Tips for Learning Bulgarian

If you are going abroad to Bulgaria you will probably want to work on your Bulgarian language skills whether you plan on going to the country for a short period of time or a longer period of time. You will find that English is actually spoken widely in the major tourist areas of the country. And the secondary languages that are spoken widely in the country are Russian and German. That being said, you will still probably want to have at least a basic understanding of basic Bulgarian before arriving in the country.

If you plan on staying in Bulgaria on a more permanent basis other than just as tourist then it is even more important that you take the necessary steps to learn some Bulgarian. If you are in one of the main towns or cities, such as Sofia, then you will definitely be able to get by on only a minimal amount of Bulgarian. However, if you choose to do that then you will be limiting your experience and possibly even your enjoyment of living in the country.

An important thing to remember when communicating in Bulgaria is that head nods are likely not the same as in your country. In Bulgaria, when someone wants to say no, they may nod up and down. And when they want to say yes they will shake their head from side to side. This is most likely the opposite of what you are familiar with in your home country. A word of caution though, if the person you are communicating with knows that you are foreign to the country then they may do the opposite for your sake. That is why it is good to speak some Bulgarian so that there is no confusion when communicating with locals of the country.

The Bulgarian alphabet probably looks a lot different from your alphabet as it is based on the Cyrillic alphabet. That means it looks nothing like the Roman alphabet that you are likely used to seeing.

If you want to wait until you get to Bulgaria to work on your language skills you will be able to enroll in Bulgarian classes. There is no shortage of language school and classes that offer to teach Bulgarian to foreigners. You can also opt for private language lessons from a local. You can get one on one lessons or group lessons. Of course private lessons tend to cost more at around five to 15 Euros per hour. The price usually depends upon how many lessons you sign up for.