Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hello and welcome to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, season 1, lesson 1 - Making Friends on a Bulgarian Flight. I’m Becky.
Iva: Zdrasti. My name is Iva!
Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about someone’s language ability.
Iva: This conversation takes place on a plane.
Becky: It’s between Mariya and James.
Iva: The speakers are meeting for the first time, so they’ll be using formal Bulgarian.
Becky: OK, let’s listen to the conversation.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: Iva, let’s talk a little more about the dialogue.
Iva: Well, it takes place on an airplane going from the Black Sea resort and big city of Varna, to the capital Sofia.
Becky: Are those flights popular?
Iva: They are very common during the summer vacation, and they are also relatively low-cost flights.
Becky: How about the length of the flight? What’s the distance between the two cities?
Iva: The shortest flight between Varna and Sofia lasts about one hour.
Becky: I see. Sounds fast and comfortable!
Iva: It is! Varna Airport is the third largest airport in Bulgaria.
Becky: Is it in the city of Varna?
Iva: It’s actually 10 kilometers from the center of the city.
Becky: And the busiest season for the airport is from the end of May to the beginning of October.
Iva: Because that’s how long the tourist season at the Black Sea resorts is.
Becky: So listeners, if you’re going on holiday in Bulgaria, keep that in mind! Ok, now on to the vocab.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What`s first, Iva?
Iva: The first word we have is “Заповядайте”.
Becky: This is a Bulgarian expression used when inviting people to enter a place, right?
Iva: Yes. But also when offering them a seat.
Becky: Like saying “Go ahead!”
Iva: Exactly. “Заповядайте”.
Becky: So this form is in the formal speech?
Iva: Yes.
Becky: Ok, can you tell us the informal one?
Iva: The informal one is “Заповядай”.
Becky: Listeners, repeat both words after Iva.
Iva: “Заповядайте” and “Заповядай”.[pause]
Becky: OK, what’s next?
Iva: “Всъщност”.
Becky: This is a Bulgarian adverb meaning “actually”.When do you use it?
Iva: When you want to change the subject, or to introduce a new subject, usually in conversation.
Becky: Is it a formal word?
Iva: Actually, you can use it both in the formal and in informal situations.
Becky: Ok, now what is the last word?
Iva: “Приятно”.
Becky: It is a Bulgarian adverb used in the expression “Nice to meet you”, right?
Iva: Yes, “Nice to meet you” is “Приятно ми е да се запознаем!”
Becky: Do you use it in other cases?
Iva: Yes, it means “pleasant”, so here we have it`s neuter form.
Becky: What are the other forms?
Iva: The masculine is “приятен” and the feminine is “приятна”.
Becky: Alright. Now it’s time for the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask about someone’s language ability in Bulgarian.
Iva: In Bulgarian, when people ask about language ability, they usually say “Знаете ли~ (language)”.
Becky: This is for the formal speech?
Iva: Yes. “Знаеш ли~ (language)” is for the informal.
Becky: Could you repeat them again for our listeners please?
Iva: “Знаете ли~ (language)” and “Знаеш ли~ (language)”.
Becky: The literal meaning is “Do you know~ (language)?”
Iva: Note that this type of expression is mostly used in the conversational context,
Becky: …as in this lesson’s dialogue.
Iva: A less colloqiual and more correct way to ask the same question is “Говорите ли~ (language)?”
Becky: For the formal speech. And for the informal?
Iva: “Говориш ли~ (language)?”
Becky: And again, listeners, repeat after Iva.
Iva: “Говорите ли~ (language)?” and “Говориш ли~ (language)?”
Becky: The English meaning is “Do you/Can you speak~ (language)?”
Iva: Yes. For this second expression, the formal version is used more often than the informal one.
Becky: When you ask someone you don’t know, and you need to check if they can speak your language, for example.
Iva: I recommend using it as a polite way to ask about someone’s language ability.
Becky: What else can you tell us?
Iva: When expressing amazement at someone’s language ability, we can simply say “Говорите~ (language)?!” for the formal speech and “Говориш~ (language)?!” for the informal.
Becky: And you have to say it with the right intonation to show that it’s unexpected.
Iva: That’s right, all these expressions are used when you want to confirm whether someone can speak the target language, or not.
Becky: What about the part where you add the language you are asking about?
Iva: Well, in Bulgarian, when you want to say “Bulgarian language” for example, you say “български език” or just “български”.
Becky: Which one is used more often?
Iva: The shorter version is used in everyday speech.
Becky: Actually, the context shows we are talking about languages, so usually the word for “language” in Bulgarian is omitted.
Iva: And that word is “език”, by the way.
Becky: And “English language” will be?
Iva: “Английски език”.
Becky: And, "Do you speak English?"
Iva: ...is “Говориш ли английски?”
Becky: Ok, is that all?
Iva: Yes. But just one note - language names in Bulgarian are written in lowercase, unlike English.
Becky: That’s an important thing to remember.
Becky: OK, that’s all for this lesson. Listeners, make sure to check the lesson notes for more information and to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson.

Outro

Iva: Yes. Thanks for listening, everyone.
Becky: We’ll see you next time, bye!

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