ccookie7913]

It's her power move, and apparently he loves it

[@thejandjchannel5016]

This is soothing for the soul lol

[@anthonygordon9483]

Speaking from the heart gets more views conan. This is one of the best podcast I heard. Now you got to tell the story on how that eisenhower mug was replicated. cause it was broken when Larry died fixing that mug!

[@underbelly]

Hello from Adelaide Australia

[@cleverusername9369]

Hello from North Carolina, USA!

[@nranhatik]

03:46 "Hey, man, kamats, ok?" 😁

[@AV-db5fb]

Warning ⚠️: this is another wholesome clip from the podcast

[@DannyKlimt]

Conan: "Matt burped" Matt: "...Yeah."

[@nolimendoza4588]

Matt's tshirt!! Disco-Valente from James Bond's Thunderball!!! Very well played, sir. Very well played!

[@russell2952]

No need to worry about teaching the kids English whatsoever. Just go hardcore on the Armenian at home. Being in an English speaking country will take care of the rest.

[@michaelemberley2767]

Love Matt's shirt!

[@fattidiliberta]

i love the episodes with Sona and Matt so much more than anyones with "celebrities"....

[@gracekim3668]

It makes sense that Conan and other Irish/part-Irish people create tons of new words. I believe Irish people naturally have the gift of gab. Many of the Nobel Laureates for Literature came from Ireland.

[@sonam3118]

You guys are so funny love watching you

[@subhnafas5296]

Noosh is actually shortened from a longer phrase. The longer phrase means hope whatever you ate gives you good health or is good for your health. So noosh essentially means "hope it brings you good health" with omission of part of the longer phrase.

[@EmpyreanLightASMR]

You guys need to have a new segment which is called Hey There! Conan Pre-Roll (the "hey there" being the last line in every episode) and you give us those pre-moments. The moment before the creation of the universe.

[@Samantha_Lee]

I grew up speaking very little Arabic, aka only a few words, but one of the words I have always used is fus (idk how to spell it) which means fart. I have never used the word fart or any other word, and I didn't really know it was Arabic for a while but nobody ever questioned it when I said it amongst English speakers. I still use it exclusively and nobody ever seems confused lol. We also say "suh huh" when somebody coughs and I remember classmates being like "what are you saying" lol.

[@robertlongbrake1293]

Great show.

[@SLEEPYJK]

"Flang it and swang it"... That's definitely on my 'to say' list

[@GullibleTarget]

It is on my 'to do' list.

[@GraemeGunn]

I just realized that Sona has a "dream job".

[@lstir24]

This Gourley and Conan combination is the comedic act for the ages!

[@TriciawiththeTRUTH]

My whole family also makes up random nonsensical words 😅💗 Glad to know others relate. Although, i thought it was just the musical and theatrical nature of our family. Irish makes sense too though!

[@GullibleTarget]

I have the same with my family. we have words unique to our family. "Is that what you're wearing? You look like a 'slombolollie'' A what, now?

[@neilcrowesongs9768]

I love these guys

[@QuantumBraced]

So in Armenian "Anush" = I hope whatever made you do that was delicious. Damn, that language is efficient.

[@sark4786]

it literally means sweet, but in that context that is the message conveyed yes.

[@bfgivmfith]

I am Irish American, and wish I had a strong hilarious Armenian Woman to help me be like a normal person! LOL!

[@surfgator8294]

I LOVE you guys!!!!!

[@rajeevbhaskarabhatla3445]

Matt is so cool.

[@Cali4nian]

Living in the US as a first gen Americans, my wife and I taught both of our girls to speak Armenian first then followed up with English. It was a strategic move as English is significantly easier to learn plus pretty much everything they interact with in their daily lives are in English (books, games, school, tv, etc..). Both became fluent in English shortly after (with no accent at all). We will encourage them to never stop learning.

[@PungkiAhimsa]

Yo Team Coco YT audio guy, why the audio level is inconsistent between clips. Some of them like this one are not loud enough while some other are fine. I can help if you need an audio engineer.

[@HypnoSwag]

I wish we could get full length video podcast.

[@mikemacary]

The Armenians are famous worldwide for passing on their language to their children. It is something other ethnic groups are envious.

[@noelramirez1551]

I would say the same thing about Spanish speakers

[@greyforge27]

"That's like wedding night talk" is how I'm going to refer to innuendo from now on

[@jend1583]

I may finally be able to leave "that's what she said" behind now that I have this alternative. 😂

[@joaomarreiros4906]

I grow up speaking Portuguese, German, English and later on Castilian, French and some Italian, the only thing it did was make it easy for me to learn other languages, currently I am trying Mandarin. Teach your kids other languages, its a tool.

[@zoperxplex]

Sona teaches her kids Armenian so at least they have something to lord over his royal highest in his own mind Conan.

[@nexussever]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, is nothing sacred" was the full phrase in my house. LOL

[@zachfutch]

When are y’all going to release the full video version of the podcast? I would like to see that now that SiriusXM owns team coco

[@lachauntiswashington231]

very good😄👏👏👏

[@eoinleen1]

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph is definitely very Irish

[@siavashdrn3568]

Sona's teaching a "Harvard" graduate how to be a "functioning human". It's so heart warming that I will, never ever, feel sorry for myself again that I couldn't go to Harvard!👊😊 Thanks Sona and Conan for your awesome shows and podcasts!😃👍

[@loricannon2988]

Aww 🥰 nush Conan and friends! Ha hahahaha funny 😁.