You may be relieved to know that while you are visiting
Bulgaria, the majority of people speak English as a second
language, particularly if they are living and working in the
major tourist resorts.
English is first foreign language taught in schools, whilst
German and Russian are also widely taught. However, in the
countryside, it could occasionally prove to be a major barrier.
Road Signs
If travelling by car, be sure you can read some of the Cyrillic
alphabet. Although around the major resorts, some signs are now
thankfully showing the Latin alphabet, most signs in Eastern
Bulgaria do not, so it could become difficult for you to
navigate your way around.
A good idea is to have a map with you showing the town names
written in Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. This way you can at
least compare the forms of the letters.
Body Language
Unlike us, the Bulgarians shake their heads when they mean "yes"
and nod when they mean "no". However, sometimes they reverse
these gestures if they know they're speaking to foreigners,
thereby complicating the issue somewhat!
The use of the words da (yes) and ne (no) should be enough to
avoid any misunderstandings. Useful Bulgarian Words and Phrases
Zdravey/Zdrasti Hello!/Hi!
Dobro utro Good morning!
Dobar den Good afternoon!
Dobar vecher Good evening!
Leka nosht Good night!
Dovizhdane/Sbogom (pronounced [Zbogom]) Goodbye!/Farewell!
Priyatno mi e It is nice to meet you.
Kak si How are you?
Dobre Good/Well
Zle/Losho Bad/Ill
Gore-dolu So-so I. Basic Conversation
Da Yes.
Ne No.
Kak se kazvash What is your name? Ako obichate Please
Blagodarya Thank you.
Molya You are welcome.
Izvinete/Izvinyavayte Excuse me. (formal) II. Do You Speak...
Ne razbiram I do not understand.
Govorish li Do you speak...
Angliyski English
Frenski French
Nemski German
Ispanski Spanish
Kitayski Chinese III. Family
Mayka Mother
Bashta Father
Sin Son
Dushterya Daughter
Supruga Wife
Suprug (pronounced [supruk]) Husband
Priyatel Friend (male)
Origins of Bulgarian Language
Bulgarian forms part of the South Slavic group of languages,
together with Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Slovenian. It is
the earliest written Slavonic language.
Its Cyrillic alphabet is the same as Russian, Serbian and
Macedonian. Indeed some people also consider Macedonian to be a
dialect of Bulgarian, but this is a highly charged and hotly
disputed political issue. Macedonian is so close to Bulgarian
that people in these two countries can understand each other
without the needing to translate.
The Bulgarian language is divided into three periods: old,
middle, and modern. The Old Bulgarian period lasted from the 9th
to the 11th century and is otherwise known as Old Church
Slovonic, representing the texts of this period.
The Middle Bulgarian period lasted from the 12th to the 14th
century and was then considered as one of the three major
literary languages of Europe.
The Modern Bulgarian period started in the 15th century, but the
modern literary language didn't evolve until the 19th century.
There are two major dialect groups in Bulgaria: the eastern and
the western dialects. Each is subdivided into northern and
southern varieties. The modern literary language is based
primarily on the northeastern dialect.
Bulgarian is also spoken in Canada, Greece, Hungary, Israel,
Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, and Yugoslavia with an
estimated total of 9 million native speakers.
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