Here I am again for my second post, and I’d like to follow up on my first theme of expectations. This comes to mind since I just spent a week on leave in Ukraine, where I was the American Embassy’s press officer from 1997 to 1999. My initial impression there was that things hadn’t changed much over the past 10 years, and I could see that Bulgaria had a clear advantage in funding from the European Union in many development and construction projects that were missing in Ukraine. But this view was really shaped by my first few days in the western countryside, where I visited my ancestral home of Volochysk. After I arrived in Kyiv, I saw that there had been rapid development downtown, some of which would make the residents of Sofia envious.
But my point is not comparisons of infrastructure or commercial development in the urban capital, but rather of the human capital. I’ll start with my host for most of the trip, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, a native of Volochysk and alumnus of the YES high school youth exchange program in the U.S. His ease and flexibility in speaking English was not the case for the overwhelming number of Ukrainians I met, including many young people. So in this area, Bulgaria has a clear advantage since I have been completely surprised by how well Bulgarians in their 20s and 30s speak English. When I arrived, I pretty much expected to have to speak Bulgarian every day to do my job, and yet find myself conducting almost all my meetings in English. Despite their complaints about the decline of public education since “the changes” (Americans usually call this watershed “the fall of the Berlin Wall”), Bulgarians seem to have taken to English like fish to water.
So here I am writing in English. The State Department has an English teaching division and programs that aid English teachers around the world, and though I’ve taught English, I’ve also taken pride in learning foreign languages and using them at work. But young Bulgarians make this skill much less necessary, and this has happened for the first time in my foreign service career. Bravo to Bulgarian youth! But why is this the case? Can someone tell me?
Here are my guesses: 1. Young Bulgarians see English as the ticket to success in international business, government, academia, science, and the arts. 2. Bulgarian teachers and educators see Bulgaria as increasingly integrated in the Euro-Atlantic community, where English has become the lingua franca. 3. English is just cool: Movies, music, and pop culture are embedded in English, and young Bulgarians respond to that, and want to be part of it.
For some context: I suspect that young Ukrainians have an advantage in that their country is still largely bilingual, and in fact many of them speak Russian as their mother tongue. Now Russian is a beautiful language with a glorious literature (and I’m a devoted fan of Mikhail Bulgakov), but I don’t think it brings the worldwide entrée that English does. My sense is that young people in other Eastern European countries are not taking to English as well as Bulgarians.
I welcome your thoughts on why Bulgarians are doing so well.
P.S. I'm hunting for the right "English Spoken Here" photo!
When I visited some friends in America they were surprised I knew English very well because they thought it will be a hard communication. They were interested how this happened. So I explained to them I have started to study it in my 4th grade (if I am not wrong) in primary school and there were classes offered. The next year it became a part of the school program. I have been studying it since then. The thing is ( and according to me it is a mistake) that even when I was in the secondary school or high schools (public or private) you start learning English language from the alphabet over and over again because you are being mixed with people that don't know it so well or don't know it at all. Although this has a positive side like you make a revision, it can become boring throughout time.
ReplyDeleteIt was the Russian language and literature that was studied in the past in Bulgaria.Now the English language is widely spread.The reason why I like it is because one day (it was during the 4th or 5th grade in my primary school) I realized and felt I really love it and I couldn't explain to myself why.
I wish you all the best!
Interesting title of your blog. Of course, one immediately thinks of the English phrase "To Hell and Back." I hope you are not equating Sofia with Hell.
ReplyDeleteMy impression is that relatively few Bulgarians speak English compared to other countries in Europe. In fact, I would say that (apart from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova), there is less English in Bulgaria than any other country in the region.
Perhaps that is due to Bulgarian pride in creation of the Cyrillic alphabet (although Saints Cyril and Methodius—the supposed inventors of the alphabet—were born in Thessaloniki, and their disciple St. Clement—who often receives credit for developing the alphabet—was from Ohrid). Perhaps that is due to the fact that Bulgarian is relatively close to Russian (spoken by 275 million people in the world), and Bulgarians can generally figure out the Russian language. Perhaps that is due to the fact that a language like Romanian is a lot closer to English than Bulgarian. Perhaps that is due to Bulgaria's lack of freedom under communism compared to former Yugoslavia. Perhaps that is due to something else.
In any event, foreigners in Bulgaria should learn the language here.
I don't know why you think Bulgarians are doing so well when it comes to speking English.
