The truth is out there.

Hidden of course, but it's begging to be found. Powerful people in powerful places may prefer that some questions go unanswered, and some opinions remain unheard - but that doesn't mean they'll have their way.

The Bulgarian language - a peoples' age-old method of communication, or a newly devised code, nefariously intended to keep expats in the dark?

This week we open the X-pat Files and take a look at the people who have endeavoured on your behalf to crack this code. Hear of their successes, their failures, and their frustrations. Be outraged, be shocked, be entertained...

"It's terrible. I was sacked by my teacher. She said I was the worst student she had had in 30 years. I've had lessons after that but I've never been able to break through the barrier that makes it easy. It's my one big regret,"

Kevin Lewis, London, England.

"In the beginning I had two teachers and thought I'd be able to speak in three months. I rushed through the textbooks. By the 10th lesson, I had forgotten the first eight. I have a great teacher now and I'm taking it slowly. I'm making progress for the first time," Frank Nadler, Munich, Germany.

"I can order at a restaurant and I can get by with hand language. If anyone reads this, please speak to me in English. The thing is, I don't need to learn it for business, and Bulgarians always want to speak English to me. It's a conflict of interests,"

Stephen Cooper, County Down, Northern Ireland.

"I felt disorientated (by the Cyrillic alphabet). It's one thing not to be able to understand the language, but to not even be able to read it is an even bigger challenge,"

Johnny Adam, Glenrothes, Scotland.

"You pick up on gestures and body language. It helps you a lot - you understand the real language, not word language. But I'm happy when watching the Slavi Trifonov show and really getting the jokes and laughing,"

Vassilis Xypolias, Athens, Greece.

"Once I know the grammatical structure, I think of it as a puzzle and I fill in the pieces. It's a game for me to fill it in as quickly as possible. My ability to read is better than speaking, but I understand most of what's said to me,"

Jay Truesdale, Concord, New Hampshire.

"It's very weak. I've started learning, I've made some progress. I can be autonomous in a restaurant, but apart from feeding myself, I'm unable to do a lot in Bulgarian,"

Gilles LaBorde, Paris, France.

"I managed to get by pretty well. I make lots of mistakes but I make mistakes in English as well,"

Stephen Kooshak, New York, US.

"I had a teacher in Kazanluk for about a month who only speaks Bulgarian. By the force of things it started sinking in. I buy a Bulgarian paper and take it with me. Then I tell the (cab) driver where I want to go and look at the paper. I'm told I have great pronunciation,"

Chris Geurts, Brussels, Belgium.

"I especially enjoyed the language, which reminded me of learning Latin, with its nice formal structure. I enjoyed speaking it, and I know that many Bulgarians were amused to hear me speak it,"

Alan Wittbecker, Idaho, US.

"I can gradually understand most of what's being said and can get by in conversation. My mother-in-law only speaks Bulgarian, and she's been very helpful and patient with me,"

Tim Buisseret, Cambridge, England.

"Working 12 hour days, six days a week, I don't really have the energy to study the language. When I came here, this was the plan, but it faded away with the work tempo. Some of the crew that comes from the States or South Africa thinks that my assistant is South African - he's picked up my accent. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing,"

Willie Botha, Pretoria, South Africa.

"What I really regret is all this time I've been staying here, I didn't take time enough to study Bulgarian to understand people. It's my fault, no doubt about that,"

Johann Maximilian Nabl, Koelach, Austria.

"I learned from the Ivo Papazov orchestra purely from speaking. Unfortunately, I've never had lessons. I have great vocabulary, but dead grammar. I can say shocking things in polite company,"

Stephen Lewis, New York, US.

"I take some lessons, I can survive, but it is a difficult language. I'm slowly progressing,"

Giovanni Di Girolamo, Naples, Italy.

"Most of the young people now speak English. I suspect that the Bulgarian language will become a really first class element of culture. In three generations, all of Europe will speak English. Everybody wants to communicate in the most widely spoken language. It's certainly the language of business,"

Jeremy Cripps, Leicester, England.

If you are, or know, someone who would make an interesting expat of the week, please email their name(s) and contact information to editor@sofiaecho.com