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Dear Adoptive parents,

The knowledge of Bulgarian will be very useful for you especially when establishing contact with your child. Of course it is not necessary to be fluent in Bulgarian as you are in your own language: a few “survival phrases” will do. They will help you feel more confident not only when you set foot on Bulgarian soil but also when you visit the institution to see your child.

In order to learn a language it is necessary to know the following:

1. Incentive and motivation are the main driving forces behind every human activity. The adoption of a child can be a very good incentive for learning a foreign language. Just think about it: you are visiting the children’s institution, you are led to your child and he/she is left with you – a person whom the child sees for the first time and who talks in a language the child does not understand. This is very stressful for children. Why not spare them the trouble as much as possible?

2. It is easier for some people to learn a language, while others find it more difficult; but it is important to remember that everyone could do it. Especially if you have the right approach and your expectations are realistic.

3. Every person in his/her everyday life uses about 2500 words. Research has shown that if we know only 2000 words of any language, we will be able to understand about 80% of what is said by the local people, which is more than enough.

4. Forget about the grammar. Your knowledge of grammar will not impress your child! The child will need other things from you: to be fed; to be given some water or a toy; to be hugged when he/she is crying; to be comforted when he/she is upset; to be kissed; to be asked “Did you sleep well”; to be told: “I love you”…. How many words do you need in order to do this? Fifty or one hundred at most.

5. Find an audio recording and listen to it until you automatically start replying with „Dobro utro“ to your neighbours’ “Good morning”. You can find such an audio recording at http://www.goethe-verlag.com/book2/EN/index.htm. Just find the audio ENGLISH - BG BULGARIAN in order to donwload the audio lessons to your computer. This is a simple tool providing the necessary minimum level of language competence.

Here you can find some information about the Bulgarian alphabet and about the way certain sounds are pronounced in Bulgarian as well as particular words that will help you when communicating with your child. 

For those who would like to go deeper into the language, please check the following bilingual edition of Bulgaria Air (http://www.air.bg/en/flight-magazine/), from which besides learning Bulgarian, you can find some very useful and varied information about our country.

Information about the Bulgarian language you can find at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_language

Anyhow, even if you do not learn Bulgarian, a representative of ANIDO will accompany you during visits to the children’s institution and will always be there for you while you are meeting with your child.

Good luck and see you soon in Bulgaria!

The Team of ANIDO