Why do Bulgarians in Moldova make little use of their native language in everyday life?
Why do Bulgarians in Moldova make little use of their native language in everyday life and should something be done about it?
Preliminary data from the 2024 census show a decrease in the number and share of the population representing ethnic minorities. Bulgarians are among them: the share of people who identify themselves as belonging to this ethnic group has decreased from 1.9% to 1.6% of the total population in ten years. Even fewer are those who consider Bulgarian their mother tongue - their share is 1.2% (against 1.5% in 2014), as well as those who use this language in daily communication - 0.8% (against 1% in 2014). Thus, out of about 39 thousand Bulgarians today, 29 thousand consider Bulgarian as a native language, while no more than 20 thousand people use it.
Is this a lot or a little?
If we “humanize” the census data, the number of Bulgarians in Moldova has decreased for ten years by about 14 thousand people. It is comparable to the population of one small town, for example, Taraclia. In general and highly rounded parameters it can be stated that in proportion to the decrease in the number of Bulgarians (-27% over ten years) the indicators of the perception of Bulgarian as a native language and its use in everyday life are naturally decreasing (-30% in both cases).
However, this trend is comparable to the dynamics of the population of the southern region of Moldova, where Bulgarians live compactly. For ten years the number of inhabitants of the already smallest region of the country decreased by 26% (for comparison, in general, according to the census, the number of inhabitants of Moldova decreased by 15%). At the same time, the census showed an increase in the share of inhabitants of the southern region who stated that they use Romanian and Moldovan languages from 80,3% to 81,8% and a decrease in the share of Russian-speaking population - from 15,8% to 12,2%. The share of residents of the southern region who use Bulgarian for communication decreased from 5.4% to 5%.
And this is normal
Sociologist, Doctor of Political Sciences Alexander Makukhin, commenting on these census data, draws attention to the fact that they are preliminary and incomplete. For example, it is unknown how many people refused to self-identify themselves by nationality and language, especially in bilingual families. Regarding the use of mother tongues, several standard determinants are traditionally used for analysis: connection and interaction with one's ethnic state, socio-economic status of the minority group as a whole, government policies, socio-demographic characteristics, etc.
“Generational erosion” happens with most minor languages: the mother tongue cannot be forgotten, but often ”it is the language I speak usually when I communicate with my grandmother or grandfather.” Some minority languages cease to be used only because the older generation is leaving and the younger generation is already mixed and most often bilingual. And bilinguals, alas, are much more complicated than simply stating 'two native languages', as is commonly believed,” says the expert.
Alexandru Macuhin notes that in conditions of problematic state policy of integration and interaction with national minorities, it is extremely difficult for small ethnic groups in Moldova to build priorities: “The world makes much more demands than, say, 30-40 years ago, and in the system of these priorities mother tongue remains at a low level. And even if the native language is studied, there is still a shift towards linguistic comfort: the language becomes inconvenient for quick expression and there is linguistic interference - another language is more convenient, easier and faster because everyone around you speaks it. And over time there is a shift in linguistic competence”.
Что мы делаем для сохранения болгарского языка?
Начальник Службы политик в области межэтнических отношений Министерства образования и исследований, д-р Иван Думиника, отметил, что диалектные формы болгарского языка, «эмигрировавшие» в Бессарабию вместе с переселенцами из Болгарии, продолжают сохраняться и использоваться в быту. Однако отдельным вопросом остается изучение литературного болгарского языка.
«Исторически сложилось так, что образовательный процесс для этнических групп в Республике Молдова в значительной степени проходит на русском языке. При всем этом, мы прилагаем усилия для поддержки изучения родных языков, понимая, что даже дополнительные часы, посвященные изучению родного языка, истории, традиций и культуры, не всегда достаточны. В то же время мы стремимся мотивировать учащихся и развивать многоязыковое образование. В настоящее время разрабатывается план внедрения мультиязычного обучения, в рамках которой приоритет будет отдаваться изучению родных языков и румынского языка, обеспечивая при этом сбалансированный подход к использованию языков в образовательном процессе. Это важно как для сохранения языкового и культурного наследия этнических общин, так и для их успешной интеграции в молдавское общество», - подчеркнул д-р Думиника.
