Bulgarian Administrators Seek to Improve English Language Skills
More than 40 U.S. Peace Corps volunteers and their Bulgarian counterparts received certificates for successful completion of the first workshop on Conversational English Teaching Methodology last week. U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle joined Minister of State Administration and Administrative Reform (MSAAR), Nikolay Vassilev, to present the certificates. The three-day workshop in mid-May was a joint effort of USAID’s Participant Training Program and Peace Corps Volunteers in response to the Ministry’s request for assistance in English language training.
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| U.S. Ambassador Beyrle and Minister Vassilev presented certificates to participants in a workshop on teaching English |
In light of Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union (EU), language skills become imperative to the success of the Bulgarian administration’s implementation of EU and other donors’ programs. Insufficient foreign language skills of the Bulgarian civil servants, as identified by the Ministry, will be a major impediment to their smooth communication in the EU environment and will hamper access to structural and cohesion funds.
USAID and MSAAR agreed to utilize the unique advantage of the Peace Corps Volunteers as native speakers; and task them to teach conversational English, thus complementing the formal English lessons procured by the Ministry. The American volunteers and their counterparts came from more than 31 municipalities throughout Bulgaria, where they work as teachers and experts in youth programming and community development.
To follow up, MSAAR plans to connect most of the participants with municipal administrations to help address the English language needs of civil servants and enhance English proficiency of the municipal employees.
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