Mr Eq has printed off the cyrillic alphabet on to card today, with the English on the other side and cut them in to tiles. After a few false starts he can now identify all 30 tiles in 50 seconds.

How does he do that???? I only got about half of them! Grrrr.

Too easily distracted I reckon.

Mrs Eq

Us Brits took a lot of trouble to obtain and crack the Enigma Code during WWII, it would have taken longer to understand the Bulgaski alphabet!!

love that [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Equinus wrote:

Mr Eq has printed off the cyrillic alphabet on to card today, with the English on the other side and cut them in to tiles. After a few false starts he can now identify all 30 tiles in 50 seconds.

How does he do that???? I only got about half of them! Grrrr.

Too easily distracted I reckon.

Mrs Eq

Well done to both of your excellent achievement. Now how about taking a photo of both sides of the tiles and put on here so we can all join in

Just a suggestion if you go on Google Earth and home in on Bulgaria you will see that the villages are in cyliric and latin and it will help you understand the alphebet by figuring out what they are called as some are just in cyliric.

speedgunner wrote:

Just a suggestion if you go on Google Earth and home in on Bulgaria you will see that the villages are in cyliric and latin and it will help you understand the alphebet by figuring out what they are called as some are just in cyliric.

Thanks Speedgunner, that will be the next thing. It's not easy trying to work out the signs and drive!

Mrs Eq

Equinus wrote:

It's not easy trying to work out the signs and drive!

Mrs Eq

I understand what you mean about the signs, it is possible to have stopped the car in the middle of a village that you were looking for and not know it!! My knowledge of the cyrillic alphabet is somewhat small to yours and when we go out into unknown territory it is like a mystery tour. In case of emergency the Sat Nav is clicked onto "
home"
when we have finished, because we have idea where we are!! Happy days or nights, depending on how lost we are!!

speedgunner wrote:

Just a suggestion if you go on Google Earth and home in on Bulgaria you will see that the villages are in cyliric and latin and it will help you understand the alphebet by figuring out what they are called as some are just in cyliric.

Hi Mr EQ here - it is the Bulgarian alphabet that I pulled off from Wiki that I am learning - just some of the letter seem to be different to what I thought in quessing what a name looks like transplated in:
e.g Coфия but I thought it would have been Coфиa, still as they say practice makes perfect and I hve only been practicing learning the letters an hour or so previously to having a guess.

This evening's lesson will be think of a few more villages and then try and work out what they look like in Bulgarian and then the weekend start trying to write the letters (it is like being back at primary school).

Not showing my age, but where did I put my slate and chalk!!!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Well done you guys..every journey starts with a step and you are heading in the right direction. Just a little tip for you..listen to the phonetic pronunciation of some of the letters along with the physical recognition of the letter. I'm sure you've done this, but I'll say it anyway, just in case someone else is heading along the same track. I was quite surprised to learn that basic letters, such as A, B and C are not always read as we learnt them..ie. Ay, Bee and See, are actually pronounced as U (as in uncle), B (as in the first sound in big or bloody) and C (like the first part of car or click).B can actually be a V, depending on wether it is written in upper or lower case. I spend a lot of time driving around and find that a lot of my reading ability comes from reading the signs on delivery or company vans and buses. Having said all that, I must add that my reading ability far outstrips my grip of the spoken version..I can rattle off newspaper headlines, advertising billboards etc, but often have no real idea what I'm saying, which just goes to prove that not only do I come from a land down under, but my learning system is back to front as well.!

I wish you both all the very best with your forthcoming adventure.

My wife and I had learnt the cyliric alphebet before moving over here by spending a week at a time on two or three letters and it worked. My Bulgarian friend was quite supprised when we were out and about as I was reading the signs on the side of vans and bill boards etc which impressed him.He explained I was 50% there because by being able to read cyliric I would get the pronounciation correct. There is an English couple in my village who I admired for the way they had picked up Bulgarian until my friend pointed out that it was OK but they were speaking in a village dialect and that it was a course version of Bulgarian that they were speaking which was compared to a Geordie going to London and rattling off the sentances which the Londoner would find it hard to understand.Having said that my Bulgarian speaky is shameful because I cannot practice it as we live in an isolated part of the village with no neighbours to talk to and practice with, also I have been a bit lazy I admit.
I can name most objects to a certain degree and a sentance or two and can manage to a achieve my aims when I need something, I just love Google Translate! This is where the cyliric comes in handy with Google translate as the answer comes out in cylric and I can read it and pronounce the word correctly. I must admit that I can only pick out the odd word when a Bulgarian speaks to me as they tend to speak very fast ignoring the fact that I am an Anglia Chani. I have been here now for 18 months and to be honest my grasp on the Bulgarian language is some what slow and I need to do something about. Mind you I know a few British coulples who have been here a lot longer than I have and cannot read the cyliric alphebet or speak it much better than I can but then it is not a competeion it is a matter of self pride in my case.

All good clean, healthy fun.

At least you are trying, I agree that there is a need to practice which is why trying to learn a language for a 2 week holiday whereever you go doesn't really work.

Last night went on Google Earth and pulled up the names of a few villages and was "
as proud as punch"
as I had managed to write pretty much every one of them in bulgarian. The CD in the car is played every time when I drive the albeit it 10 minute drive to work and I am beginning to get the gist of it, but as you say I lose it when the conversation is said quickly. That and the way a word changes in the context and whether it is masculine, feminine or neuter compounds the difficulty in learning the language, but if we do end up moving out we do want to integrate into the village.

All in all at least when we come over next month to view propertied we won't have to just live on pizza!!!!!

Mr Eq

..you would soon get sick of pizza..they haven't quite got the hang of those yet..getting there, but a bit of work needed! At least you are making the effort..so many people arrive here expecting everyone to cater to their own interests and way of life. You WILL do well here.

bgbazz wrote:

..you would soon get sick of pizza..they haven't quite got the hang of those yet..getting there, but a bit of work needed! At least you are making the effort..so many people arrive here expecting everyone to cater to their own interests and way of life. You WILL do well here.

We hope so bgbazz.

It's all about expectations and attitudes, Mr Eq..and you seem to have an abundance of both, which is a good thing..IMHO.