В тоже время Иван Думиника считает, что сохранение языка – это не только вопрос образования. По его мнению, это «вызов, требующий усилий со стороны семьи, общества, СМИ, общественных и культурных организаций: «Именно поэтому мы также поддерживаем инициативы по расширению присутствия болгарского языка в медийном пространстве, созданию сообществ, объединяющих молодежь на основе болгарского языка и культуры, а также проведению культурных мероприятий, способствующих естественному использованию языка в повседневной жизни».
Что можно сделать еще?
Ангелина Гайдаржи, директор АО «TARSMI» (региональное издание TUK.MD и онлайн-радио TUK.FM) считает, что есть определенный языковой вакуум в медийном пространстве. По ее словам, телевизионные и радиопрограммы, подкасты, газеты и страницы в социальных сетях, поддерживаемые на болгарском языке, могли бы стать естественным способом продвижения использования родного языка в жизни. Другое дело, что это требует не только определенных финансовых ресурсов, но и подготовки – работников медиа, которые производили бы контент на грамотном болгарском языке просто нет. «У нас есть несколько задумок в этом направлении, но реализовать на практике пока не удалось. Мы открыты для партнерства», - говорит Ангелина Гайдаржи.
Другой способ стимулировать использование болгарского языка в жизни, как считает Александр Макухин, — это создание языковых или тематических сообществ, в том числе по типу «just for fun». Ориентироваться надо на молодежь и современные форматы – не через лекции и нравоучения, а, например, через геймификацию.
«Комьюнити Roblox на болгарском – отлично, изучение языка программирования на болгарском – это быть крутым и в теме, создать фан-клуб Omori на болгарском или клуб любителей и ценителей языка программирования Piton и т.д. Также надо предоставить возможность всем желающим, включая тех, кто ассоциирует себя с болгарским этносом, изучать болгарский здесь, в Молдове, в том числе онлайн. Главное – всю эту деятельность надо сфокусировать “внутри” а не “где-то там снаружи”, - считает эксперт.
What are we doing to preserve the Bulgarian language?
Dr. Ivan Duminika, Head of the Service for Policies in the Field of Interethnic Relations of the Ministry of Education and Research, noted that the dialect forms of the Bulgarian language, which “emigrated” to Bessarabia together with the settlers from Bulgaria, continue to be preserved and used in everyday life. However, the study of the literary Bulgarian language remains a separate issue.
“Historically, the educational process for ethnic groups in the Republic of Moldova is largely conducted in Russian. With all this, we make efforts to support the study of native languages, realizing that even additional hours devoted to the study of native language, history, traditions and culture are not always sufficient. At the same time, we strive to motivate students and promote multilingual education. We are currently developing a plan for the implementation of multilingual education, which will prioritize the study of mother tongues and Romanian, while ensuring a balanced approach to the use of languages in the educational process. This is important both for the preservation of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the ethnic communities and for their successful integration into the Moldovan society,” Dr. Duminica said.
At the same time, Dr. Ivan Duminica believes that language preservation is not only an educational issue. In his opinion, it is “a challenge that requires efforts from the family, society, media, public and cultural organizations: “That is why we also support initiatives to increase the presence of the Bulgarian language in the media space, the creation of communities uniting young people on the basis of the Bulgarian language and culture, as well as cultural events that promote the natural use of the language in everyday life.”
What more can be done?
Angelina Gaidarji, director of TARSMI JSC (regional edition of TUK.MD and online radio TUK.FM) believes that there is a certain language vacuum in the media space. According to her, television and radio programs, podcasts, newspapers and social media pages supported in Bulgarian could be a natural way to promote the use of the native language in life. Another thing is that it requires not only some financial resources, but also training - the media workers who would produce content in literate Bulgarian simply aren't there. “We have a few ideas in this direction, but it has not yet been possible to put into practice. We are open for partnership,” says Angelina Gaidarji.
Another way to stimulate the use of Bulgarian in life, according to Alexander Makukhin, is to create language or thematic communities, including “just for fun” type. The focus should be on young people and modern formats - not through lectures and moralizing, but, for example, through gamification.
“Roblox community in Bulgarian is great, learning a programming language in Bulgarian is to be cool and on topic, create a fan club Omori in Bulgarian or a club of lovers and connoisseurs of the programming language Piton, etc.”. It is also necessary to provide an opportunity to all those who wish, including those who associate themselves with the Bulgarian ethnos, to learn Bulgarian here in Moldova, including online. The main thing is that all this activity should be focused “inside” and not “somewhere outside”,” the expert believes.
