Learn how to greet each other
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Intro |
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| Jonathan: Hello and welcome to the Absolute Beginner series at BulgarianPod101.com. This is season 1, lesson 1, First Encounters in Bulgarian. I’m Jonathan. |
| Iva: And I’m Iva! |
| Jonathan: Together we will guide you through the first steps in Bulgarian. |
| Iva: That’s right. So get ready and … enjoy! |
| Jonathan: Yes, because it is fun to learn Bulgarian. |
| Iva: And we’re here to make your absolute beginner experience easy and productive! Okay, Jonathan, what do we have first? |
| Jonathan: In this lesson you'll learn how to say "hello" in Bulgarian in the daytime. |
| Iva: This conversation takes place on the street. |
| Jonathan: The conversation is between two people. |
| Iva: The speakers know each other but their relationship is formal, so they’ll be speaking formal Bulgarian. |
| Jonathan: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| [during the day] |
| Jonathan: Добър ден. |
| Iva: Добър ден. |
| Jonathan: Как сте? |
| Iva: Добре съм, благодаря. |
| Jonathan: Now let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. (slow speed, broken down by syllable) |
| [during the day] |
| Jonathan: Добър ден. |
| Iva: Добър ден. |
| Jonathan: Как сте? |
| Iva: Добре съм, благодаря. |
| Jonathan: And Now with the English translation. |
| Iva: Добър ден. |
| Jonathan: Hello. |
| Iva: Добър ден. |
| Jonathan: Hello. |
| Iva: Как сте? |
| Jonathan: How are you? |
| Iva: Добре съм, благодаря. |
| Jonathan: Fine, thanks. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jonathan: OK, so now it is time for some more information about Bulgarian culture. |
| Iva: Yes. Bulgarians like to greet each other on the street when they are close acquaintances or friends. |
| Jonathan: It is also a very typical thing to see in the countryside, right Iva? |
| Iva: Yep! People would stop by to talk to their friends and ask them how they feel, or just to say politely hello and have short conversation. |
| Jonathan: So what would you say in this situation? |
| Iva: In this case we usually use the expression “Как сте?/Как си?”. |
| Jonathan: Remember that when talking to elderly people, it is considered polite to use the second person plural form of the phrase. |
| Iva: ...and other phrases like “Добър ден” and “благодаря” instead of their informal versions “Здравей/Здрасти” and “мерси”. |
| Jonathan: In our formal situation the speakers use the second person plural to express their respect for each other. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB |
| Jonathan: Now let’s take a look at the vocabulary in this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Iva: Добър ден |
| Jonathan: Hello |
| Iva: Добър ден (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: Добър ден |
| Iva: Как сте |
| Jonathan: How are you? |
| Iva: Как сте (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: Как сте |
| Iva: Добре съм |
| Jonathan: I’m fine |
| Iva: Добре съм (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: Добре съм |
| Iva: Благодаря |
| Jonathan: Thank you |
| Iva: Благодаря (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: Благодаря |
| Iva: съм |
| Jonathan: I am |
| Iva: съм (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: съм |
| Iva: добре |
| Jonathan: fine |
| Iva: добре (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: добре |
| Iva: как |
| Jonathan: how |
| Iva: как (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: как |
| Iva: ден |
| Jonathan: day |
| Iva: ден (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: ден |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Jonathan: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Iva: Yes, in addition to their meaning, we will explain some information about their forms and usage. |
| Jonathan: The first word from this dialogue is… |
| Iva: "Добър ден"! |
| Jonathan: This is one of the most important phrases in Bulgarian. |
| Iva: Yes, you will hear this every day. |
| Jonathan: It can be used both with people you know or people you are meeting for the first time. |