ReplyDeleteI have been living here for 3 years (I am Romanian) and had soooo many problems adjusting here because people don't speak English.
I took Bulgarina lessons, now I can speak the language, but nor very well..
I had problems even in state institutions, when I went to signup for the resident permit...they don't speak English...(nobody in the whole police office), then in the customs a woman basicly shouted at me that this is Bulgaria and you have to speak Bulgarian...in the shops...same story...not only they don't speak English, but they seem quite ofended if you ask them if they do..in a shop once, a woman refused to sell me anything, my friend said that the was was shouting in Bulgarian "go buy in your country!"...and examples are many...
In conclusion, living here for 3 years I had to learn the language not because I like it, but because I could not manage to live here without it (although at work we speak in English)..Bulgarians refuse to learn English (and I mean the adults, not the high school kids who know how to swear and few other words from Mtv and youtube clips..)
I don't understand, even after 3 years, whey they feel so ofended if you ask them if they speak English...I mean.. I didn't ask them to change their official language, just to be more open in welcoming foreigners and understand that English is a global language, and speaking English doesn't mean giving up your own language, national identity and culture!
benonica, probably it is the people you came across that felt offended.... I have no problem talking in English.It makes me feel excited when I see tourists here and I am more than happy to help if I can.Once when we were going back home with one friend there was one guy that asked us about certain street. We had no idea where it was so I looked around to see who I could ask and the closest people were shopping. I told him to wait and asked one woman.Then I was thinking of ways how to explain it to him and I thought it would be easier if I had a paper and a pen to draw it but I didn't. So we explained him the easiest way how to get to the city center walking. We were even wondering if to go with him so he won't get confused but we were too tired...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it is always good to know some of the language when you go somewhere wherever that could be.
I wish you all the best and good luck!
benonica, there are adults that don't speak English,yes but they could speak other language (like German, French...). It depends on the need to study it too.
ReplyDeleteFor example if you have worked a certain kind of job for 20 years and the clients you have are Bulgarians only you are less likely to see the need to study English to say or don't study anything at all.
Another case is if you do know it and you don't practice it, the process of forgetting begins.
I suppose it is the same everywhere like when I was in Greece and we had to ask someone about the right place. There were few people that didn't know English even the policeman there and one person that knew English very little...... In Germany I tried to explain something but it was in vain because of the language barrier....
Have a wonderful evening!
Thanks to folks who commented this past month on my December post!
ReplyDeleteNadya-- You are surely of the young generation that takes naturally to English. Chudesno! People like you will keep foreigners coming to Bulgaria.
John--Thanks for your insights. You probably discovered by now that my blog title refers only to Aleko Konstantinov.
benonica and Nadya--your exchange reminds me of the many monolingual Americans who can travel 1000 miles and still meet only English speakers. Without a praactical need (e.g., a job) to learn a foreign language, there's little real motivation.
My name is Galya and my personal opinion is that Bulgarians in the past did not speak foreign languages very well. They did not have so big knowledge. Now Bulgarians know that they live in a very small country without big chances about their future. Their only option is to go abroad if they want to succeed. They do not want to work abroad, but to study there, and then to come back with bigger knowledge. In Bulgaria almost all students learn English at least five hours per week. Everything around us is English.
ReplyDeleteWe are teenagers, we have idols, we surf the Internet, watch videos at Youtube, listen to music. All people there speak English, so thus we learn to understand English speaking people. We want to know what the lyrics of our favourites songs mean, so we look these words up in the dictionary.
Many young people go abroad in the summer in order to improve their English. There they meet other English speaking people and communicate with them.
The teachers play a big role in our English language skills. I do not know if everywhere it is so, but in my school I learn English four hours per week and I have never heard my teacher to speak in Bulgarian. Most students find that tedious, but in five years they will realize that they would not have had this knowledge without the help of their teacher.
I want to sum up that everyone chooses what language to speak and how well. The best way of doing this is going in a country of the target language. There is no a better teacher for developing language skills than one’s personal experience in a foreign country.
The Bulgarian youth is very good at English for several reasons:
ReplyDelete-> The best movies are made in the USA and most of the films we watch are in English. Sometimes I prefer to watch movies without the subtitles, because of the voice act.
-> Many of us understand that in order to succeed in this world we need the English language.
-> Most of our idols speak the English language and that is yet another reason for us to learn it. We want to be able to speak and be like our idols.
