MLS Easy Immersion Vietnamese Pro

USD 29.95

Some claim that a person can learn Japanese overnight merely by poring over a ‘How-to-Learn’ book. Though it is not quite that easy, one can quickly master enough Japanese to have an enjoyable time visiting Japan as a tourist.

From Where?

Even more complicated than the Japanese language itself are various ideas regarding its origin. Two decades ago, Leptcha, a language spoken in a valley of the Himalaya mountains, was found to be closely related to Japanese. Others claim that Japanese bears greater affinity to Korean than to any other language.

What is the relationship between Japanese and Chinese? Due to the use of Chinese ideographic script, which we call “Kanji,” Japanese is often thought to have close connections with Chinese. But the differences are considerable. Chinese is a “monosyllabic” language, containing words of only one syllable. Japanese, however, is “polysyllabic,” having numerous words of two or more syllables. In Chinese, word meaning is conveyed by pitch and word order, while in Japanese the meaning is conveyed by the words themselves and by the word endings.

Nearly 2,500 years ago, the Japanese language had, basically, the same grammar as that used today. But by the end of the ninth and tenth centuries, changes began taking place. This made it necessary to know one set of words for reading and another set for speaking. The result was that until the end of World War II, one had to know 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese characters and two sets of syllabaries of 50 characters each in order to read any weighty material.

Since 1945, however, the essential Kanji have been somewhat simplified and reduced to a little less than 2,000. The language also has adopted many English words. Nowadays, besides these Kanji characters, schoolchildren are taught two sets of romanization. This requires hours of work at memorizing as well as writing practice until, by the end of grammar school, children have learned 881 Kanji, and, by the end of high school, 1,850. Reading college textbooks, however, requires knowledge of about 3,000 Kanji.

Let’s Say Something in Japanese

Perhaps you are anxious to test your ability at speaking Japanese. The pronunciation is easy enough, as there are, basically, only 50 different sounds possible. What presents the biggest problem is grammar. But for now, we’ll stick to simpler matters.

To begin with, there are five vowel sounds, all pronounced as in Italian: A as in far, I as e in me, E as in nest, O as in old, U as in push, when the U is a short vowel; when long, the U is as oo in soon. It is very important to learn the short and the long vowel sounds. A rather frequent mistake made by missionaries is confusing so shi ki (organization) with sM shi ki (funeral). Not a few audiences have been shocked at hearing about God’s great heavenly funeral, rather than God’s great heavenly organization. Another easy mistake is that of calling a young girl shM jM (orangutan) rather than shM jo (young girl). Clearly, both the learner of Japanese and the listener are benefited by having a sense of humor.

Often the same vowel, or phonetic sound, is used consecutively, as in a ta ma (head), ko ko ro (heart), or to ko ro (place). Sometimes a phonetic sound is lost through contraction when saying certain words. For instance, when pronouncing kM fu ku (happy), one drops the middle u and slurs the f and k together. This results in the pronunciation kM f’ku. Practice saying it several times and you will see how easily the Japanese rolls off your tongue! Another basic word is the pronoun “I,” which in Japanese is wa ta ku shi. It is pronounced correctly wa ta k’shi, with the loss of a u and the slurring of the k into the shi sound. In recent years “I” has been still further abbreviated to become wa ta shi.

Consonants can be tricky too. For example, the single-consonant “k” in the word kM ka gives us “school song,” while the double consonant in the word kok ka makes it “national anthem.”

Are there any rules as to which syllable should receive accent? Authorities differ, but some agree that it is better not to accent any syllable than to accent the wrong one. For example, the city of Numazu is pronounced nu ma zu, with equal emphasis on each syllable.

Especially since the seventeenth century, Japanese has borrowed many words from European languages. For instance, the Portuguese word “pao” (bread) becomes pan in Japanese. The Dutch “blik” (tin) is bu ri ki. “Butter” in English becomes ba ta. Another English word, “strike,” expands to five syllables, with two different meanings. It is su to ra i ku in baseball jargon, but when some want better pay or working conditions, the word becomes su to ra i ki.

Other Things of Interest

One must realize that Japanese word order differs from that in most other languages. On a visit to Japan, you might say in English: “I would like to visit Mount Fuji.” In Japanese you would say, “Watak’shi wa Fuji San o hMmon shitai desu.” The literal word order is: “I Fuji Mount visit want.” In Japanese the verb always comes at the end of the sentence. As noted above, verb endings are also most important. To know whether an expression is in the present or the past tense, or whether it is a positive or negative response to a previous question or statement, one must listen to the very last syllable of a sentence.

