Purva ezikova gimnaziya

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Purva ezikova gimnaziya (Първа езикова гимназия or First Language School) is a high school in Varna, Bulgaria. It was founded in 1964 after pressure by parents and teachers. Today education is focused on sturdying the English and German languages. 98% of the school's graduates continue their education in institutions of higher education in Bulgaria, Germany, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands and others.

[edit] History

The history of the First Language School begins in 1964, when in the Education Department of the Regional City Council, an initiative committee of parents and public figures pointed out the necessity of efficiently learning English and German in a specialised school. The Ministry of Education at the time gave permission for the opening of English, German and Russian classes of twenty students each. Russian was a compulsory subject for the English classes, and German or French - a compulsory third foreign language. A respective arrangement was applied to the German and Russian classes.

Initially, students were admitted to the school according to their Seventh Grade Primary School Certificates. The outstanding interest in the newly founded Varna school was the reason for introducing two entrance exams - in Bulgarian and literature, and in mathematics. The very first years witnessed great competition - ten to twelve pupils for one place, a tradition that has remained unchanged all through the years and still exists in spite of the many other opportunities to learn a foreign language. Some of the best experts on methods of teaching foreign languages were invited as teachers - Stefka Hadjiivanova, Ksenia Staneva (as teachers of German), Vessela Zaharieva and Dimitrina Sabotinova (as teachers of English), as well as young and enthusiastic and extremely devoted teachers. From the beginning, subjects such as biology, chemistry, history, geography have been taught in the respective foreign language, mostly by Bulgarian specialists but also by native speakers. The principle of employing renowned teachers of all the subjects taught was basically followed. The results did not come as a surprise. 98% of the first alumni were admitted to continue their higher education in the year of their graduation. Now they are qualified specialists in all the spheres of our social life. Until 1972 the school had been hosted in the former girls-only school, now the History and Art Museum. In 1972 the First Language School moved into a new building near "Spirka Pochivka". Since the same year four English and three German classes have been formed each year. Russian has not been included.

[edit] IRC Channel

To chat with students from First Language School you can visit the UniBG network (e.g. irc.telecoms.bg) and go to channel #1_eg-varna. Alternatively, you can use the 1eg webchat and chat right from your browser window.