Situation Center "Open Doors", which has been providing support to Ukrainians living in Bulgaria since the beginning of the war in 2022, continues to develop one of its main missions – providing Bulgarian language training for Ukrainian refugees.
"When the situation center started working, one of its first goals was to help the refugees start learning Bulgarian language. We told this to various media, including BNR. Many volunteers responded and came to our center,” the coordinator at the Ukrainian Education Center in Sofia, Elena Volkova, says. “These language courses continue to this day and thanks to these people, many of the children are now comfortable speaking Bulgarian. In addition to the volunteers, the children also study Bulgarian twice a week, together with teachers from Ukraine."
Currently the courses are held according to textbooks provided by the Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad.
The project called "Love Speaks Bulgarian" will allow 100 children from Ukraine to attend Bulgarian language lessons twice a week throughout the summer. The team of the "Open Doors" Situation Center hopes to collect 3,000 euros needed for this activity by May 15. The goal is to facilitate the removal of the language barrier for Ukrainian children, so they can communicate more easily with their peers in Bulgaria, as well as to fully integrate into Bulgarian society.
"Some of the parents have decided to enroll their children in Bulgarian schools during the next school year,” Elena Volkova says. "They are aware that unfortunately the war could continue for a long time and that they might have to stay in Bulgaria."
The Ukrainian educational center continues to work on another important task - its transformation into the first Bulgarian-Ukrainian secondary school. It has not yet been specified what methodology and textbooks will be used in it. Currently, the children have in-person classes in the building of the center, according to Ukrainian educational program in an online format.
Photos and video: Situation Center "Open Doors", personal archive
The international wine festival "Bolgrad Wine Fest" is opening today in the unofficial capital of ethnic Bulgarians in Ukraine - Bolgrad. The two-day event will be held at the Center for Culture and Recreation. For the first time, within the..
The 33rd Bulgarian polar expedition is heading to Antarctica to continue its scientific research in cooperation with scientists from different countries. For the first time, travelers from two Balkan countries - Greece and Montenegro, as well as from..
The program of the Orthodox Book Week offers meetings with authors, publishers and translators of Orthodox books from the last few years. The event is held until November 10 at the ''St. Procopius of Varna'' Church, with meetings taking place every..
Modernizing critical thinking skills, fact-checking skills and media literacy are essential for society, especially for young people in Bulgaria - the..
"You say you are Bulgarian, but you do not know Bulgarian" – this reproach from officials in Bulgaria has been faced by quite a few by our compatriots..
The survival of millions of people around the world, living in conditions of war, hunger, disease and immense despair, is at stake every day. We often..
Mostly Cloudy
Scattered showers
Cloudy
Cloudy