An unusual feature of the Japanese language is its system of honorifics or keigo. All conversations must take into consideration three things: the speaker, the one spoken to and the person spoken about. Besides these, the speaker must consider the respective positions, ages, belongings, families, friends and social groups embraced by the conversation. These factors affect-to name just a few-vocabulary, suffixes, prefixes and verb endings used in conversation. The pronoun “you,” for example, is represented by many different Japanese words, according to the status of the person addressed. The polite way is often to use the person’s name instead, or to omit the “you” altogether. One making one’s residence in Japan should be determined to learn the various forms of address. The visitor on a temporary basis, however, will be forgiven blunders of this type. The Japanese, as a whole, are delighted to hear people make the effort to speak their difficult tongue.

Let’s Read Kanji

Even though you may not know the correct pronunciation of a Kanji character, you often can know its meaning. Do not be afraid of what may appear at first sight to be “chicken scratches” all up and down a page. Although opinions vary, there is a fairly easy way to learn to read Kanji. This system of writing has, basically, 300 “building blocks.” By combinations of these, all the thousands of Kanji are formed. Shall we try a few?

The character for ka wa (river) comes from the flowing river [Artwork-River Drawing] and looks like this [Artwork-River Drawing]. Now, if you squeeze that river [Artwork-River Drawing], what do you have but the character for water [Artwork-Japanese Characters], mi zu?

A traveler in Japan will find it helpful to know the characters for “entrance” and “exit” that are in train stations and other public places. First take a mouth [Artwork-Mouth Drawing], form it into [Artwork-Japanese Characters] and pronounce it ku chi. Now picture a small river running into a large river [Artwork-River Drawing], square it up [Artwork-Japanese Characters], and you have hai ru or iru, meaning “to enter.” Put the two together [Artwork-Japanese Characters], smooth out the pronunciation, and you have the word for entrance, i ri gu chi, or, literally, ‘enter mouth.’ To leave the station, you must know another character. So think of a flower growing out of the ground [Artwork-Flower Drawing]. Shape it up a bit [Artwork-Japanese Characters], and you have the character for de ru (to leave). Put [Artwork-Japanese Characters] with [Artwork-Japanese Characters] and you have [Artwork-Japanese Characters], meaning ‘coming out mouth,’ or exit, pronounced de guchi. That wasn’t nearly as hard as you expected, was it?

Many of the characters tell a story, as does the man [Artwork-Man Drawing] [Artwork-Japanese Characters], standing by a tree [Artwork-Tree Drawing], which becomes [Artwork-Japanese Characters]. The two together [Artwork-Japanese Characters] constitute the Kanji for vacation, pronounced ya su mi. How about a man leaning on a shovel [Artwork-Man Drawing], next to his horse [Artwork-Horse Drawing]? Put them together and you have e ki, or station [Artwork-Japanese Characters], as in “Tokyo Eki,” where you can catch the bullet train.

There are many, many more to learn, and while requiring effort, it is a thoroughly fascinating and entertaining study. Over the years the writing of Kanji is being progressively simplified. As the older and younger generations differ in their way of writing Kanji, often a letter received from a grandmother or grandfather will have to be read and “translated” by someone living nearby who is in the same age group as the writer of the letter.

Some Reasons for Learning Japanese

There are many reasons that may prompt persons to learn Japanese. With some individuals, it may be simply a hobby that helps to broaden their views of people from a different culture and environment. Others will want to learn Japanese for business reasons. Tourists will enjoy their visit to Japan all the more if they know some basic Japanese. But to gain a real working knowledge of Japanese, one would have to live in this country for some years.

If you wish to learn Japanese, you can. Our word of advice is: “Ganbatte kudasai!,” that is, “Stick to it!”

For more information on learning japanese,please visit our site learn japanese.

