I just got my call!

[Mason]

Hey everyone, last week I got my call to Sofia Bulgaria! Shortly thereafter I came across this site and registered immediately. This is a brilliant idea for a website. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you would be willing to offer some insight/advice on anything that you wished you would have know before you left or didn't learn until later.

I have a one question though at the moment regarding cameras. It says no cameras that can take video (in the literature the church sends you for this mission) is that to discourage the recording of video, or simply to discourage spending a lot of money on a digital camera, when an analog camera will suffice.

So yeah, I'm really excited to hear anything you guys have to say. And i thank you in advanced.


Also I wanted to know if any of you knew any good material (audio, visual, books) that would assist me in learning Bulgarian, I found one at my local library but that is the only one I've been able to find. Its ok, but its a bit fast.


-Mason Wooley

[Brinton]

chestito on your call Mason!

Regarding the cameras, they probably  just don't want you wasting time taking videos.  There are also things you shouldn't take pictures of, like police cars, and the police that drive them, border guards and crossings and military vehichles.  You can take digital cameras, they have places to get prints made and film developed too.

As for knowing things before hand, I wish I would have known my feet would hurt so much the first few weeks in Bulgaria.  It was at that point I wished I would have brought better shoes!  Bring good shoes, you're feet and the rest of your body will thank you!

Finally, there are several books for learing Bulgarian out there.  If you go to Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com you should find some--more than your library will have.  The one I like best is "Teach Yourself Bulgarian" from the Teach Yourself series.  It has an introduction to the alphabet, greetings, how to ask directions and so on.  If you can at least learn to alphabet before you go to the MTC you will be fine.

Good luck with your preparations, and have fun.

Joyce Brinton-Anderson
Group 22 April 95-September 96

[Mason]

I did find the Teach Yourself book and tapes at the library. They start with the alphabet and jump right into full conversations, heh. But its very helpful. Thanks for the advice, it is much appreciated.

[Brinton]

You remember that scene in "The Best Two Years" when the greenie guy is in the park trying to speak Dutch, and some lady jibbers off something to him, and he asks his companion, "What language was that?"  And the companion replies, "That was Dutch Elder!"  And he responds, "Well that ain't what they taught me in the MTC!"

It doesn't matter how much you try and learn before hand or in the MTC, and you should work as hard as you can, but when you get to BG, it's a whole different world.  Just listen, learn and try to say as much as you can when and if you can.  Bulgarians are actually very good about correcting you, or answering your language questions.  The best thing is that when they hear you are from the US, most of the time they are very impressed and thankful you've tried to learn their language.

It's wild ride, but oh so fun!

[Mason]

Hehe, that was a good movie. Yeah, I took three years of Spanish and 2 years of German, and my brother is a language master! when ever he talks to me or texts me on my phone its almost always in German. He is constantly telling me tales from his mission in Finland (one of the hardest languages), and how he just had to keep at it, but how he eventually got the hang of it.

Man, this site is awesome. This is so helpful. Thanks alot for the help thus far. Keep posting if you think of anything and i will ask more questions as they arise.

[Richard Davies]

I would agree that if you can learn the alphabet before entering the MTC you'll be in excellent shape. (But if not, it's nothing to worry about.)

My advice would be to study the history of Bulgaria. Bulgaria has a very rich history and Bulgarians are very proud of their history. (You'll quickly lose track of how many times you're told about when they were under Turkish rule, etc.) Being familiar with their history will not only impress them, but it will help you to better understand them and love them.

I good place to start is the Wikipedia article on Bulgaria. Or check your local library for any books on Bulgaria.

[Brinton]

Good advice about the history Richard!

My favorite Bulgarian history book is A Concise History of Bulgaria by RJ Crampton.  It was written in the mid-90s, so it's very up to date and very easy to read.  If it's not in your library, get a copy on line, it's worth having.

Another book which is very interesting is The Truth That Killed by Georgi Markov.  Markov came of age during the Communist take over in the 1940s and became a playwrite and author.  This book is kind of auto-biographical and historical as well.  He eventally defected to the West and was assasinated in 1978 for speaking out against the Bulgarian Communist regime.

From a personal standpoint, when I got home from the mish, I made it a point to study as much of Bulgarian history and the history of the area on my own and thru my college classes as I could.  I found that I really began to understand the Bulgarians more thru their history.  It is such a rich and beautiful history.

Here are some good topics:
St Cyrill and Methodius (the inventors of the alphabet and bringers of Christianity to the Slavs)
Ottoman Empire in the Balkans
Vassil Levski (the apostle of Bulgarian freedom)
Ivan Vazov (the Bulgarian national poet)
Bulgaria of the middle ages
Todor Zhivkov (the communist dictator)
Bulgarian Orthodox Church

Joyce

[Mason]

Again I cant thank you both enough. 

[MesquiteMamma]

Dear Elder Wooley!

When do you enter the MTC? My son just got his call and was to enter Nov 14th but they upped it to Sept 19th.

My son started teaching himself the alphabet by flashcard and then put post-it notes all over his bedroom with the names of everything written in Cyrillic. He also found a really good Bulgarian language program at www.magnumlanguage.com. If you have a mic on your computer you are supposed to be able to talk back to the program and it will tell you if you are close or not at your pronunciations, or so my son says! 

Congratulations on your call! From everything I have heard, you will have the time of your life!

Sister Kelley

[Mason]

Aww, we could have met. I am reporting Nov 14th! Wow thanks for the tips. I making flashcards too, the post its are a good idea too!

-Mason Wooley

[Mason]

The magnum software arrived last friday and i am already getting a lot of use out of it. its extremely helpful to have the part where you repeat the word into the microphone, and it checks your accuracy. thats good. Thanks for letting me know about it.

[kirkmasters]

Congrats on the call.  When I got my call in 1993 I thought Bulgaria was in South America.  The best thing I would advise is to learn the alphabet first.  Learn all 26 characters and the rest will follow.  When I was in Bulgaria some missionaries brought to much stuff with them.  Everything you could want can be purchased there.  Bulgaria is one of the more amazing missions.  You should feel humbled to be able to serve there.  It is extremely challenging and reminded me of early missionaries of the church.

[Mason]

but the software, all the words are spelled out phonetically in english, as far as ive seen none of it uses the Cyrillic alphabet

[MesquiteMamma]

We thought it was funny when Steve would tell people where he was going. We call it the 3 second phenomenon - we would count...1, 2, 3... and without fail the would say... "Bulgaria? So you'll have to learn Spanish?" Every single time!!
Now we just say he got called to the Bulgaria, Sofia mission in eastern Europe! Of course we had my brother on speaker phone who is in the military, so that kept us from stepping in that one ourselves! lol..Aren't we all just funny people!?

Betsy Kelley

[Blindspot]

Here's a useful tip for those of you trying to learn Bulgarian...or any language really.  You'll be tempted to read and pronounce words by sounding them out.  It will get to the point where you'll just recognize them, and that is great.  But when you write them and start pronouncing them, learn where the accent goes in the word.  When reading, just put an accent mark above the accented syllable.  By accenting the proper syllable, you'll sound better and people will understand you easier (and coincidentally you'll learn Bulgarian more intuitively because where the accent falls is closely tied with the grammar).  Trust me, its easier to learn the word with the proper accent than to try to reprogram yourself later.