Language Fun & Frustrations
I enjoy watching movies and shows, but nothing beats a book when it comes to learning and imagination - although maybe not so much with Diary of a Wimpy Kid or дневникът на един дръндъо.
It’s been now 9 months since I’ve arrived in Bulgaria and of course I’m still learning the language and trying to improve my conversation and understanding skills. It’s definitely challenging to stay focused on studying and learning the language when I’m not a full time student and don’t have class regularly every day - even though I do tutoring lessons about 3 times a week. The language is fun and definitely interesting but at the same time, tricky and often times frustrating because my brain still thinks in English and hasn’t switched certain phrases or ways to say things into Bulgarian yet.
Still, I’m working to improve my comprehension skills by starting to watch more Bulgarian media and slowly read this graphic novel! The novel is fun since I’m familiar with the backstory of the book series, but in Bulgarian when I’m trying to decipher and translate some of the phrases or sentences - it’s not exactly how I’d understand it in English until I find the right phrase for meaning and forget about the literal translation. I think that it’s all about taking things into perspective and context with things like this. Whether it’s language, culture, or really just any understanding of something that is new and foreign - the goal is to desire to see things and understand better at least from the local or native perspective.
As a 2 year term missionary (with the option to extend), probably the most difficult thing about learning the language is knowing that my time here is limited. Also, the fact that I’m in Europe and people in Sofia are fairly decent with English often times hinders me from being fully immersed or being forced to practice and keep my “switch” on. It’s also comforting though at the same time, knowing that I can still use English to converse and build relationships and go back to my “English world”. However, I’m slowly making strides to push more into the world of Bulgaria - whether it’s watching more movies in Bulgarian, sitting through kids’ TV shows in Bulgarian, reading kids’ books in Bulgarian, and of course spending time with locals that speak Bulgarian and less English. All of these not only increase and help me in my language learning, but also in their own unique ways teach me more about the culture and the way people think and act here - and that is infinitely beneficial in the sphere of ministry.
Anyhow, I should probably write my next blog post in a shorter form and do it in Bulgarian the first round through and then rewrite it in English! To more mistakes and mispronunciations and confusion - signing off! до следвашия път!
