To learn to speak Bulgarian perfectly in one month is a tall order. To learn to understand when people talk to you is an even more improbable task.
However, I'm back on track and will be posting daily (if possible) with my learning tasks. Promises, promises. It will be difficult to achieve, I know, as my workload this month is high --an emergency travel guide to finish, newspaper articles to write and a busy teaching schedule. But I love deadlines --if you do too, keep on track with my monthly goal. If not, learn more securely by tackling one topic per week or per month.
For a start, practise your Bulgarian alphabet understanding by reading the cyrillic captions on the Bulgaria vs Europe cartoon. Click on the last video link at the bottom of the page and the video will load and play at the top of the page -- took me a while to master that one :-)
The dustbin scenes are great and ironic over here in UK where rows over poor dustbin collections (once a fortnight) have caused many upsets in this week's local council elections. (hooray).
The other video links (l to r) show the setting up of the SAP labs in Sofia (English commentary), Bulgaria's Eurovision entry for 2007 and a video of Bulgaria produced by the Bulgarian Tourist Board in English spoken by what sounds like a Dutch presenter.
Enjoy.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Bulgarian Alphabet
The Bulgarian alphabet is featured in some excellent websites which summarise the history of the Cyrillic alphabet, give approximate equivalent sounds for the consonants and vowels in English and in some cases provide excellent sound clips.
Useful websites
Easy Bulgarian
Click on free pages or demo. Click on Bulgarian Alphabet. Follow page numbers at top then at bottom right The alphabet is divided into consonants and vowels. Good, easy to access soundclips.
Comprehensive free Bulgarian learning site
The sound clips are not yet in place. Scroll down to find the actual alphabet section if you do not wish to read the whole article. Clear and well-organised. Good if you do not mind waiting for the sound to be added. Letters in alphabetical order and useful pronunciation guide.
Bulgarian Wonderland site .
In English and Bulgarian. Click the language flag to enter site
Visual illustrations of capital letters. Interesting and an impressive site about Bulgaria
All Bulgaria Virtual Guide
Interesting article on language, the alphabet and a most useful pronunciation guide. After this are more language notes which I found practical and useful. Eighty one per cent of people who read this article voted for it as very useful. See what you think.
Learn Bulgarian
I love this site. It is colourful, lively and really geared to beginning to learn the language. There are 15 free lessons listed which you can download so if you are already confident with reading the alphabet, this is a good way of helping yourself move on.
Your comments on your learning experiences using any or all of these sites would be really welcome. Have fun.
And at the weekend, there will be another lesson.
Useful websites
Easy Bulgarian
Click on free pages or demo. Click on Bulgarian Alphabet. Follow page numbers at top then at bottom right The alphabet is divided into consonants and vowels. Good, easy to access soundclips.
Comprehensive free Bulgarian learning site
The sound clips are not yet in place. Scroll down to find the actual alphabet section if you do not wish to read the whole article. Clear and well-organised. Good if you do not mind waiting for the sound to be added. Letters in alphabetical order and useful pronunciation guide.
Bulgarian Wonderland site .
In English and Bulgarian. Click the language flag to enter site
Visual illustrations of capital letters. Interesting and an impressive site about Bulgaria
All Bulgaria Virtual Guide
Interesting article on language, the alphabet and a most useful pronunciation guide. After this are more language notes which I found practical and useful. Eighty one per cent of people who read this article voted for it as very useful. See what you think.
Learn Bulgarian
I love this site. It is colourful, lively and really geared to beginning to learn the language. There are 15 free lessons listed which you can download so if you are already confident with reading the alphabet, this is a good way of helping yourself move on.
Your comments on your learning experiences using any or all of these sites would be really welcome. Have fun.
And at the weekend, there will be another lesson.
Goals : First month
I like making lists and having the satisfaction of crossing off items achieved.
So here goes.
1. Revise alphabet. List useful weblinks.
2. Directions. Ask where places and things are
3. Numbers and time. Ask for times of buses, cost of taxis
4. Say what I need and what I would like to do
5. Understand and order from a menu
6. Using verbs to link things I say into sentences which make sense.
This is a very comprehensive list for only one month.
However for me it is revision of prior learning.
If you are just starting to learn the language, learning the alphabet well will speed later learning and help you avoid pronunciation difficulties.
The good thing is that when you learn a sound, it will never change. A relief from English where letter combinations can make different sounds --cough, rough, although and bough for example.
So here goes.
1. Revise alphabet. List useful weblinks.
2. Directions. Ask where places and things are
3. Numbers and time. Ask for times of buses, cost of taxis
4. Say what I need and what I would like to do
5. Understand and order from a menu
6. Using verbs to link things I say into sentences which make sense.
This is a very comprehensive list for only one month.
However for me it is revision of prior learning.
If you are just starting to learn the language, learning the alphabet well will speed later learning and help you avoid pronunciation difficulties.
The good thing is that when you learn a sound, it will never change. A relief from English where letter combinations can make different sounds --cough, rough, although and bough for example.
Bulgaria -New Beginnings
An apt title as this marks the sad decease of my last lamented blog, hijacked by a sales spammer but it also gives me the chance to make a new start, untrammeled by past posts.
I'm sorry to have lost Annie in Bulgaria just as it was beginning to climb the google charts but in some aspects it had lost its way.
This is a record of my visits to Bulgaria but primarily a record of learning the language and finding out everything about the place and its culture. Bulgaria is for me a visit to the living past but also a visit to a country bursting with optimism and enthusiasm not only for its proud past but for an exciting future.
For my benefit and the benefit of anyone interested in learning the language, I shall set out my language goals for the next month.
Please comment if you wish to add new goals for yourself or have other language topics you wish to see listed.
I'm sorry to have lost Annie in Bulgaria just as it was beginning to climb the google charts but in some aspects it had lost its way.
This is a record of my visits to Bulgaria but primarily a record of learning the language and finding out everything about the place and its culture. Bulgaria is for me a visit to the living past but also a visit to a country bursting with optimism and enthusiasm not only for its proud past but for an exciting future.
For my benefit and the benefit of anyone interested in learning the language, I shall set out my language goals for the next month.
Please comment if you wish to add new goals for yourself or have other language topics you wish to see listed.
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