BULGARIAN

Why Bulgarian?

Most of the learners in TÖMER Bulgarian courses are either army offices to serve in the NATO Headquarters in Pleven or Turkish businessmen intending to set up business in Bulgaria. In addition, members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working in Bulgaria, migrants to Turkey who would like to keep their Bulgarian fresh, children of migrants to Turkey from Bulgaria who would like to learn the Bulgarian language, as well as those who can speak the Russian language and therefore would like to learn a similar language like Bulgarian, join courses. There are also students from the Bulgarian Language and Literature Department of the Faculty of Letters of Ankara University who feel that they need to supplement their university education.

Lessons

In TÖMER, all classrooms are furnished with a “U-type” seating system so that learners can communicate with the teacher as well as their peers comfortably. Each class features modern, electronic teaching equipment; in accordance with international language learning standards, each class can hold 5 to 16 learners. Language teachers at TÖMER are members of Ankara University. The medium of instruction is Bulgarian, as a result of which learners are exposed to the foreign language itself from the very start. 

Courses for General Purposes

Bulgarian courses consist of 12 levels: 5 basic levels, 5 intermediate levels, 2 advanced levels. In order to be successful at the final test given at the end of each term, learners need to prove proficient in each language skill tested (reading, listening, speaking, writing). If a learner fails to get a pass mark in any one of these skills, he or she is asked to take a second test for this skill only.

Coursebooks include Govorite li Bılgarski?, Uçebnik po Bılgarski Ezik za Çujdentsi and Bılgarski Çzik, Bılgariya i Bılgarite; there are also exercise books, listening and video material, and supplementary material designed by TÖMER Bulgarian Unit. In addition to all these, selected texts from various story books are studied and translation of current news items into Turkish is carried out.

Courses for Specific Purposes

Courses for specific purposes include test preparation classes and classes for translation-interpretation tests. These classes are organised upon request.

Final Tests

Normal courses cover 40 class hours and intensive courses cover 48 class hours; at the end of each semester, learners sit for a final test that includes sections on four basic language skills. Grading criterion is presented below. If a learner fails to meet the pass mark required for a skill, a second test is given for the skill concerned only. Yet, learners who fail in more than one skill are asked to repeat the level.