MLS Easy Immersion Italian Pro

USD 49.95

Although Italian is the official language throughout Italy, it should be noted that it is not the country’s only language. Italy is also home to a number of other languages, spoken in particular regions, such as Sardinian, Sicilian, Neapolitan, and Venetian. Additionally, there are also a number of other language communities present in the country, including communities who speak dialects of Greek and Croat, plus native speakers

No doubt you are already aware of the benefits of learning Italian. Whether you visit Italy on vacation, or you plan to do business in the country, knowing how to speak the language can certainly make your life a whole lot simpler! You’ll probably also be amazed at how much easier it is to learn a new language than it used to be in the past. Nowadays, as well as books and audio courses, there are many wonderful web sites that can be really useful, and indeed there is also some excellent software available for learning Italian (including the very popular Rosetta Stone Italian program).

MLS Easy Immersion French Pro

USD 49.95

Perhaps you’ve been wanting to learn the language of your Grandmother. Perhaps you would benefit from learning an official language or unofficial second language of your country, such as French in Canada or Spanish in USA. Or Greek in Melbourne Australia! Apparently the second largest Greek-speaking city in the world after Athens, in terms of number of people who speak Greek, is Melbourne Australia! Or perhaps you feel like learning something that feels exotic like Japanese or Swahili. One Saturday in November 2004, the national Canadian newspaper the “The Globe and Mail” put its entire front page in Chinese, explaining that with the globalization of jobs, Chinese will probably be a necessary business language of the future.

If you can’t get away to a class, then there are lots of language courses you can study at home: books, audio cassettes, video cassettes, DVDs, music, interactive computer software, and online courses on the Internet. Your local library probably has language learning resources that you can borrow, if you don’t want to start off the year with the expense of buying these materials. When studying on your own in this way, try to devote 10 minutes every day to a bit of study or revision, instead of doing 1 hour one day but then not finding the time to look at it again for a couple of months. With 10 minutes of study each day, you probably won’t feel like you are making progress because the progress is so gradual. However, the progress will also be steady, and in 3 months time when you look back on how much you have learned, you’ll probably impress yourself.

To get you started learning your new language in the next 5 minutes, here are some links to free online courses

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages - On the BBC website, you will find free online courses for French, Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese. And also for Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Irish and English, and links to British Sign Language.

http://www.word2word.com/course.html - The Word2Word website contains links to free language courses all over the Internet. As of January 2005, it has links for 114 languages, from Abenaki, Albanian and Arabic, to Urdu, Vietnamese and Xhosa. In all, there are 288 links to online courses. So whether you want to learn

A great way to learn and practise another language is “language immersion” - being surrounded by people who speak that language and you having to get things done in that language environment. A holiday in a foreign country is a very interesting and fun “language immersion” opportunity. People amaze themselves, speaking words in a foreign tongue that they didn’t realize they knew, when they have to function in a foreign language environment. Closer to home, local immigrant community events may be able to provide you with a language immersion environment without the expense of travel.

My Japanese teacher told us that if you understand more than 5% of what is being said in a foreign language, then you are not at the optimum level for learning the maximum amount possible of that foreign language. If you understand more than 5% of what is going on in your class, go up a level he said! If 95% seems gooblety-gook to you, then that’s perfect he said! Take heart. It means you are soaking up as much of that foreign language as is humanly possible!

According to Ellen Bialystok and Kenji Hakuta in the book “In Other Words”, adults are more capable of learning a second language than most people assume. In the book “What’s Going On In There”, Lise Eliot explains how Noam Chomsky discovered in the late 1950s that all of the world’s languages share the same fundamental structure. He called it “Universal Grammar”. The language you already speak and the language you want to learn both have sentences, grammar, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions. You may not be able to label those parts of your speech, but your brain is applying those concepts to your speech every day, and has been doing so ever since you were a baby. Experts believe that our brains have specific language circuits, like a computer has specific circuitry to do certain tasks. If you can communicate in one language (and if you are reading this, then obviously you can!), then you have the necessary brain circuitry to communicate in any language.

Which brings us to the subject of babies, kids and language. My father observed that French children must be very clever. While English-speaking teenagers are struggling with French in high school, apparently French children are fluently speaking French right from toddlerhood! (!!!)

Language courses for children exist in our communities, particularly in communities that have vibrant ethnic

As with adults, lots of multimedia resources are available for teaching foreign languages to children. The latest craze is language videos for babies! Small children find these videos very entertaining and love to watch them. Some well-known titles include Bilingual Baby and Lyric Language. On the Internet, http://www.kiddiesgames.com offers fun free games for babies and preschoolers to learn Spanish and French.

