Learn how to introduce yourself and ask someone their name
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yura: Basic Bootcamp, Lesson 1 - Self-introduction. Basic greetings in Bulgarian. Hi everyone. Yura here, and welcome to Basic Boot Camp series lesson one: Self-introduction, Basic greetings in Bulgarian. This is the first in a five-part series that will help you ease your way into Bulgarian. |
| Iva: Здравей, аз съм Ива. I’m Iva. |
| Yura: Now, the idea of a boot camp calls to mind sweating and toil. But our boot camp is different. |
| Iva: Yes, you won’t have to sweat. We promise. |
| Yura: We’ll go over all the basics that will really help you understand Bulgarian in a fast and easy way. |
| Iva: And we will have fun doing it. |
| Yura: Yes, and we won’t blow any whistles at you or scream at you to do 200 push ups, though that might work too. We’ll see how it goes. |
| Iva: Okay. So, in this lesson, you will learn how to introduce yourself and ask someone their name. |
| Yura: Now, what could be more basic than this? I promise you will have this conversation no fewer than 200 times in your first month in Bulgaria. |
| Iva: Or maybe more. |
| Yura: Okay. Now, this conversation is between two strangers. |
| Iva: Therefore they are using polite form, but it is not overly formal. |
| Yura: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ива: Здравей, аз съм Ива. Как се казваш? |
| Юра: Здравей, Ива. Аз съм Юра. |
| Ива: Много ми е приятно. |
| Юра: На мен също. |
| Iva: Hello. My name is Iva. What's your name? |
| Yura: Hello Iva. My name is Yura. |
| Iva: Nice to meet you. |
| Yura: Me too. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yura: So, Iva, what do people in Bulgaria do when they first meet? Like, is there any sort of custom? |
| Iva: For the first time, it’s enough for men to shake hands and for women to smile while introducing themselves. |
| Yura: I would say that shaking hands is a must in Bulgaria? |
| Iva: Yes, but once you become friendlier with Bulgarians, we hug, tap each other on the shoulders and even kiss cheeks. |
| Yura: Usually women kiss each other on the cheeks, which is not surprising. |
| Iva: Yeah, I think it’s just typical for this region of Europe. |
| Yura: Close friends are not afraid to be emotional in Bulgaria. |
| Iva: But for the first meeting, better stick to the handshakes and smiles. |
| Yura: And in a business situation? |
| Iva: Again, a handshake is your best bet. |
| Yura: Sounds easy to me. Okay. let’s take a closer look into the self-introduction. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Iva: Let’s start with the vocabulary words for this lesson. |
| Yura: Okay. First we have… |
| Iva: Здравей |
| Yura: Hello. |
| Iva: Здравей, Здравей |
| Yura: And next? |
| Iva: аз |
| Yura: I. |
| Iva: аз, аз |
| Yura: And next? |
| Iva: казвам |
| Yura: Say. |
| Iva: казвам, казвам |
| Yura: Next we have… |
| Iva: Много ми е приятно. |
| Yura: Nice to meet you. |
| Iva: Много ми е приятно. Много ми е приятно. |
| Yura: And finally? |
| Iva: на мен също |
| Yura: Me too. |
| Iva: на мен също, на мен също |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Yura: Okay. So, our first word here is “hello”. |
| Iva: здравей You just need to learn it as a phrase. |
| Yura: Yes. It lost its original meaning of “wish you health” a long time ago, but it will work in any situation, formal or informal. Listeners, listen to Iva and repeat. |
| Iva: здравей, здравей |
| Yura: Great. In the conversation, we also heard Много ми е приятно |
| Iva: Yes. Много ми е приятно means something along the lines of “very delighted”. |
| Yura: Of course, in this situation, the speaker is very delighted to meet the other person. And so, here, it has a sense of the English expression “nice to meet you”. But let’s break down this phrase a bit. |
| Iva: приятно means “delightful”. |
| Yura: много means “very much”. So, altogether it is… |
| Iva: Много ми е приятно |
| Yura: Listeners, listen and repeat. |
| Iva: Много ми е приятно. Много ми е приятно. |
| Yura: Now that you said that naturally, I can’t help but want to respond. на мен също which means “for me too”. Can we break that down? Which ones means “also” or “too”? |
| Iva: също |
| Yura: So that means for me is... |
| Iva: на мен |
| Yura: And all together? |
| Iva: на мен също |
| Yura: Listeners, listen and repeat. |
| Iva: на мен също, на мен също |
| Yura: Now, that wasn’t so difficult, was it? Hope everyone isn’t getting too overheated in the boot camp. Maybe it’s time for some push ups. |
| Iva: I think I could use some. I’m getting a little out of shape. But for now, let’s move on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Iva: Now let’s take a look at this lesson’s grammar point. |
| Yura: What if your companion is, for some reason, hesitant to introduce themselves? |
| Iva: Well, it’s okay to become a little aggressive in your desire to get to know them. |
| Yura: Yes. Just go ahead and ask them their names yourself. |
| Iva: Как се казваш? This is how your question should sound. |
| Yura: Literally, it means “How are you called?” and it is said in a polite way, let’s break it down. |
| Iva: Как |
| Yura: Means “how”. Let’s hear it one time again, slowly. |
| Iva: Как |
| Yura: And one time again at natural speed. Listeners, repeat after Eva. |
| Iva: Как |
| Yura: Next. |
| Iva: се |
| Yura: Means something like “are you”. Let’s hear it slowly please. |
| Iva: се |
| Yura: And fast again. Listeners, repeat after Eva. |
| Iva: се |
| Yura: Next? |
| Iva: казваш |
| Yura: Means “to call” or “to say”. We’ve heard this one before, but let’s hear it slowly one more time. |
| Iva: казваш |
| Yura: And one more time at natural speed. |
| Iva: казваш |
| Yura: So altogether, the question is … |
| Iva: Как се казваш? |
| Yura: Listeners, listen to the phrase and repeat it out loud. |
| Iva: Как се казваш? Как се казваш? |
| Yura: Not too hard for our first boot camp lesson, huh? |
| Iva: No, it isn’t. And using this little bit of Bulgarian can already help you to impress anyone you might meet in Bulgaria. |
| Yura: That’s right. There is no better way to show your interest and respect for the culture than to try to speak a little bit of the language, even if you know only the basics. |
| Iva: That’s right. To recap let’s try a short dialogue. Imagine your name is Maria, try to answer the question outlined with the phrase we learnt in this lesson. Как се казваш? Казвам се Мария.. |
| Yura: Great. Now what if someone says to you… |
| Iva: Много ми е приятно. |
| Yura: What do you say? |
| Iva: На мен също. |
| Yura: Great. Now, what do you say if you want to learn someone's name? |
| Iva: Как се казваш? |
| Yura: Here the first step is made. |
Outro |
| Iva: Well done. |
| Yura: That’s it for this lesson. |
| Iva: Thanks for listening. Чао. |
| Yura: See you. |
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