Learn about some Bulgarian phrases your professor won't teach you
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yuri: I'm telling you, this lesson is really fun. |
| Iva: Because we'll go over some phrases your teacher might not teach you. |
| Yuri: Now, we don't want you to get the wrong idea. You won't find any swear words or anything hear. |
| Iva: No. Just some Bulgarian phrases that are just little too slangy to be introduced in a classroom. |
| Yuri: These are words, though, that you will encounter every day in Bulgaria. |
| Iva: Yeah, they are that common. |
| Yuri: So if you're ready to learn some real Bulgarian, let's get started. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Iva: The first word we'll go over is “Чакай!”. |
| Yuri: “Чакай!” is actually a condensed form of the phrase “Чакай малко!”, which literally translates to "wait for a while" or "wait a minute," but means "hold on a second." |
| Iva: Just like all the other phrases we'll go over today, tone of voice when you use this phrase is very important. |
| Yuri: That's right. You could say it like this... |
| Iva: “Чакай малко.” |
| Yuri: That tone is very playful and would be used among friends, but if you said it like this... |
| Iva: “Чакай малко.” |
| Yuri: Then it sounds like you're a dominating traffic cop. |
| Iva: Tone of voice is very important in Bulgarian. |
| Yuri: Our next phrase is... |
| Iva: “Какво става?” |
| Yuri: “Какво става?” is an expression that means "What's going on?" |
| Iva: Literally, it means "What is happening?" and is typically used in situations where something disagreeable or unpleasant has happened. |
| Yuri: Like if you go out to your car and see there is a dent you don't remember, you could say “Какво става?”. |
| Iva: It can be used in positive sense, but usually has a negative connotation. |
| Yuri: What’s our next phrase? |
| Iva: “Жалко” |
| Yuri: “Жалко” is a simple word with a complex meaning. |
| Iva: Yes, it is. It means something like "poor thing." |
| Yuri: We use it as in English, "It's a pity." |
| Iva: You can use it when you are disappointed with something. |
| Yuri: Interesting. |
| Yuri: Ok, our next phrase is... |
| Iva: “Сериозно?” |
| Yuri: “Сериозно?” literally translates to "Seriously?" |
| Iva: But it's an expression used with a tone of disbelief that can be roughly interpreted to mean "Really? Tell me the truth." |
| Yuri: It's usually used in a playful setting and the tone of voice gives a similar meaning to "You're kidding!" in English. |
| Iva: So, what's our last phrase? |
| Yuri: “Как е?” |
| Iva: They're going to hear this all the time. |
| Yuri: I know I do. |
| Iva: “Как е?” is a casual greeting used among friends. |
| Yuri: It's very similar to "What's up?" Very casual. |
| Iva: Very slangy, but very, very common. |
Outro |
| Yuri: So I think all of these phrases are good to know. |
| Iva: Yeah, even if you don't use them, just knowing them for when you come across them is good enough. |
| Yuri: And believe us, you'll come across them at some point. |
| Iva: At many points. |
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