Have you ever thought of learning Sign Language? American Sign Language (or ASL) is the first language of half a million people in the United States and Canada, and is probably the third most used language in USA. Dr Bill Vicars at the ASL University at http://lifeprint.com/asl101 tells us that many deaf people cherish and enjoy their language and deaf culture so much that given the chance to hear, they’d rather remain deaf so as to remain part of their culture. On that website you can find a free online ASL course and visual dictionary.

The benefits of hearing babies and toddlers learning sign language are very exciting. The research of the past decade has shown that hearing infants that learn sign language learn to speak verbally earlier, have higher IQs, have less tantrums during the terrible twos because they can communicate their needs, and are generally happier! There is now quite a choice of entertaining videos for small children that are very effective at teaching kids signs, such as the Signing Time videos at http://www.signingtime.com and the We Sign videos that you can preview at http://www.production-associates.com/wesign.html. In some areas, it’s possible for children to take signing classes such as those of http://www.kindersigns.com or to join reverse integration kindergarten at deaf organizations or signing playgroups.

Have fun! ¡Diviértase! Amusez-vous bien!

The author of this article, Emma Rath, produces free online and purchasable download baby and preschooler computer games, including games for learning English, French and Spanish, http://www.kiddiesgames.com.

Bulgarian Pro - MLS Easy Immersion

USD 29.95

English is first foreign language taught in schools, whilst German and Russian are also widely taught. However, in the countryside, it could occasionally prove to be a major barrier. Road Signs

If travelling by car, be sure you can read some of the Cyrillic alphabet. Although around the major resorts, some signs are now thankfully showing the Latin alphabet, most signs in Eastern Bulgaria do not, so it could become difficult for you to navigate your way around.

A good idea is to have a map with you showing the town names written in Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. This way you can at least compare the forms of the letters.

Body Language

Unlike us, the Bulgarians shake their heads when they mean “yes” and nod when they mean “no”. However, sometimes they reverse these gestures if they know they’re speaking to foreigners, thereby complicating the issue somewhat!

The use of the words da (yes) and ne (no) should be enough to avoid any misunderstandings. Useful Bulgarian Words and Phrases Zdravey/Zdrasti Hello!/Hi!

Dobro utro Good morning!

Dobar den Good afternoon!

Dobar vecher Good evening!

Leka nosht Good night!

Dovizhdane/Sbogom (pronounced [Zbogom]) Goodbye!/Farewell!

Priyatno mi e It is nice to meet you.

Kak si How are you?

Dobre Good/Well

Zle/Losho Bad/Ill

Gore-dolu So-so I. Basic Conversation

Da Yes.

Ne No.

Kak se kazvash What is your name? Ako obichate Please

Blagodarya Thank you.

Molya You are welcome.

Izvinete/Izvinyavayte Excuse me. (formal) II. Do You Speak…

Ne razbiram I do not understand.

Govorish li Do you speak…

Angliyski English

Frenski French

Nemski German

Ispanski Spanish

Kitayski Chinese III. Family

Mayka Mother

Bashta Father

Sin Son

Dushterya Daughter

Supruga Wife

Suprug (pronounced [supruk]) Husband

Priyatel Friend (male)

Origins of Bulgarian Language

Bulgarian forms part of the South Slavic group of languages, together with Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Slovenian. It is the earliest written Slavonic language.

Its Cyrillic alphabet is the same as Russian, Serbian and Macedonian. Indeed some people also consider Macedonian to be a dialect of Bulgarian, but this is a highly charged and hotly disputed political issue. Macedonian is so close to Bulgarian that people in these two countries can understand each other without the needing to translate.

The Bulgarian language is divided into three periods: old, middle, and modern. The Old Bulgarian period lasted from the 9th to the 11th century and is otherwise known as Old Church Slovonic, representing the texts of this period.

The Middle Bulgarian period lasted from the 12th to the 14th century and was then considered as one of the three major literary languages of Europe.

The Modern Bulgarian period started in the 15th century, but the modern literary language didn’t evolve until the 19th century. There are two major dialect groups in Bulgaria: the eastern and the western dialects. Each is subdivided into northern and southern varieties. The modern literary language is based primarily on the northeastern dialect.

Bulgarian is also spoken in Canada, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, and Yugoslavia with an estimated total of 9 million native speakers.

Tina Andlaw lives in Spain and regularly contributes articles to Sunseeker Homes (http://www.sunseekerhomes.com) the Spanish property information website.

