For 57% Bulgarians, English is the most useful language, and Russian is the most useful language for…

For 57% Bulgarians, knowledge of English is most useful for personal development, Russian is important for 10%, German for 14%, and French for 5%. This is according to Eurobarometer research presented by the European Commission.

By comparison, across the EU as a whole, 77% respondents report using English, 14% indicate German, 3% indicate Russian, and 13% indicate French.

Language for children

For their children, participants again indicate the choice of English as the first language (81% in Bulgaria and 85% in other EU countries), and Russian – 7 % in Bulgaria and 2% in other EU countries.

Language for work and tourism

Most often, EU citizens say that knowledge of a foreign language helps them work in another country (51 %), find a better job (42-43 %), and understand people of other cultures (41 % in Bulgaria and 45% in the EU). Differences are observed in the number of responses regarding what is necessary for going on holiday abroad (42 % in the EU and 31 % in Bulgaria), for business trips (40 % in the EU and 31 % in Bulgaria), and for studying abroad (30% in Bulgaria and 37% in the EU).

Language proficiency

One in three Bulgarians and almost half (47% of the rest of the EU) say they can speak English. Only 14% of Bulgarians and 31% of the rest of the EU can speak Russian, 51% of German (10% of the EU), and 31% of French (11% of the EU).

Language for leisure

Europeans most often use a foreign language online and to watch movies, and every second EU resident (in Bulgaria, every third) speaks a foreign language while vacationing abroad. The difference in the number of Bulgarians using a foreign language for reading books and news (15 vs. 28 in the EU) and for education (7 vs. 12 in the EU) is almost twofold.

The majority (71% in Bulgaria and 60% in the EU) say they don't use machine translation. 39% of Bulgarians don't have sufficient grounds for learning a foreign language, and 28% say they don't currently have one. One in five Bulgarians says learning a language is too expensive.

Europeans recognize the value of language learning, said Iliana Ivanova, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, quoted in EU statements. According to her, language learning is essential for mutual understanding.