@Marc You make a really excellent point. Willpower is a huge part of the equation. I think because I often fear being seen as rude I let people speak in English with me rather than responding in Bulgarian. The challenge of course is that once you cement a friendship in English it's that much harder to shift to Bulgarian.  This is clearly something that I need to get over but these aren't easy habits to break oneself of. By nature, I am an obliging person and I want others to feel comfortable around me so I don't push the language thing as much as I maybe should. I am hoping that spending the summer around Bulgarian speaking children will cure me of this and get my Bulgarian into shape.