Finally!

So, after living here for what is now approaching two years...

...I've finally signed up to take some Bulgarian lessons.

But Tim, you ask, how could you possibly have lived there for two years and not learned the language by now?

Believe me, it's a question I field quite frequently. And, to be honest, it's a little disturbing the growing number of the elderly generation (see 50+) who have begun to think that I'm lazy because I haven't spent the time to do so yet.

Let me explain my situation.

I work from home. All of my clients are in English. All of my work is in English. Evy speaks English. Everywhere I go in Sofia there are English signs as a result of their joining the EU 2 years ago. Almost everyone you meet in the stores speak English. The only place English is not common is with the 50+ generation or the vegetable markets and interior of the country, where things are still very rural and cultural/traditional. Most of the older generation speak Russian and Bulgarian, because Russian was an unofficial language for them because of the Communist regime, but now that English is the unofficial second language, anyone who is anyone speaks it because it's required by their jobs.

What this has boiled down to is that most of the time, I very rarely have issues with communication. I can do all of my shopping without ever uttering a single phrase of Bulgarian. I can use the taxi, order food at a restaurant, and do almost all of my daily activities without needing to know the language.

That's not to say I haven't learned a bit in that time. I can understand conversations about 15% of the time, and I know a lot of phrases. I order my food in Bulgarian at restaurants (I actually know a lot of "food" related words/phrases, so I can generally read a menu pretty well). I genuinely try to use my phrases as often as I can. I know whether or not the lady at the store is asking me if I want a big bag or a small bag for my groceries. I know whether or not the waitress is telling me they are out of Stella Artois and only have Kamenitza, and do I want draft or bottle. I can "get by" if I absolutely had to, purely using "baby" Bulgarian.

However, it's not conversational Bulgarian, not in the least.

My 2 year residency is up in June, which means I can apply for permanent residency. While it's not required to be fluent in the language to be granted permanent residency, I have decided that my goal is to be fluent by that point in time. Why? Well, I got to thinking about how pissed off I used to get at the Mexican immigrants in America who came to the country and proceeded to work, live, and use American resources but never bothered to learn the language. Then I realized I was doing almost the same thing. I might not be working for Bulgarian clients, but I live here, I use their stores, I walk on their sidewalks, I take their trams, and I plan on living here for the foreseeable future over the next 10+ years, and probably for the rest of my life.

Not to mention, I know her grandparents and other people would love to have an actual conversation with me, and our rather talkative wine merchant will actually be able to talk to me directly instead of having to use Evy as a translator. And I can do more things on my own without Evy helping me when I need it.

But I also have another reason to do so. I want to branch out my business. Bulgaria is just now starting to get into the whole website craze. While a great many businesses have them, not everyone does. And not all of them are in Bulgarian + English. As more and more businesses get "up with the times" and the future with the European Union grows, more and more people are looking for translations. We have a friend of the family who recently told me how much money he was making doing translations and it was an obscene amount. Obscene! As in...a few hundred per day obscene, for just a few hours worth of work. And it got me to thinking.

Why wait? If I can get myself to the fluent stage by next spring I can start branching out my business into the Bulgarian market, offering translation services and freelance content work just like I do now all over the world. I have clients from Taiwan, Australia, the UK, the US, the Netherlands...just to name a few. I'd like to add Bulgaria to that list, and why not? I live here, and this is a developing country, which means there are far more opportunities than there are in other countries where development has stagnated or already peaked, so I might as well jump on the bandwagon of people making money off of the development.

Not to mention I was thinking (if you remember that blog post awhile back) about starting up a construction/remodeling company here catering to the high-end clients, and it would be better if I was able to communicate directly with people rather than just hiring someone to do it for me and being the "money" behind the operation only.

In any case...there are a lot of reasons I really do need to start worrying about it. And now that we are in a financially secure position, there's no time like the present. So I signed up today, and I start classes on the 12th of October.