Understanding Multilingual Students

Support our new donation campaign and help us raise funds for the creation of learning resources and specialized methodology for some of the most vulnerable students in our education system

The beginning of the school year marked the start of a new donation campaign whose goal is to support the successful completion of the Bulgarian as a second language methodology project. This project aims to help Bulgarian students whose first language is not Bulgarian. It was launched by Teach For Bulgaria and EducArt at the beginning of 2020 and involves the development of diagnostic and specialized learning resources for additional language support for primary school students. The resources will also have detailed methodological instructions for teachers. This will allow educators to support their multilingual students more effectively. 

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

You can support this project by making a donation via this special web page here or via our GlobalGiving donation campaign, if you live outside of Bulgaria.

WHY IS THIS PROJECT SO IMPORTANT 

Teach For Bulgaria teachers work with students whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian in almost all of our partner schools. They agree that almost all of their multilingual students need additional Bulgarian language training.

All subjects are taught in Bulgarian, so more often than not poor Bulgarian language skills cause children to lag behind their peers. These students have difficulties mastering their lessons and learning new skills, they feel misunderstood and unsuccessful. This often puts them at a great risk of dropping out.

A good methodology for teaching Bulgarian as a second language hasn’t even been developed yet. This presents a serious challenge for teachers who work with bilingual students. There is a complete lack of educational resources for additional language training and support tailored to the specifics of our Bulgarian context.

All resources created during the project will also be used for children of Bulgarian families who live abroad and do not communicate in Bulgarian that often. 

WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR 

So far the experts from EducArt and Teach For Bulgaria have completed the diagnostic tools and are currently working on their approbation in actual classrooms. They are now starting to work on specialized resources for second-graders. The two partner organizations have also started designing a series of trainings to help schools implement and combine best practices for language learning both in class and during extracurricular activities. The training sessions on “Language Supportive Teaching” have already started. Some of the participants in Teach For Bulgaria’s Model Schools program will go through these trainings as well.

Over 200 people from all over the world participated in the first donation campaign of the project. Over 52,000 EUR were raised in only six months thanks to all donors.  

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also supported the project by donating 50,000 EUR via their Community Initiative. This was possible thanks to our true supporter Nguyen Le, his colleagues at EBRD, and the contribution of so many individual donors.

You can also read:

Bilingualism as a Strength or Why It’s Important to Support Multilingual Students in the Classroom

Мълчаливите от последния чин. Как се преподава на деца, които не знаят български (в “Свободна Европа”)