TRAINING BULGARIA'S YOUTH HOW TO DEBATE

by Anthony Georgieff

BEST Foundation's tournament takes place in Burgas

best foundation competition 5.jpg

Оne of the (many) notable things Marcus Tullius Cicero said over 20 centuries ago is that "to live is to think" – and if we are not ashamed of what we think we should not be ashamed to voice it. His prophetic adages have a particular relevance in a world dominated by social networks, fake news and manipulative media where one of the most important things for every individual is to make their thoughts heard, loud and clear. And it is impossible to attain that unless you are trained to debate.

This is what the BEST Foundation – supported by the Fulbright Commission and the America for Bulgaria Foundation, among others  – has been on to since 2013: training young people, mainly highschool pupils, how to properly hold debates in English.

Its latest event, held in the seaside city of Burgas in February, gathered 305 pupils from 24 high schools across eastern Bulgaria. Their debates in areas ranging from prose and poetry to original oratory were assessed by 75 judges. The event took place over two days. In the end, those who excelled with their rhetoric skills were awarded medals and trophies.

The BEST Foundation believes in the immense power held by words. It is dedicated to fostering an educational landscape where pupils are actively immersed in a tapestry of diverse viewpoints. Their ultimate vision is to encourage engaged students to become instrumental in forging the well-being and advancement of societies at large.

  • COMMENTING RULES

    Commenting on www.vagabond.bg

    Vagabond Media Ltd requires you to submit a valid email to comment on www.vagabond.bg to secure that you are not a bot or a spammer. Learn more on how the company manages your personal information on our Privacy Policy. By filling the comment form you declare that you will not use www.vagabond.bg for the purpose of violating the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. When commenting on www.vagabond.bg please observe some simple rules. You must avoid sexually explicit language and racist, vulgar, religiously intolerant or obscene comments aiming to insult Vagabond Media Ltd, other companies, countries, nationalities, confessions or authors of postings and/or other comments. Do not post spam. Write in English. Unsolicited commercial messages, obscene postings and personal attacks will be removed without notice. The comments will be moderated and may take some time to appear on www.vagabond.bg.

Add new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
About text formats

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.

Discover More

charlene garden 7.jpg
PLAYING IN CHARLENE'S GARDEN
Play and physical activity are essential for early childhood development.
open buzludzha festival 2.jpg
OPEN BUZLUDZHA 2024
The fourth iteration of the OPEN BUZLUDZHA festival is scheduled to kick off on 8 August and will last for three nights/four days.
no to racism in the eu 3.jpg
IS RACISM IN BULGARIA ON THE RISE?
"We are fascists, we burn Arabs": the youngsters start chanting as soon as they emerge from the metro station and leave the perimeter of its security cameras.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM AND ITS BULGARIAN CONNECTION
Where are the Bulgarian Oscars? For years this question – coupled with the notable lack of a Bulgarian Nobel Prize winner in anything – has troubled the Bulgarians, perhaps bespeaking a very deeply ingrained cultural inferiority complex.
IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
"Dimitrina?" I have not heard from her for more than a month, which is unusual."Почина.""Po-chi-na?" I type the word phonetically in an online translation tool. "What?""Почина. Me, Dimitrina sister. Bye."
197604616a676bee4526981ed9585350_XL.jpg
ARRIVAL CITY
As an airplane is swooping over a field beside Sofia Airport, two horses and a donkey do not look up, but keep grazing among the rubbish. Shacks made of bricks, corrugated iron and wood encroach upon the field.
090516-5865.jpg
EUROPE DAY VS. DAY OF VICTORY
Combining the celebrations of St Trifon, the local patron saint of wine and winemaking, and St Valentine, the imported patron of love – both being celebrated on 14 February, pales in comparison to what happens on 9 May.
THE BIRTH OF BULGARIAN FASCISM
Apart from the "proverbial" labori­ousness of its citizens and their cleanliness, one of the cliches most often used to describe this Balkan "Land of Roses" is its tolerance.
weird sofia cityscape.jpg
WELCOME TO THE NKRSDEWOOJTYDEG
Woken by the phone’s insistent ring, he rolled to the right to swing his feet to the floor, but his knee hit the hard wall making his pictures rattle. Someone had somehow contrived to move his bed 180 degrees in the night.
we are within time and time is within us.jpg
HAS BULGARIA CHANGED FOR THE BETTER SINCE 1999?
Sitting with friends in a slick Ego pizzeria, it suddenly occurred to me that it was almost 10 years to the day since a Balkan Airlines plane made up of different coloured bits of metal first deposited me on the melting tarmac of Sofia airport to the wild a
The Port of Salonika, 1912
THE GIPSON ARCHIVE
Three years ago, in New York, distinguished Bulgarian photographer Ivo Hadjimishev was having dinner with Nellie and Robert Gipson, a Bulgarian- American family, who had sponsored educational and museum projects in Bulgaria for years (see Vagabond No.
sofia central synagogue 9.jpg
SHALOM! SHALOM!
In 1909, 9 September fell on a Thursday. Usually, Thursdays were business as usual for the numerous Jewish shops and other establishments in what at the time was a city with a significant Jewish population.