The Burgas English Language School – A Teaching Center Associated to The Confucius Institute in Sofia, Has Organized A Commemoration For Their School Patron Geo Milev – a Bulgarian poet
On 15th January 2024, the teaching center of the Confucius Institute in Sofia which is located at the English Language School in Burgas, has hosted a commemorative event dedicated to the Bulgarian poet Geo Milev. More than 300 students and teachers from the school have participated in the event. The guests of honour included Mr Michail Nenov - Deputy Mayor for education, Mrs Diana Savateva - Deputy Mayor for culture, Mrs Zhaneta Dimitrova, - Senior expert in foreign language education in the Burgas regional government, Mrs Slava Gizdova Petkova - Senior expert in Bulgarian language and literature, Mrs Sonia Bachvarova - vice-Principal of the English Language School in Burgas.
A solemn flag-raising ceremony was held at the school followed by the speech of the vice-Principal. In her speech, Mrs Sonia Bachvarova has pointed out that the purpose of the commemoration was to remember the late poet and revolutionary Geo Milev, to learn about the classic works he left behind, as well as about his courageous and persevering character. According to her, all the performances included in the programme of the commemoration event aim at the promotion of cultural and linguistic exchange.
The students who have been learning Chinese performed a wonderful Chinese programme in the school hall. In order to demonstrate the enchanting rhytm and the melody of the Chinese language, five students from grades 11 and 12 have recited in Chinese the famous September poem by Geo Milev. The effect that followed on the people in the audience has been tremendous – they all were in awe. The funny story of The fox and the badger by the famous Bulgarian children‘s author Ran Bosilek has been narrated in Chinese by students from grade 10. The two Chinese teachers from the Confucius Institute in Sofia who have been sent to work in the English Language School in Burgas – Mrs Li Yan and Mrs Chen Chan, have recited together the classic poem Prelude To Water Melody by alternating the classical Chinese language with the modern one.
During the commemoration ceremony, Mrs Zhaneta Dimitrova awarded the winnenrs of the Phoenix Arised contest for poems and paintings held in the school earlier last year. She expressed her acknowledgement for the students‘ high level of Chinese proficiency and wished the students to be further inspired and to become knowledgeable and able young people.
Geo Milev is a distinguished Bulgarian poet, translator, painter and journalist, best known for his masterpiece – the September poem written during the September Uprising in Bulgaria. In memory of the poet and in order to honour his name, the English High School in Burgas has been named after him. The commemoration event has been organised on the occasion of the 129th anniversary of his birth.
The Chinese programme performance of the school has cleverly intertwined the commemoration of the Bulgarian patron poet with the demonstration of the achievements of the Chinese language teaching, enabling the students to experience the rich ideas and the beautiful rhythms of the Chinese and the Bulgarian poetry, and reflecting the mutual learning and the common development of the Chinese and Bulgarian culture.
Confucius Institute in Sofia
Text: Li Yan
Photos: Li Yan
Editors: Aksinyia Koleva, Chen Chan, Liu Xiuming
English translation: Maya Kostadinova
Figure 1. Flag-raising ceremony
Figure 2: The vice-Principal Mrs Sonya Bachvarova welcomes the guests
Figure 3: A portrait of Geo Milev
Figure 4. The September poem recited by the students
Figure 5: The Phoenix Arised award ceremony