-> We all are connected to the Internet and in order to use it to its full potential, we need to understand not only Bulgarian, but also English.
Congratulations for the nice blog, Ken!Here is my point of view as a student:
ReplyDeleteSince English has become the international language of Western Europe, we Bulgarians believe it opens doors to the world. English is fashionable today, just like Russian was a few decades ago. So your guess we see this language as a ticket to success in international bussiness, academia, etc. is 100% correct – it is the main reason for us to study English.
As for its “coolnes” – since it is the second most widely spoken language in the world, it is the universal way of communication between different coltures. The knowledge of English is a way to diversify the entertainment of the young people and a guarantee for bigger carrier chances for the adults. About the Ukrainians – their relationships with Russia (which is the biggest country in the world) are probably enough for them, so they do not need to immerse in English.
Every country has specific interests and what its residents do is in a close relationship to these interests. Obviously, most Bulgarians are West-orienteited.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Yoana and I study at German Language High School in Sofia and I learn English, too. I am really happy about what you wrote about Bulgarians.
On the other hand, your words made me think – “Really, why do we learn English here, in Bulgaria?” I tried to remember what made me so curios about this language when I was little and soon I recalled this. It is exactly what you wrote about pop cuture, music, books, and movies. I have always had a passion for music but I could not understand what the artists were singing so this made me want to translate everything. Of course, today I have other main interests – I want to get proper education and in my opinion (and most of my classmates’, for example) universities in Bulgaria are not so good in comparison with universities in the USA or the UK. In order to study in one of these countries, I have to know English almost perfectly. And every Bulgarian, who wants to succeed, needs to know this language, spoken by so many people, in order to be successful in life and to be able to communicate with people from other countries without any trouble.
I hope this was useful for you. I wish you all the best and good luck!
Regards,
Yoana Dimova
When I read this post, it left a very surprising, but good impression on me. To be honest, I didn’t know that we, Bulgarians, especially the young ones, were doing so well in learning and using English in our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteI saw your guesses why we were doing so well and they’re all good, but the third one is the major reason for our so-called “success”. You know, a 4-5 year-old kid cannot understand the importance of international relationships, when it watches Cartoon Network or some other English-speaking TV-channel. That was the case with me, too. I began to learn English and took interest in it because of this-because of the media, which was not available in my mother-language at the time. After I’d grown up a little and had already learned for some years, I first saw, that English is becoming an international language more and more rapidly.
Boris Gergov
In my opinion the most important reason for the ability of Bulgarians to speak English so well and fluently is the personal goal of each of us for our future, career and life in general.
ReplyDeleteDespite the pride of our nation, we all see eye to eye about the fact that in Bulgaria it is hardly possible to be well educated, because of the bad state of our national economy nowadays. This is the main reason for the emigration from Bulgaria, because we realise, that thanks to our knowledge of English and other foreign languages, we can go abroad and study there. English is a ticket to our success and better living.
In comparison to better developed countries we cannot invest enough in our education and this is the main reason for the poor state of the Bulgarian economy and the unhappiness of the Bulgarian youth.
As a member of the young Bulgarian generation, I think that young people share the same plans for their future. They are the following:
1. study foreign languages hard
2. apply to a good college abroad
3. get a college degree
4. work hard
5. enjoy life-live your life the way you want, somewhere you can be happy with somebody you are happy and in a country which provides you with a clear view of your future!!!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteAs a student in a Bulgarian high school I would like to answer your question about English and young people in Bulgaria.
The way I see it your guesses are mostly correct. In the years following the fall of the communist regime in Bulgaria the country has been opened to western political and cultural influence. Nowadays, communicating with foreign business partners is only possible with the knowledge of English. When scrolling down almost every job offer, you see that some knowledge of English is expected. Aside from being beneficial to finding a better workplace, Bulgarians have to study at least one foreign language at school. Seeing that English is the easiest and most popular of all their choices, it is not hard to make the right choice. Also, English can allow you to study abroad, a dream of almost every Bulgarian student. Pop culture also has some importance but in my personal opinion private lessons also have their fair share in teaching people my age Shakespeare's language. I am sure that most of the people whose families could afford it have taken English lessons at one point or another in their lives. And that investment is paying off today, as you have noticed.
I hope I have been of service to you,
Best wishes,
Ivan Ivanov
To post a comment, you have to go to the window right below the latest comment and type in (or copy and paste what you have already written) your feedback.
ReplyDeleteThen, you have to choose a profile. I chose Google Account because I have a gmail.com e-mail account.
