On the 21^st of January 2021, the Bulgarian Sign Language Bill was approved getting through the second reading stage of the Parliament session and officially becoming a law. The Bill was reviewed on 13^th of January 2021 and the changes made are rather insignificant. True, Bulgaria now has legalized Bulgarian Sign Language (BgSL) just like other countries, but so far, that’s the only advantage in the situation. The way BgSL was legalized does not take into account the national specifications of our country, nor does it consider the specifics of all the people in the Bulgarian deaf community. The current analysis, albeit a not-so-comprehensive one, sheds some light on the real picture of the legalization, the consequences and the reactions among people regarding the process.

Today’s guest of We Hear You is an interpreter translating from and into sign language. She plays a multitude of roles in her life. Mother of two boys, she’s also a specialized security officer and a sign language interpreter. She’s a qualified stenographer typist and document administrator, but she also has a degree in Pantomime as she’d graduated from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) program in Physical theatre. She holds a brown belt in Shotokan Karate Do. She’s an experienced sign language interpreter who’ll tell us about sign language, the job of a sign language interpreter and the challenges in this area. Let me introduce you to Kameliya Angelova!