TEACHING BULGARIAN TO FOREIGN STUDENTS AT SOUTH-WEST UNIVERSITY "NEOFIT RILSKI" - CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

The aim of the paper is to present the history of Bulgarian as a second language classes for foreign students at South-West University "Neofit Rilski", which is one of the biggest Bulgarian universities. The period under consideration includes twenty-one years from 2000 to 2021. The main groups of foreign students who learn Bulgarian at the university are presented, along with the organization of learning organization, based on the goals set, the workbooks, which are used, as well as the difficulties and the challenges, which teachers and students face during the educational process. Some ideas, which we hope could be implemented into practice in the near future, are also proposed.