Bulgarian Pro - MLS Easy Immersion

USD 29.95

Bulgaria is located in southeast Europe, it is situated in the Balkan Peninsula. The countries surrounding it are: Romania- to the north, Turkey and Greece- to the south, Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia- to the west. On the east it is bound by the Black Sea.

Bulgarian People

Around about 85% of the Bulgarian population is classified as ethnic Bulgarian. There are also other smaller groups of people such as Turks, Roma (known as Gypsies), Armenians, Greeks, Macedonian Slavs and of course there are now a growing population of expats from abroad such as Brits and Germans etc.

All young Bulgarians find it important to have a very neat appearance, western and european fashions are very popular. In the towns and villages a very strange clash appears- one of old and new together. There are old baba’s and dyado’s (grandmother’s and grandpa’s) walking the street with their goats in tow and then a very fashionable young couple walks along in their designer jeans! In Rural Bulgaria most families share a big house, for example if there is a 3 storey house then the grandparents stay at the bottom, their grown children stay on the second floor and then their children will stay at the top! In urban areas most people stay in small flats.

Under Communism Bulgarians became accustomed to free health services and a wide range of other benefits, however when Communism came to an end Bulgaria’s post-Communist governments didn’t have the financial resources to maintain these services. Furthermore, the transition to a market economy resulted in food and water shortages, high inflation and increased unemployment. Residents of Bulgaria’s large cities are burdened by housing shortages and rising rents. Things were made increasingly bad when the Lev (national currency) collapsed in late 1996 and early 1997, only 10 years ago Bulgarians still had to stand in a queue for about 6 hours waiting for one loaf of bread!

Now that food is easily available there are many popular traditional dishes favoured by all here, these include things such as “Shopska Salad,” which is a salad unique to Bulgaria normally featuring tomato, cucumber, peppers and white goats cheese (sirene). Another summer favourite is “Tarator ,” this is a cold yogurt and cucumber soup which can be served as a starter instead of salad, often it is even served up in a glass. In Sofia the capital you are likely to find many stalls selling something called “banitsa,” which is a flaky sort of pastry which can have any filling, one of the more popluar is yellow cheese (kashkaval).

The Bulgarian literacy rate is hitting 98%, as education is free and compulsary. Students firstly attend Primary School when they are 7 years old for 4 years, they then progress to Middle School for 3 years and then Secondary School can range up to 5 years depending on personal choice, compulsory education ends at the age of 18. Most students continue their education past secondary school and attend various universities. There are many institutions for higher learning in Bulgaria, most are located in the larger cities such as Sofia (the capital), Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas.

The Language

Okay, lets face it Bulgarian is a difficult language to learn, but when you get the hang of the cyrillic alphabet then it is no more difficult than any other! Bulgarian is spoken by 90 % of Bulgaria, so it could be pretty useful to learn it, even if you try, it is appreciated! The history of the Bulgarian language is divided into three periods. Firstly, The Old Bulgarian Period- this lasted from the 9th century throught to the 11th, and the text that was created during this period is what makes up most of the Old Church Slavonic Church. Secondly, The Middle Bulgarian Period which lasted from the 12th through to the 14th century and last, The Modern Bulgarian Period started in the 15th but only became fully formed during the 19th century. Modern Bulgarian has two major dialect groups which are eastern and western. So while learning the lingo be careful about picking up words which are only used in that area!

The Culture

A long time ago, back in the Middle Ages Bulgaria was at the centre of Slavic culture, between then and now Bulgaria has been greatly influenced by others such as Byzantine, Greek, Russian and Western cultures.

All over Bulgaria there are plenty examples of the fine art and architecture that has been produced over the centuries for example, the Boyana Church near Sofia shows some fine examples of the painting from the 13th century. The country has over 200 museums, some of which show the beautiful handcrafts that used to be produced here including embroideries and wood carvings. The oldest building that can be found is the 4th century Church Of Saint George in the very centre of Sofia, this has recently been restored and is quite a strange mix of old and new! Other important buildings include the Aleksander Nevski Cathedral in Sofia, The Rila Monastery in the Rila Mountains and The Bachkovo Monastery to the south of Plovdiv.

