More and more children in Northern Greece are showing interest in learning Bulgarian, said today Dr. Stanka Koleva, head of the Bulgarian Sunday School "St. Ivan Rilski" in Kavala with branches in Nea Peramos and Asprovalta, as well as of the Third Bulgarian National School "St. Ivan Rilski" in the city of Drama with a branch in Kato Nevrokopi.
"In fact, 80 and a few percent are children of mixed marriages between a Bulgarian man or woman and a Greek man, and the rest are of two Bulgarians," explained Dr. Koleva, quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio.
According to her, Greek children are also showing a particular interest in the Bulgarian language, especially in the Kato Nevrokopi region, where the distance to the Bulgarian border is only 9 kilometers.
The reasons for the growing interest are primarily practical. Many of the residents of these areas work in Bulgaria, especially in Gotse Delchev, which makes knowledge of Bulgarian useful for them.
"They work with Bulgaria, they work in Bulgaria, in Gotse Delchev, and that is why they want to know Bulgarian," the director emphasized.
Another important factor is tourism in Northern Greece, which attracts mainly Bulgarian visitors.
"The Albanian children are learning it because they want to stay and live here, in Northern Greece, and as we all know, in Northern Greece the tourist is mainly from Bulgaria," explained Dr. Koleva.
She noted that employers in the region are increasingly looking for employees who speak Bulgarian in order to serve tourists from Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian Sunday schools in Northern Greece were established by the "Bulgaria" company and receive financial support under the program of the Ministry of Education and Science "Native Language and Culture Abroad".