BULGARIAN CULTURE TOPICS - Sofia Language Center

Topics of Previous Seminars on Bulgarian Culture

• HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE BEHAVIOUR OF BULGARIAN PEOPLE ON THE JOB
• UNDERSTANDING BULGARIAN CULTURE AND HANDLING CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES ON THE JOB
• THE BULGARIAN LANGUAGE
• THE BULGARIAN FAMILY
• EMANCIPATION OF BULGARIAN WOMEN IN COMMUNIST TIMES
• THE BULGARIAN ATTITUDES
• HIGHLIGHTS OF BULGARIAN HISTORY

HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE BEHAVIOUR OF BULGARIAN PEOPLE ON THE JOB

The ambition of the lecturer is that at the end of the seminar the participants have a better understanding and a clearer picture of what they are experiencing on a day-to-day basis in their Bulgarian-based offices and get the answers to certain questions like: Why do meetings in Bulgaria last longer than they should? Why do Bulgarians sometimes (more often than not) talk a lot and say very little (or nothing)? Why don’t they deliver on time even if it’s to their own interest? Why do they often fail to meet deadlines or if they do, they achieve that at the cost of nail-biting experiences and sleepless nights? Why do Bulgarians tend to behave in a strange opportunistic way in a win-win situation? Why is it difficult to get the right (or any kind of reliable) information from Bulgarian people? Why do Bulgarian employees sometimes (very often) tend not to do what they are told to do? (Like a Western manager in Bulgaria once put it: “I want to know why when I tell them to go right, they will go left?”) Why is it that the left hand often doesn’t know what the right one is doing? (Miscommunication and lack of co-ordination among departments or team members) Why do people inform others about events, schedules, agendas at very short notice? Why do people often leave the office to attend some personal matter and why is it viewed as a normal thing by the others? Why do people celebrate birthdays and other private occasions in the office? Why does your secretary tend to make ‘little’ mistakes that might result in you missing a plane, missing an important meeting, landing in the wrong hotel or even in the wrong town? Why does your driver think he is, besides your driver, also a friend, even though you are not of the same opinion? Why do your office people dress the way they do? What do your Bulgarian employees think of you?

UNDERSTANDING BULGARIAN CULTURE AND HANDLING CROSS-CULTURAL ISSUES ON THE JOB

Introduction to Bulgarian Culture:

Country Data History: Brief introduction into the highlights of Bulgarian history aiming at throwing light on the present-day attitudes and behaviour of the Bulgarian people. The Bulgarian attitudes to:

• Society, Law, Politics and State
• Money and Property
• Language and Communication
• Family, Friendship and Relationships
• Pastimes
• Service

Understanding the behavior of the Bulgarian People on the Job and handling cross-cultural issues:

The Bulgarian attitudes towards:

• Business, Career, Job and Work
• Team Work
• Boss-Team Relationship
• Communication on the Job
• Meetings
• Meeting Deadlines
• Delivery

THE BULGARIAN LANGUAGE

Subtopics: The Cyrillic Alphabet (a brief review) Bulgarian and Other Balkan Languages (Greek, Turkish, Romanian, Serbian, Macedonian) Bulgarian and Other Slavic Languages (Russian, Serbian, Macedonian, Polish, Check) Bulgarian and Russian Linguistic Ways of Expressing Politeness Linguistic Ways of Expressing Criticism Expressing Opinions Paralinguistic Factors (gesticulation, intonation, etc.) Language Used to Talk to Ex-Pats (foreigners) Language Used to Talk to: friends, working colleagues, family members, children, parents, neighbours, in-laws, shop assistants and waiters, strangers, etc. Language Used to Talk about Other People (gossip) Language Used to Talk to God Diminutives The Way Bulgarians Communicate Why Bulgarians Miscommunicate Written Language and Spoken Language Interest in Other Languages Questions: How Slavic is actually the Bulgarian language? Which are the other Slavic languages? How Western or Eastern is the Bulgarian language? How Turkish-influenced is the Bulgarian language? How different is Bulgarian from Russian? Is it really difficult to learn Bulgarian? How do Bulgarians understand each other? What language do Bulgarians use at parties, business meetings, in the street, at home, etc.?

THE BULGARIAN FAMILY

In this session we will be looking to find the answers to the following questions: Why do Bulgarians have only 1-3 children per family? How do Bulgarians choose names for their babies? Why do many Bulgarian women keep their maiden names after they marry and never acquire the family name of their husbands and why, on top of it all, the husbands seem to be ok with that? How do Bulgarians raise their children? How do Bulgarian parents spoil their children? Why are there so many orphanages in Bulgaria? (And are the children in orphanages real orphans and why is it still so difficult to adopt a child?) Why did Bulgaria not have a Child Protection Law until literally a few years ago? Why is it still so difficult to find a babysitter in Bulgaria? Why do you not see many (or rather any) disabled people in the streets of Sofia? How come Bulgarians seem to be spending more money than they earn?

EMANCIPATION OF BULGARIAN WOMEN IN COMMUNIST TIMES

15th March 2010 Yana Arnaoudova Dedicated to my mother Maria Arnaoudova (1933-2010), who lived most of her life in Communist times This seminar session will focus on the role of women in the Bulgarian society during the Communist regime (1944-1989) and on the specifics of emancipation’ the Bulgarian style’ in those 45 years. The session will comprise of three parts: Historical Review Life in Communist Bulgaria Specifics of the Emancipation of Women in Communist Bulgaria

THE BULGARIAN ATTITUDES

This seminar will be held in 2 sessions (7th April and 15th April) and will focus on the Bulgarian attitudes towards:

• Education
• Work
• Money
• Property
• State
• Society
• Laws
• Rules
• Politics
• Ecology
• Religion
• Ex-pats
• Minorities
• Charity
• Friendship
• Relationships
• Neighbours
• Pastimes
• Food
• Services
• Sports
• Fashion
• Arts
• Folklore
• Tradition

HIGHLIGHTS OF BULGARIAN HISTORY

This seminar will offer some introductory knowledge of Bulgarian History and will focus on seeking the link between the Bulgarian past and present day Bulgarian mentality and certain patterns of behaviour common among the locals, as well as some common flaws in local services, business behaviour, driving, communication, etc. The lecturer will provide answers to the questions listed below and would be pleased to answer questions that might arise in the course of the seminar session.

Questions:

Why do most Bulgarian family names end in -ov, -ova? Why do we have a non-Latin alphabet and how non-Latin is it? Why are we Orthodox and not Catholic, or Protestant? Where did the Bulgarian Muslims come from? Why are there barely any castles and cathedrals in Bulgaria? Why do some Bulgarian family names contain the roots of Turkish words? Why do most Bulgarians in the cities live in small apartments? How come 97% of the population own their homes? Why do people in Bulgaria have the morbid custom of putting obituaries of dead family members, friends and colleagues on building walls, on tree trunks, and even sometimes, on the front door of their offices? Why does the most traditional of all Bulgarian dances (the ‘Horo’) look like a semi-circle?