If I knew more of the language, I would be able to integrate into the community better. When I first arrived in Bulgaria, I had to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet is so different than the Latin alphabet and it took time to learn the new letters and sounds. I was very nervous about speaking to people because I knew I would pronounce something incorrectly. I wanted to learn more Bulgarian before I started talking to people, but I knew that would be impossible since I was already living here.
My inability to speak fluent Bulgarian was what made my integration into the community the hardest. Since I could not express my thoughts, I found it difficult to communicate with people. There was a language barrier because we did not have a common language to use to talk with one another. I can read Bulgarian signs, but speaking makes me nervous. I noticed that my students are also nervous about speaking in English to me because they did not feel like they knew enough. Even though my students were struggling with learning a different language than the one I was struggling with, we shared the same challenge. Learning a foreign language made me more empathetic (or understanding) of my students‘ fears, and I tried even harder to make them comfortable.
Not feeling confident in Bulgarian has also made it difficult for me to feel like a member of the community. When you do not speak to people very often, it is difficult to make friends. I found that when I started learning and using Bulgarian, I was more comfortable and felt more at home. Once I learned more words I was also able to make connections in the community. I have been volunteering with a non-profit human rights organization called Organization DROM.
