Your Ultimate Bulgarian Pronunciation Guide

Bulgarian Pronunciation

You will find that Bulgarian is relatively easy to speak. The Bulgarian language , may have some sounds that are difficult to pronounce, but with a little bit of practice, you should be able to master the language. Many of the intonation patterns that you will find are very similar to English, so getting the grasp of the language happens quickly in many cases.

The Vowels

When you write Bulgarian, you will have 35 consonant phonemes, one semi-vowel, and six vowels: А, Ъ, О, У, Е, И, or A, Y, O, U, E, I. understanding Bulgarian pronunciation makes it much easier to learn to speak and understand the language and all of the nuances that it contains.

The vowel A is pronounced the same as the “a” in adorable. The vowel Ъ is pronounced like the “u” in turn. E is pronounced like the “e” in best, while ,И is pronounced like the “i” in igloo. The O vowel is pronounced like the “o” in order. Finally, the У vowel is pronounced like the “u” sound in the world tool. Understanding pronunciation is vital if you want Bulgarian speakers to know what you are saying, and learning how to pronounce vowels correctly is very important. Of course, you also have to know the understand Bulgarian pronunciation of consonants.

Dealing with Other Areas of Pronunciation

When you see щ in Bulgarian, it is similar to the sound of “sht” in the word shtick. Thus, the word is щастие, which means happiness, is pronounced Shtastie. Й sounds very similar to “y” in the word yes. When -Ъ and -O are together, they are pronounced like the word “yo”. Pronouncing И, (or i), involves the speaker raising the back of his or her tongue and lowering the middle part to make the sound. At first, it is difficult, and they pronounce it incorrectly. Even some people who are natives of Bulgaria have issues pronouncing it! Practice makes perfect though, and once you can do that, you will find that you can say most of the other words and sounds in the language without too much trouble.

Learning the rules of grammar can help you learn when to use certain words as well as certain inflections in the Bulgarian pronunciation of various words. Some of the grammar and pronunciation can seem very tricky in the beginning, but it doesn’t take too long to start to make sense of the language.

1) Use voice recording tools to perfect your pronunciation

BulgarianPod101 has plenty of resources to help you with your Bulgarian pronunciation, so be sure to make thorough use of our recordings with native Bulgarian speakers. These are available not only to demonstrate to you how you should pronounce Bulgarian vocabulary, but also sentences and dialogues. Watch and listen to these over and over again to train your ear, and watch the teacher’s mouth as she speaks in the video lessons. Then, copy the speech as best you can. Later, you can record yourself to hear if you sound like a native speaker and compare yourself with native speakers. Great for self-motivation.

2) Practice in front of the mirror.

And see that you’re copying the correct lip and mouth movements.

3) Use our BulgarianPod101 dictionary!

Use the Bulgarian dictionary provided by BulgarianPod101 to look up words and listen to the audio pronunciation. This will go a long way towards giving you an idea of how to pronounce a word or letter correctly.

4) Train your ear to the language!

Make an effort to often listen to Bulgarian music and recorded books, and watch plenty of Bulgarian movies and/or TV shows in Bulgarian. This will train your ear to the language, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you pick up the accent. Remember, this is the way we learned to speak when we were young - mostly by listening to the adults talking, and repeating what they say!

5) Practice, practice, practice…

Repetition of the same thing may be boring, but in learning a new language, you’re creating new pathways in your brain. For these to remain and become habitual, you will need to repeat the correct pronunciation often.

6) Make friends with a native Bulgarian speaker.

Don’t be shy to address them in Bulgarian! Ask them to correct you when you make a pronunciation mistake - this is a wonderful way to practice and learn the language first-hand, and also to make new friends.

7) Practice your pronunciation with your Bulgarian teacher!

If you’re a serious student and don’t know where to meet native Bulgarian speakers, consider investing in BulgarianPod101’s Premium PLUS plan. This means you will have your own native Bulgarian teacher available to practice your pronunciation with, and much more! Send recordings of yourself speaking Bulgarian and get feedback from your Bulgarian teacher.