November saw two major language-related events in Bulgaria - the international semestrial ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe) meeting, and ESU international chairman emeritus Lord Watson of Richmond's visit to the English-Speaking Union of Bulgaria. Both addressed the ever-increasing need to have knowledge of and capabilities in at least one foreign language, and the role of foreign language in international locomotion. Magdalena Rahn had the opportunity to talk with some of the major players.

By 2030, China will be the largest English-speaking nation. Lord Watson of Richmond emphasised this point throughout his visit to Sofia, from November 18-21, which occurred on behalf of the English-Speaking Union of Bulgaria (ESUBg).

From 1999 to November 2005, he was the international chairman of the ESU. When his term expired, the International Council elected him ESU international chairman emeritus, which basically means he acts as the union's ambassador.

The Sofia Echo had the opportunity to accompany him during his time in the country, which included a dinner with Michael Tachev, director of the St Cyril and St Methodius International Foundation, and others; a daytrip to Rila Monastery; a kaffeklatsch with the members of the ESUBg; a concert at Zala Bulgaria; a private breakfast with Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF); a visit with Speaker of Parliament Georgi Pirinski; a tour of Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Crypt; a lecture at Sofia University and another with members of the Foreign Ministry; presenting an award at the BBLF Responsible Business Awards; a private dinner with UK ambassador Jeremy Hill; and a tour of Boyana Church. All in 72 hours.

Though he had been here before, in 1980 on a holiday with his family, it was only now that he was able to learn first-hand about the current culture. He said that back then, "the hotel was wonderful, but the service was a disaster. It was all organised into a Lenin Brigade and we ran into two of them". They also ran out of food coupons after the first week. It ended well, though, as they discovered that they could use credit cards to pay for room service, and much enjoyed living like kings on caviar.

Now, he was delighted with the history of Rila Monastery, the buffalo-milk yoghurt, the rakiya and, most important, Bulgaria's entry into the European Union. "We think it's a great idea," he said at the ESUBg meeting at the Vienska sladkarnitsa Luciano on November 19. "Britain has actually been a great supporter of the widening of the EU since the beginning," he said. "We've been widening it enough. Now it's time to deepen it."

Watson said that membership in the EU is not just an agreement to the acquis communitaire, but also adhesion to the Copenhagen criteria. "At the end of the day, corruption doesn't coincide with the Copenhagen criteria."

He said that the EU would do great things for Bulgaria, because it has guaranteed Bulgaria as fully a part of the modern world. But once in, he emphasised, one of the changes, part of the evolution from the Soviet system is to accept that at the end of the day, "it's up to you how well you do".

Speaking English will help make a country more successful on a global scale. It's "the language of opportunity for young people. English is market driven". He gave Chile as an example, where he was in October for the opening of the ESU's newest chapter. The president of the country, Watson said, recognises the need for the people of her country to have basic English-language capabilities, and as such, has implemented a plan for every child there to have at least a working knowledge - able to read a manual, to SMS, operate a computer, send an e-mail - of English in 10 years' time.

At present, the ESU is active in 53 countries, with official chapters in 47. Bulgaria's was founded on October 13 1993, and now has branches in Gabrovo, Plovdiv, Sofia and Stara Zagora.On the road to Rila Monastery, Watson took time to talk about what the ESU is. He described it as a union of English-speaking people, not English speakers. Meaning that it's not about "English as a replacement language - we don't want to promote monolingualism" - or about preserving English in its current state, but about promoting English as a means of international communication - a sort of global lingua franca.

The ESU receives no money from the British or any other government. "Our job is to promote the language as a means of global understanding. It's not to promote the UK," the US, or their cultures. He told how the ESU had to make the transition of English being owned by English speakers to being about encouraging people, and particularly the younger generations, who are in the process of acquiring English. "English is now owned by the people who use it. (…) We're not trying to preserve English as it was at a certain point in the past. We're open to accepting new influences, new idioms."