After that you click on the Post Comment button. I was redirected to Gmail and I had to enter my user name and password there.
Then my comment popped up immediately.
Follow these directions and you will post your comment successfully.
To post a comment, you have to go to the window right below the latest comment and type in (or copy and paste what you have already written) your feedback.
ReplyDeleteThen, you have to choose a profile. I chose Google Account because I have a gmail.com e-mail account. If you do not have a gmail account, it is high time that you created one. Send an email message to me and I will invite you to join gmail.
After that you click on the Post Comment button. I was redirected to Gmail and I had to enter my user name and password there.
The is a Word Verification window where you have to enter what you see. The word varies from user to user.
Then my comment popped up immediately.
Follow these directions and you will post your comment successfully.
I am going to invite Radoslav right away.
Hi,my name is Iliya and I desided to write my suggestions,too.
ReplyDeleteThere are many suggestions that we can make about this topic. I have been to some Eastern European countries like Greece, Hungary and Romania. From the impressions that I have from there I can say that they just have more respect for their own languages. These countries have developed their economy and they don’t need so many and big new investments as we do. The people there know how to do the things and from where to get the necessary money .And here in Bulgaria, we always don’t have enough money and we always need somebody to tell us how to do the things. So we need to know and speak the most spoken language on Earth –English to attract more and new investments. This I think is the biggest reason ideas on why people in Bulgaria speak English so good.
Iliya
Hello, Ken, nice to meet you. I am glad that I have this one of a kind opportunity to discuss one of the most famous myths in the worldwide linguistics - why the Bulgarians are so good at learning other languages ?
ReplyDeleteTo tell you the truth, the reason is clearly historical. Despite joining and helping the Allies (USA, USSR and England) in WW2, Bulgaria suffered a lot because of the Conferences in Teheran and in Potsdam - we were declared losers. And the Soviet Union of Joseph Stalin conquered in a clear political way my country. From this day on Bulgaria depended only on the USSR and the Bulgarian Communist Party was the one and only leading power.
I am sure that you clearly know what that is supposed to mean - the western culture and its music, art, movies was absolutely forbidden. Maybe that inspired the Bulgarians to start learning foreign languages like English, German and French. This was the best way to understand better everything old and new from the West. This inspired us today as well.
I personally started studying English, because I was fascinated by the music and film indusrty of the West. The melodies of my favourite songs would be more recognizable when I know the lyrics and what they mean. I can also read foreign literature in its original.
Let's not forget the unlimited communication possibilites. It's always exciting to meet, for example, an Englishman and communicate together in hes/her mother tongue. I have friends from Germany - together we can speak German, Russian and English. This makes every next conversation better than the last one.
The statistics show that the Bulgarians have the unique ability to learn and speak every foreign language in the world. This is another advantage for us. I hope that my info-post was useful for you, Ken. All the best.
Radoslav Yordanov
In my opinion young Bulgarians do so well in English because they want to prove that they are as good as every Englishman, for example. Afterall Bulgaria is a small country and many people from other nations look on Bulgarians with disregard. That is why Bulgarians want to integrate into the "elite" society of the world. Another reason is that Bulgarian people are great music lovers. Personally, I cannot travel with the public transport without my music player. I listen to music almost every spare minute I have. Young people in Bulgaria also watch a lot of English movies and English TV. Thus they can learn the right way to pronounce words. Many young people also go on vacations to the UK in the summer, where they attend language courses and communicate with native speakers from England and the USA.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello, Ken!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Bogomil Gospodinov and I am from Sofia, Bulgaria. I am very glad to hear that you are enjoying your stay in my country. I am a student in probably one of the best high schools in Bulgaria and I have been studying English since 1st grade. I really know what you are talking about and I think, that I can give an answer to your question.
I agree that most of the Bulgarian students have at least basic knowledge of writing and speaking in English. In my opinion, over the last two decades, the Bulgarians understood that their only key to the West is the English language. Millions of Bulgarians have fled in the past 20 years. Those who stayed here and had plans for a better future were forced at some point to create a connection with the new world, which was now more opened to them. Even at my age I realize, that everybody who wants to succeed in his/her career in the new Bulgaria should know at least 2 foreign languages – one of them is mandatory English. So when you are aware of these facts, it makes no surprise, that everybody is desperately trying to learn as many languages as he/she can, simply because the best universities, the biggest corporations all around the globe are using English for communication. And who doesn't want to live better?
