I just got my call!

[Brinton]

I second that Blindsopt!

When I was a greenie, I learned word pronounciations all wrong--I didn't know it was wrong either.  Consequently, when I was assigned to my second companion I had to be re-educated, it was a mess!

Another thing I did as a greenie was I had a little notebook (you can buy them anywhere) and I would write down words I would see during the day, or hear, or have people write words down for me, then I would look them up at the end of the day.  Within the first month I was recognizing words and not feeling quite so overwhelmed with the language.

Betsy--I had the same 1-2-3 reaction when I got my call in 1995.  When people asked me if I was going to learn Spanish I started telling them, "No, Japanese."  I was surprised at how many people believed me.  Of course, I'd laugh to myself, and then tell them, BULGARIAN!

Talk to you all later,
Brinton

[Blindspot]

I'll never forget telling someone I got called to Bulgaria and they said "So you'll be learning Spanish?"  to which I replied "No...that's Bolivia."  Without missing a beat they said "Oh...sorry.  French."

Um...thats Belgium....

[Mason]

yea, i got the bolivia and belgium deal too haha. poor uneducated middle america.

[joelconte]

Stareyshina Wooley,

Congratulations on your mission call to Bulgaria.  I agree with the above points:
1) Brinton & Richard say ... study some history, you will appreciate it more when you are in the country and hear the stories firsthand, but a little foreknowledge will help.

2) Richard & Masters say ... learn cyrillic alphabet & good speaking habits

but what I can't agree with more is...
3) Blindspot says ... learn proper pronunciation by listening for stress and accents.  Learning a language begins with the ears, just like a baby.

You will learn the language starting from the MTC, if you haven't studied it already.  There you will be immersed in grammar, vocabulary, songs and stories.  I compare learning a language the way a child learns through an order of the senses.  First, hearing, then sight, then speech.

What I can't emphasize enough is to first listen to any language tapes you can get and try to imitate or at least get your ears used to hearing the Bulgarian phonetics.  Don't worry too much about the meaning, just get the sound trained in your mind.  For example, a common misspeak is "starEYshina" (elder) and "starshiNA" (military officer) mean two totally different things but sound very similar.  In time, your confidence in the language will grow as you are understood by the natives for your proper pronunciation.  Don't worry so much now, you will learn more grammar and vocabulary along the way.  Are there RMs living near you to "converse" with?

The other thing is to practice writing the alphabet by labeling common household items in phonetic cyrillic.  For example, "KAT" instead of "cat".  This will get your eyes used to seeing the language, just as a pre-schooler who is learning to read.  This will also train you to more naturally let the language "surround" you.  As a greenie, I would fill my day planner by writing words I saw or heard in the margins.  I would collect them on P-Day and then translate them with my dictionary or ask my senior companion for usage.

Just think of which Elder Calhoun from "The Best Two Years" you want to be.  The first one, a greenie not recognizing Dutch and sounding like a "gringo", or the second one, who at least sounded like he knew what he was saying.  I think if you can hear the language first, good speaking habits will follow.