Recently there was a gathering of Bulgarian people in our village singing traditional Bulgarian folk songs and dancing, it was quite incredible! The main native instruments from here are called the gaida (this is a kind of bagpipe) and also the kaval (a wooden flute) The most popular folk dance is called the Hora, which is a sort of round chain dance, in which everyone can join in!

Economy

Bulgaria used to be mainly agricultural and there was almost no heavy industry. However, after World War II, all the industrial enterprises were nationalised and heavy industry was the governments top priority, at that point Bulgaria had one of the most prosperous economies. There downfall came when they started to convert to a market economy, this was made worse when the countrie’s voters elected former Communists into power in1994. Instead of transferring the expensive state owned enterprises to private ownership, they continued to sustain them and they acted as huge money drainers. In 1996, the Lev plummented in value and the banking system nearly completely collapsed, at this time many declared bankruptcy and ceased business, all of this caused a serious economic crisis! In 1997 a new government was elected and they took some major steps in order to stabilise the ever shaky economy!

Agriculture used to be a huge part of Bulgaria’s economy, but since the Second World War it has declined in a big way! One of the most important crops here is tobacco, it contributes to about 20% of the total value of all agricultural goods. Every year Bulgaria produces surplus food but agriculture is facing an economic downturn due to the fact that the price of agricultural produce is not rising at the same rate as that of inflation.

A really huge industry in Bulgaria is wood, almost everyone in the rural areas burn wood throughout the winter. The forestry police keep tight reins on the people- they must have documentation in order to either cut down the wood, or if they buy it the seller supplies the document. If you don’t have it you can be fined instantly! The principal timber areas are the Rila, Rhodope and Balkan mountains. Some people also burn coal which furnishes the bulk of Bulgaria’s mineral production. Another big industry is located on the Black Sea Coast-Petrol- it was discovered there in 1951. Another is fishing, there is a large variety of fish such as mackerel, whiting and carp to be found in the coastal waters. The processing and canning plants are found in the main towns in that area i.e Varna and Bourgas.

The Environment

The biggest percentage of Bulgarias terraine is mountainous. The major mountain ranges are called: The Balan Mountains- these cross the country from the northwest to the Black Sea. The Rhodope Mountains- broad and irregular mountains found in the south of Bulgaria. The Rila Mountains- are located in the southwestern part of the country, most of the countries wildlife is confined to here, you can find all sorts- bears, wolves, foxes and wildcats to name a few! In all of these mountains you can find a variety of trees such as conifer, beech and oak. Many areas have been deforested and there has been a gradual deterioration of several fertile areas, however there are still some lands that have highly fertile black and grey soils!

There are five main rivers that flow at various locations thoughout the country, the biggest and most well-known is called the Danube. Then there is the Maritsa which flows towards Greece and Turkey. The three smaller rivers are called the Kamchiya, The Struma and The Mesta.

Bulgaria can appear to have quite a severe climate, in the winter it is freezing cold with frosts, winds and hail storms and in the summer it can be absolutely scorching which can lead to droughts. The change in climate in Bulgaria can be somewhat dramatic almost appearing as if it is moving through the seasons overnight..

The environmental health of the country has been suffering because of the huge industrial economy. Almost all of the rivers are polluted and water treatment facilities for wastes are mostly inadequate. The European Union has given the country money in order to greatly improve these problems, so time should see an improvement!

History

Bulgaria was formerly included in the Roman Empire as part of the province of Thrace and Moesia. However, during the 9th century Bulgarians had gained a considerable amount of territory and they laid foundations for a strong state, under the power of Khan Krum. By the late 9th and 10th century, Bulgaria was the strongest nation in Eastern Europe. Tsar Simeon became the most powerful monarch and his reign was marked by great cultural advances, for example the Cyrillic alphabet was adopted. Bulgaria’s power declined during the following century and when the Russians invaded and seized the capital and the royal family, it could have been the end for Bulgaria but Emperor John I Tzamiseces intervened and the Russians withdrew. So, Samuel, the son of Bulgarian provincial governor became the ruler of Western Bulgaria, his armies were later destroyed by Emperoro Basil II and the state was incorporated into his empire.

