Get Acrobat global variable with AS3

My swf is embedded in an Acrobat document, and contains several language translations.  I need to set the default language.  That way when the user reopens the acrobat doc, the swf displays the correct language.

I've been looking for a way to use as3 in the SWF, and get the value of an Acrobat global variable that I set.

The variable would look like "EN," "FR," "IT,"  etc.

I'm assuming this is possible by setting a global variable in Acrobat, and then reading the value from the swf.

Or is there a better way?  Can the swf save external data easily when embedded in an Acrobat document?

Thanks.