Hi,Ken! After I read your post the first thing that popped into my mind was an article in National Geographic, which was representing the life story of a Kenyan. His only chance to escape from the everyday life was to run. And he ran and ran, 10 miles per day. And one day he was invited to take part in a competition which took place in Asia. So what do you think he did? He won! This was the turning point of his miserable life. His running ability turned out to be his pass to Europe, America and the whole world.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that if you want to success, you have to be innovative in today’s rapidly evolving world.The majority of Bulgarian students can not aid to pay the tuition fee for education abroad. So the alternative is to win a scholarship by showing that you know languages, especially English, which is considered as the language of the 21st century.
Hello!In my opinion there are many reasons why the Bulgarian youth has a much higher level of English than the youth in other Eastern European countries.
ReplyDeleteOne of them is that Bulgarian teenagers see English as a ticket out of Bulgaria.In more developed countries like England,France and Germany where English is a widely spoken language ,students have a better chance at getting a good education.People in Ukraine,on the other hand,consider Russian as and equivalent language to English.Even though Russian is also a widely used language,it does not have the popularity that English does.
Another reason for the good level of English that Bulgarians have is that about 80% of the worlds music and movies are in English.In order to be able to understand them,young Bulgarians are always ready to improve their knowledge of English.It does not matter whether you need it for education,a scholarship or simply for fun,English is the right language for you.Not only is it a passport to the world but is also very easy and fun to learn.
My name is Daniel and I'm actually not from Bulgaria, but I grew up and live here.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone here realises that they need to learn at least English in order to study abroad. They know that they could have more success studying in America or England. But that's not the main reason. Almost everything here is connected to English. Almost everything in the Internet is English - we read something or we watch something, YouTube for example. Music is great. We hear the lyrics and we learn. I listen mostly to rap so it has helped me a lot when it comes to my listening. And of course there are the movies. Movies are in English and I prefer to watch them WITHOUT subtitles. Most people who do not know English watch with subtitles and refuse to watch without subtitles. And the common things I have found in good English speakers is that we can all watch movies without subtitles and we grew up with cartoon channels! We watched cartoons in English and now it just feel natural talking in English. And I find it sad that those channels are now in Bulgarian.
Daniel, I remember those times when the cartoons were in English.I could watch them all day because there was nothing else interesting and when I began to study English I wanted to see if there will be some word that I learned.
ReplyDeletePersonally I rarely try to translate any lyrics of the songs because I don't see them so meaningful and I just switch off (?) my mind and enjoy the melody and the beat. I am not saying there aren't good lyrics too that have some depth.It all depends on the preferences.I find it hard to watch movies without subtitles so far because the English language hasn't become like a native one for me. Meaning that I can forget some parts while translating or that my brain will become overload at some point. ha ha At least this is what happened when I watched some TV in America. Practice make it perfect though so hopefully after some time it will be easier.
Have a joyful day!
Hi, my name is Teodora and here is my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI have been studying English since I was 4 years old. At first I did not know why English was so important for my future but now I am 16 years old and I know.
Bulgaria is a small country, where if you are not the best at your job, you cannot have a successful career. Being good at English is a useful way to standout from the others. Furthermore, knowing English better than the others at your age will help you continue your education in another European country, which will help you develop your skills.
Young Bulgarians understand that English is an opportunity to make contacts with different people from all over the world, to explore the seven continents and to expand their knowledge.
I must not forget to say that English is an international language and for the Bulgarians it is a must. With English Bulgarians can express themselves in front of the world and can say what they want and expect their future to be.
Not only these reasons make the Bulgarians learn English, there are some minor reasons, but they are important, too. For example, all the music and the films, which are in English motivate the young Bulgarians to know English better than anyone else.
I think I have answered your question as I could and I hope it is what you expected to hear. Finally, I can say that English is really an interesting language and it attracts young Bulgarians. This is why we are so good at English.
Ken, I think the picture speaks for itself :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/usembassysofia/4128193428/lightbox/
Nadya, I appreciate your comments and opinions, thank you for your honesty:)
As a general note, I'll say that obviously, the people who read your blog speak English...we can all agree to that:)
I wish they were more, a lot more...maybe we should start organizing (by "we" I mean all of us interested) some sort of public talk-shows, somewhere in open air, when anybody interested can come...to improve his/her English and to exchange opinions. I am a fan of the face to face conversations:)