So was all lost, was there no more Bulgaria!? No, noble brothers Asen and Peter led the Bulgarians to revolt in 1185 and again Bulgaria was established! By the early 13th century it included extensive territories such as Serbia and all of western Macedonia. Sadly, this was short lived as the Bulgarian armies were defeated in 1330 by the Serbs. During the next five centuries the existence of Bulgaria was almost completely and utterly destroyed. In 1876 the Bulgarians decided to revolt against Ottomans rule, bur were unsuccessful and in reprisal about 30,000 Bulgarian people including children were murdered! In 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire and swiftly defeated them! After this a part of Bulgaria came into being again! In 1879 the first prince of Bulgaria was elected- Alexander of Battenberg, but in 1886 a group of conspirators abducted him and established a Russian-dominated government. This wasn’t on! Within a few days the government was overthrown and a new ruler chosen- Prince Ferdinand. In 1908 Ferdinand declared Bulgaria as independent and assumed the title of Tsar!

During the Second World War Bulgaria signed the Anti-Comitern Pact and declared war on the USA and Great Britain. Even though they were allied with Nazi Germany, Tsar Boris refused to persecute Bulgarian Jews, so most of them survived the Holocaust. When the tide turned against the Germans, Adolf Hitler tried to make Bulgaria declare war on he USSR, they refused but the USSR declared war on them! However no fighting occured! Furthermore Bulgaria declared war on Germany. Bulgaria then asked for an armistice which was agreed to. The armistice also made provision that the Bulgarians evacuate all territories that they had taken! So in 1946, the Bulgarians rid themselves of Tsar Simeon and the monarchy came to an end, a week after this Bulgaria was made a “Peoples Republic.”Bulgaria has been dominated since 1946 by The Communist Party. However in 1990 a multi-party system was adopted and the political system has expanded and improved since that time. So now you know all about Bulgaria and how much it has struggled to be what it is today! Over the past 10 years or so the changes in this country have been massive and amazing to all who live here. The country now hopes to join the European Union and its target date for joining is January 1st 2007!Prior to its joining the EU it has many targets which it has to meet so the people of Bulgaria will have to wait and see if they will indeed enter on this date. This is a beautiful country with some truly amazing scenery and friendly people.So, regardless of what links you have to Bulgaria you may find it very different from most other countries. Remember differences are what also makes a country new and exciting and if we did not want change why consider moving here in the first place. Its just a new way of life thats a little more relaxed! ENJOY!

Journalist and Photographer Free online monthly PDF magazine all about Bulgaria Bulgaria Info Online www.bulgariainfo-online.com

Getting Started

The best way to learn to speak Spanish is to hire someone to teach you how to speak the language. A good language teacher will not only guide you on how to learn Spanish fast, he or she will also be able to help you appreciate the beauty of the Spanish language more. To find a good language teacher who can help you on how to learn Spanish fast, you should try to inquire from the colleges and universities in your locality. Most colleges and universities have language programs and they have highly qualified teachers who handle these subjects.

If you do not have time to attend language classes in a local college or university, it would be best for you to find a personal tutor to help you. The good thing about hiring a personal tutor to guide you on how to learn Spanish fast is that you can keep your schedule flexible. If you happen to be a very busy person, having a personal tutor is a good option for you. However, the drawback here is that personal tutorials can be quite expensive and if you are not willing to spend a lot of money to learn Spanish, you might want to take the option of learning the language on your own.

Learning Spanish on Your Own

Although it is always advisable to hire a language tutor to guide you on how to learn Spanish fast, learning how to speak Spanish on your own is not really a remote possibility. If you are one of those people who are really gifted when it comes to learning new languages, you probably do not need anybody to guide you on how to learn Spanish fast. To learn to speak Spanish within a few days, all you need to do is to buy one of those user-friendly and easy to follow interactive computer programs. The good thing about these interactive language programs is they are affordable and you can use them with your own personal computer.

About the Author

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Over at the BBC website (the British Broadcasting Corporation) there are a number of really excellent starter courses for learning French. You can subscribe for a 12 week email course, you can take part in a quiz which tests your current level of French and suggests further study and, given a good internet connection, you can even take part in an interactive video course called ‘Ma France’ which covers a variety of subjects like eating out, asking directions, holidays, cooking and more. It’s voiced by a native French speaker so you can hear what each French word sounds like. It’s a superb way to start to learn French and it’s absolutely free.

That’s probably the most comprehensive set of French lessons but there are plenty of others. Just do a search on the internet and you’ll find dozens. While writing this article I entered ‘free French lesson’ in Google and got over half a million results!