This might seem to create a mishmash of numerous English dialects, but that's ok, he said.

The ESU today is proactively and resolutely international, and works to use English to accelerate and support English as a means of international development and understanding, he said, noting that this is a view shared by the UK's Prince Philip. (Watson is on the board of trustees of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum.)

The ESU was founded in 1918 to unite English-speaking peoples, something not evident at the time, Watson said. Now, the English language has ceased to be owned by Great Britain and the US, and belongs to hundreds of millions of people across the world, hence the union of English-speakers transforming into a union of people who speak English, he said.

In fact, there are, at any given moment (in November 2006, for this figure could easily vary), as many people in China learning English as there are current native speakers in all of North America.

Still, he emphasised that English is not a replacement language for one's mother tongue. It's to facilitate communication around the world. "I'm delighted that Bulgaria is bringing the Cyrillic alphabet into the European Union," he said, continuing that he "would not want (English) to become the (only) official language" of the EU. (Technically, each member country's language is an official EU language, though 70 per cent of current EU communication occurs in English.)

"We have to retain this diversity. It's really very important to the character of the EU."

In addition, he would prefer English as a cross-borders working language, instead of English-language words being imported into non-English languages.

English he described as "sponge-like", which is a reason for its rapid expansion both in vocabulary and use worldwide. "I think there are going to be a lot of Englishes. England-English is more popular in South America and Asia," he said, speculating that this could be due to the two continents' proximity to the US.

American-English is much closer to German, he said, with Americans creating a noun to describe something which can easily move to become a verb. England-English is more "lively" in terms of verbs, and also uses far more similes.

At almost every engagement during his stay in Sofia, someone asked Lord Watson his opinion on the libellous article that appeared in the British tabloid The Sun on November 16, which says: "The (AIDS) problem is set to hit crisis point when Romania and Bulgaria — nations with some of Europe's highest AIDS rates — join the EU next year. Workers from these countries are expected to flood into Britain."

He explained that the tabloid, in examining a November 15 UK Health Protection Agency report on AIDS, left out the vital concept that most of the AIDS-infected migrants coming to the UK come from Sub-Saharan Africa, not Bulgaria. (Bulgaria has about eight cases of HIV for every million people, as compared with the UK's 126.4 per million.)

"I am saddened by this article and indeed angry," Watson said at the BBLF morning on November 20, explaining that the goal of the tabloid is to sell issues, not relay accurate information.

This brought him to underline the need to be aware of two specific areas in media: the use of any form of broadcasting to generate hate, and the appearance of hardcore pornography on television. As it goes, the European Commission is re-examining its Television without Frontiers Directive, Watson said, which originated in 1989, and the broadcasting of pornography on public television, particularly in the UK.

A lecture at Sofia University returned to the subject of the English language. Lord Watson classified the development of the usage of English internationally: it had a precarious beginning, a decisive 19th century, a conclusive 20th century and will see acceleration in the 21st. Eighty per cent of internet pages and 70 per cent of published theses are in English. It's the most important language in terms of international organisations, he said, citing a Harris Interactive poll which found that 85 per cent of EU officials prefer English as their working language, and is the second language in 86 per cent of new EU member states, including Bulgaria and Romania.

Language inherently carries values and history, whether it is in terms of free-enterprise systems, representative governments, daily habits and so on. He again presented China: When the Chinese people become the dominant English-speaking population in terms of figures, what will the values of the English language be? Will it, with its numerous dialects around the world, disintegrate into mutually unintelligible Englishes? Will it be dumbed down to a core of 850 vital words (the figure that some have purported as sufficient)? Watson does not believe so.

In the local scope, he again emphasised that "linguistic diversity is essential to the future of Europe". To complement this, the EU has implemented the plan to have each child speak at least three languages, of which one is his/her mother tongue.

English, in its prominent and yet increasing role as the international language of communication, will only continue to grow and develop. And such is the purpose of the ESU, to encourage dialogue, learning and language education.