Language ...... or lack of it!

Ok so I've always been crap at learning languages so can speak a grand total of one .... English! I must admit tho, I'm pretty fluent in that one :)

I have distant memories of learning French at school. And a rather prominent memory of being kicked out of my French oral exam for losing my temper and swearing at my teacher. Something along the lines of 'why the f**k do I need to know this s**t anyway, I'm never going to f**king use it'. Oh the naivety of a 15 year old farmers girl!! Although I'm not fully to blame, farmers were a little behind the times back then and I was being brought up with the expectations that I would work as a secretary and then marry and become a housewife! I didn't want to become a secretary but that was the only course I was allowed to do at college ...... I think I have spent my life rebelling against the 'norm' purely because of that! My parents have since given up trying to tell me what to do and just shrug and say 'whatever'!!

Anyway back to the language.....

I have tried to learn Spanish as an adult, kinda, in a half hearted type of way. I'm not so good at being motivated if there isn't a reason for learning something new. There was no real reason for learning Spanish other than I thought it would be nice to know. Turns out, that's not a good enough reason for me!

But now we are moving to Bulgaria, where they speak a TOTALLY different language with no latin alphabet and where English is only really spoken in tourist areas by younger people. And we have chosen to live in a rural area surrounded mainly by older traditional people. UMMM PROBLEM!!

I have looked at various different ways to start learning. Thankfully some of the words are very similar to ours; but the rest are totally different! And the alphabet?!  Whats that all about?!

 

This may take some time!!

 

So top tip number one ..... listen to Bulgaria radio as often as possible. You can not learn a language if you have no idea what it sounds like; which is why it is easier to learn a language when you are already living in the country. During the day I only have Bulgarian radio on, its just in the background. I don't understand a word they are saying but it is training my brain to the sounds and pronunciations.

I will soon start watching TV in Bulgarian; not local TV, shows that I would watch here which have been translated. Hopefully I can find some with English subtitles but I'm sure it will still help without them, especially if I can find films or TV shows that I know well ..... I could quote pretty woman or dirty dancing word for word!!

 

I have searched the internet for children's type worksheets which I have printed and will start using to learn the alphabet. One positive of the Bulgarian language is that the words are pronounced as they are written so if I can learn to read the letters and understand what each one sounds like then I am a step closer to understanding the language. I need to be able to read as well as speak it, menus and road signs are rarely translated so if I want to eat and find my way around then reading is vital!

 

I have watched various YouTube videos and looked at many web sites but haven't yet found anything that I think will help me. Traditional teaching methods bore me so I lose interest and don't learn. I have decided just to focus on learning the alphabet my way and then decide from there ..... wish me luck!

 

Oh and as for getting Matt to learn the language .... hmmmmmm, that will be an even tougher task. He doesn't get much spare time and he doesn't have the same OCD level of researching and learning as I do. I suspect he will just pick it up from me when I am using it while over there. Speaking it will be the priority for him which will be easier to pick up when he is surrounded by it.

 

That's me done for today. Thanks for those who read and comment, its greatly appreciated.



Earning money

My one and only concern that I keep coming back to over and over again is earning money. Yes, we will have some money saved to start us off but it wont last long considering we will be renovating a house and having to buy everything we need for our new life.

Currently I don’t work and, as we want to be as self sufficient as possible when we move, I will need to be at home as much as possible. I also don’t want to do what everyone else seems to do ..... teach English online.
Matt manages a concrete batching plant. He is a hand on type guy so gardening and building type jobs would do him. He has experience with scaffolding which I understand might be in demand over there so buying a tower to bring over might be an option. Obviously his knowledge of concrete might be useful too. His company does own 3 plants in Bulgaria but they are not in areas we want to live and I guess they will be fully staffed with Bulgarian staff. Maybe we could do some type of partnership working with them.

I don’t like the uncertainty of this part of the move. I know we always have the option of returning home for the winter and earn money back in the UK to last the rest of the year in Bulgaria. I know we can always return to the UK if we fail. I just wish I had some definite answers!  I know, I know ..... I just have to go with the flow on this!

Anyway I will be doing some courses to gain some new skills. It will have to be online courses as we are no where near any colleges! What courses I choose remains to be seen. I keep changing my mind!! I have a HNC in Housing Studies ...... that’s not going to be much use to me over there!! I know how to be a housing officer, an estate / letting agent, a housing support worker and an area manager in all those areas. I can’t see that experience being any use! Yes, I guess I could set up an estate agency, but is it really needed? And would it actually make any money?! It’s not really a country of high sales or profit. Maybe a holiday let management company. But we don’t really want to live near the coast and that’s where the tourist money is. And do I even want my own company?! I don’t think I do. I just want to earn enough to pay the bills.

Sigh.
I just need to win the lottery so that money isn’t an issue!
I’m off to ponder some more.
I may be some time.
And I doubt I will be any closer to an answer!

Flights booked!

So we have booked our flights for our first house hunting mission. Well technically it will be our honeymoon but we are spending it house hunting! We get married on 26th October and fly out to Sofia on 29th for a week. Children and pets are kindly being looked after by nanny (Matts mum).

We have a good idea of the area we think we want to live in but obviously cant say for sure until we have been there. It’s quite a large area so hopefully our trip will help us narrow it down a little. Because we want a property with at least 4000sqm of land we don’t have as much choice as most people which is good ...... otherwise I would have no idea how to narrow down all those houses for sale!! That said there are still a lot of places suitable for us to choose from. I have ruled out places where the house needs to be demolished and rebuilt .... too much for us to take on. We would prefer a roof in a water tight condition but it seems they are fairly hard to find! I guess we will just learn how to roof. We have the added bonus that Matt is experienced in putting up scaffolding. We are considering buying a tower to ship over. It might provide us with an option for paid work as well.

My time still seems to be spent researching. I read blogs, facebook groups and books about all different subjects that will help us in future. Today I got a readers digest book of hints and tips for gardening .... its amazing! So much helpful information. I have grown veggies in the past but not at the level we will need to in order to be self sufficient. I grew up on a farm so have some basics to fall back on. From what I have read there will be people I can turn to for help and advice once we have bought somewhere over there.

I am hoping we can have a few days over there during the summer but that is subject to the various court dates / outcomes that I have going on right now. Divorces are rarely nice and easy are they?!

That’s me for now. More soon I’m sure!