Of course a lot of those results are duplicates, and a lot of them are, frankly, rubbish, but if you take a bit of time to search around you’ll find a few gems.

For instance, one thing I didn’t find at the BBC was how to pronounce the French alphabet. Maybe it’s there but I missed it, but it’s not important because I found several other places with short audio clips so I could hear each letter.

A trawl around the internet will find free lessons for French days, weeks, months, greetings, food, clothes, romance, you name it there’s somewhere online you can find the French for it!

The audio lessons or sound clips are the most useful, of course, because hearing the language is vital in understanding it and speaking it. Don’t just rule out the sites that only offer written texts though - there’s a lot there that can be useful too and the actual construction of French grammar is difficult to explain by sound alone - sometimes you need something written down.

I’m sure you’ll come across some websites that you find frustrating. I certainly did. It’s rather annoying, in my opinion, to click several times in search of French sound files only to discover that the written texts are free but you have to pay for sound. It’s not that I object to paying necessarily, but I do object to being led along like that. Never mind, along with the benefits of the internet you’re bound to find one or two sites that don’t deliver.

Nevertheless, you can find free French lessons online and good ones at that. If they’re limited in any way it’s that those I’ve found can really only deal with the French language at the beginner level. Going on from that I’m afraid you’ll have to pay. That said, there are some extremely good systems out there and many of those you can get a free sample of so you can try before you buy. Well worth looking into when you want to take your French lessons to the next level.

About the Author

Get free independent info on learning French plus six free professional French lessons at http://www.how2learnfrench.com

Here are some great ways to habla Espanol pronto!

1. Visit Spain. Ask strangers for directions and see how fast you can pick up the basics. If you get lost, that’s just part of the adventure and you’ll have to learn new words quickly or find yourself with a problema. I wouldn’t try this in a bad neighborhood in Barcelona, however. What’s Spanish for: “If you put down that knife, you can have my wallet”?

2. Read Mexican newspapers while vacationing in Baja. With your new language skills, you can make a real estate deal, and live the expatriate life in style. Don’t take no for an answer. Make them say si to your final offer.

3. Get active in politics and ask to work among Spanish-speaking voters. These days you’ll be able to look for votes not just in LA and San Diego but just about anywhere in the US, including Iowa.

4. Get a job with a Spanish language radio or TV station. You’ll learn by osmosis. These people may even be hiring. Or at least watch the Spanish TV channels. Their soap operas are funnier than the ones in English and you’ll catch on to the slang–the most enjoyable part of any language–fast.

5. Read poets Federico Garcia Lorca or Octavio Paz in the original by using a bi-lingual edition. Your Spanish vocabulary will fill up like an overstuffed piñata. If you prefer novels, read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude or Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch. For some of the world’s best short stories, try any of Jorge Luis Borges many collections.

6. Listen to CDs or MP3s by Los Lobos or Calexico. But only the Spanish language stuff. If you prefer more alienation while you rock out, try punk rock in Spanish: http://www.angelfire.com/tx4/sapunk/. (Warning: punk rocker expletives!)

7. Spanish Class

When you ready to get really serious, sign up for a Spanish class. After all, you have to temper the fun with at least a little discipline. You can make it easy and fast with the Pimsleur Approach, which offers a terrific program that makes learning a language fun and really does work. Say No sé nada to tedious vocabulary lists and pointless repetition. Learn to absorb language in the same way you did as a toddler. Everything is broken down exactly the way kids learn. It’s simple, entirely in audio (so you can multitask), and is the easiest program to use with the least amount of effort.

In today’s North America, Spanish is on its way to becoming the second most important language. (Pace, Quebecois.) Now that you have ideas for becoming better acquainted with Spanish, you’re ready to pick some and play with them. You’ll be at home on the entire continent in no time. Learning Spanish opens your window to the world a lot wider. Become bilingual and before too long you’ll be ready to try tri.

About the Author

Audrey Tumaneng is spokesperson for Pimsleur Approach, internationally-recognized provider of language learning products. Their courses are currently used by the FBI, CIA, and business professionals everywhere. You can reach Pimsleur Approach at PimsleurApproach.com and by phone at 866-204-7139 or +1 202-266-3328 (international).

In fact, even more distressing is that research has shown that less than 5% of students studying a foreign language are able to endure the stressful nature of formal school training to continue studying the language more than two years (Asher, 1982).

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About the Author

Live in Baltimore,MD