Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Yuri: In this lesson, we'll show you how easy it is to start speaking Bulgarian.
Iva: That's because we will be focusing on pronunciation.
Yuri: Believe it or not, pronunciation is one of the easiest aspects of Bulgarian.
Iva: That's right. Today we'll give you tips on how to perfect your pronunciation.
Yuri: Comparatively speaking, Bulgarian is an easy language to speak.
Iva: There are few sounds that might be difficult, but almost every sound in Bulgarian is used every day in English.
Yuri: That means you already know how to say it.
Iva: Bulgarian also follows many of the same intonation patterns as English.
Yuri: So let's recap the written system quickly, as an introduction to the pronunciation.
Iva: The Bulgarian alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet that has 20 consonants phonemes, 2 compound sounds, 2 semi-vowels, and 6 vowels — “a”, “ъ”, “о”, “у”, “е”, and “и”.
Yuri: Let's take a closer look at the vowels.

Lesson focus

Yuri: So here's what we want you to do. No matter if you're at home, on the subway, in your car, wherever, we want you to talk to yourself.
Iva: You might get some weird looks, but don't worry. It's for a good cause.
Yuri: You got to repeat after the vowels that Iva will say. Sounds good?
Iva: Ok. The Bulgarian letter “а” is pronounced like the "a" in...
Yuri: Adorable.
Iva: The word for "car" is “кола”. The word for "small" is “малък”.
Yuri: And the next vowel is?
Iva: The letter is “ъ”. It is pronounced like the "u" in...
Yuri: Turn.
Iva: The word for "full" is “пълен”. The word for "angle" is “ъгъл”.
Yuri: And the next vowel is?
Iva: “е”. It is pronounced like the "e" in...
Yuri: Best.
Iva: The word for "child" is “дете”, and the word for "woman" is “жена”.
Yuri: Ok. Three down, three more to go. The next vowel is?
Iva: “и”. It is pronounced like the "i" in...
Yuri: Igloo.
Iva: The word for "list" is “списък”, and the word for "life" is “живот”.
Yuri: Ok. So the next one is?
Iva: “о”. It is pronounced like the "o" in...
Yuri: Order.
Iva: The word for "cat" is “котка”, and the word for "reply" is “отговор”.
Yuri: Finally, the last vowel is...
Iva: “у”. It is pronounced like the "oo" in...
Yuri: Tool.
Iva: The word for "raw" is “суров”, and the word for "student" is “ученик”.
Yuri: How about the consonants next?
Iva: All the consonants?
Yuri: No. Just some of the more unique ones. We'll go through all the consonants in our pronunciation series.
Iva: It is designed to help you master Bulgarian pronunciation in just five lessons.
Yuri: But for now, let's just look at the three most difficult consonants for learners.
Iva: “щ”, “й”, and “ь”. The “щ” sound in Bulgarian is unique.
Yuri: It is pronounced like "sht" in the word "shtick". How's that for ultra-specific?
Iva: Very nice. The “щ” is composed by S, H, and T, and there are not many equivalent words in English, but the pronunciation should not be hard.
Yuri: Can you give us some examples?
Iva: Sure. The word for "happiness" is “щастие”, the word for "future" is “бъдеще”, and the word for "shield" is “щит”.
Yuri: How about the consonant “й”?
Iva: “й” is similar to the English Y in "yes."
Yuri: The main thing to remember is that it is usually comes together with O as "yo."
Iva: Exactly. It happens for a pronunciation for words like "yo" in "yo-yo."
Yuri: How about some examples for that?
Iva: Sure. “Йога” means, of course, "yoga," and New York, in Bulgarian is “Ню Йорк”.
Yuri: To finish things off, how about the consonant “ь”?
Iva: This one is quite similar to the case of “й”.
Yuri: That's true. This letter also combines with “о”, but with different cases.
Iva: Most of the time, “ьо” appears after a consonant, but “йо” is usually used in the beginning of words.
Yuri: Most people know those rules, right?
Iva: Yes, but you need to practice with the different words.
Yuri: Can you give us some examples?
Iva: Sure. The word for "driver" is “шофьор”, and the word for "magician" is “магьосник”.

Outro

Yuri: And there's one more thing.
Iva: In Bulgarian, the pronunciation of "la" or L involves a raising of the back of the tongue and lowering of its middle part.
Yuri: That's right. But some Bulgarian people pronounce it like ""wa". Is that correct pronunciation?
Iva: It is known as the lazy L phenomenon. Let's remember to try saying L like in “like.” Ok?
Yuri: Ok.

Comments

Hide