Thirty children and ten teachers from the Bulgarian-Ukrainian Cultural Education Center "Media" in Odessa, Ukraine, participate in a two-week course in Bulgarian language in the town of Razgrad. The training is organized by the Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) in partnership with the Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev Primary School in the Bulgarian town. According to a ministerial decree from 1993 for the implementation of educational activities among Bulgarians abroad, all persons with Bulgarian nationality living individually or in Bulgarian communities are entitled to a two-week qualification course or training in Bulgaria. In Razgrad such training is being held for the first time and it will continue until July 1st.

The guests are housed in the "Pchelina" hut in the area of ​​the same name. They will attend lectures and have exercises in Bulgarian language; learn about Bulgarian history and geography, about folk music and ethnographic arts. During the training children learn about national traditions and customs, while lecturers of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences conduct the training of teachers.

Students of the "Turgenev" Primary School participate actively in the program prepared for the Ukrainian children in the school, as well as in the cultural and historical visits and sightseeing tours in Razgrad and the old Bulgarian capitals - Pliska and Veliki Preslav. The evenings of the Bulgarian and Ukrainian children will be filled with traditional games and campfire stories.

The Bessarabian Bulgarians have been welcomed in Razgrad by their coevals with bread, salt and honey as the tradition goes. "We love Bulgaria, as every child in the group has Bulgarian roots and we are here to learn Bulgarian language and meet our Slavic brothers," Victoria Stoyanova, teacher from Ukraine, told Radio Bulgaria.

English: Alеxander Markov