| Iva: Literally it means "Good day" so that’s why it’s used in the daytime. |
| Jonathan: There are other expressions used to greet people in the morning and in the evening... |
| Iva: But for now, just remember “Добър ден”. |
| Jonathan: It’s the most common way to greet people in Bulgaria. What’s next, Iva? |
| Iva: “Добре съм” which means “I am fine” or "I am well". |
| Jonathan: This phrase naturally follows the question “How are you” in Bulgarian. |
| Iva: In Bulgarian, “how are you” is “Как сте?” for the formal and “Как си?” for the informal question. Как сте? for formal and Как си? for informal. |
| Jonathan: Ok, so make sure you listen out for this question! Can you tell us more about the phrase “I am fine”? |
| Iva: The adverb "добре" means “fine”, “well”, “OK” and sometimes can be the only answer to the question “How are you?”. |
| Jonathan: So how does that sound? |
| Iva: For example, you answer the informal question “Как си?” with just one word- “Добре!” |
| Jonathan: It can be used among friends, right? |
| Iva: Yes, it can be used in conversation as an affirmative “OK”, like in English. |
| Jonathan: That’s right! And the last one we’ll talk about is… |
| Iva: “Благодаря” meaning “thank you”. |
| Jonathan: Another very useful Bulgarian word! |
| Iva: Indeed, do not forget to use it often. |
| Jonathan: Yes, it will help you in so many ways. |
| Iva: Bulgarians never forget to say “Thank you.” |
| Jonathan: And this one is mostly used in formal speech but can be used in the informal too. |
| Iva: That’s right. Its informal substitute is “Мерси”. |
| Jonathan: Oh, that sounds familiar! |
| Iva: I know, but we are going to talk about it in detail in our next lesson! |
| Jonathan: Ok, let’s move on to the grammar! |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Jonathan: The focus of this lesson is how to greet people in the daytime in Bulgaria. |
| Iva: And ask them how they are feeling. |
| Jonathan: Yes, so “How are you” in Bulgarian is… |
| Iva: “Как сте?” |
| Jonathan: "How are you" or "How you are feeling"? There are several phrases used to ask how someone is feeling in Bulgarian, just as in English. |
| Iva: But let's just focus on the usage of “Как сте” in this lesson. |
| Jonathan: Okay, (name). Give us an example. |
| Iva: Here it is – “Как сте днес?” It means... |
| Jonathan: How are you today? |
| Iva: And it is formal. |
| Jonathan: Because the verb is in its polite form. |
| Iva: “Как си, мило?” |
| Jonathan: Means “How are you, dear?” There's no difference in the meaning of the phrase. Just remember that the verb changes its form from “сте” to “си”. |
| Iva: The first one “сте” is the second person plural and the second one, “си” is the second person singular of the auxiliary verb. |
| Jonathan: OK. Here's a question for you. If you were visiting a friend in the hospital after he’d had an accident, what would you say? |
| Iva: “Как си след злополуката?” |
| Jonathan: Which means “How are you after the accident?” |
| Iva: I hope I won’t have to ask any of my friends this question though! |
| Jonathan: OK, OK, sorry! Next you'll learn how to ask how someone is (feeling) in a formal situation. Let’s say you are asking Mr. Petrov. |
| Iva: That will be “Как сте, господин Петров?” It is formed using a phrase you already know plus the name of the person. |
| Jonathan: It means “How are you, Mr. Petrov?” right? |
| Iva: Yes, Petrov is one of the common family names in Bulgarian. |
| Jonathan: So what is the usual way to reply to this question? |
| Iva: Quite often the answer is “Добре съм”. x2 |
| Jonathan: It used in the same way as the English because it means “I’m fine/I’m OK.” |
| Iva: Still, when the partner in the conversation is not feeling well other expressions can be used to replace the otherwise typical answer “Добре съм.” |
| Jonathan: Can you just mention some of them? |
| Iva: “Горе-долу”, meaning “So-so.” |
| Jonathan: In that case the verb can be omitted. |
| Iva: Yes, that’s right. |
| Jonathan: Let's recap this lesson. You want ask someone “How he/she is?” What would you say? |
| Iva: If he or she is your friend? |
| Jonathan: Yes. |
| Iva: “Как си?” |
| Jonathan: And how about if this is your boss, for example. |
| Iva: “Как сте?” |
Outro |
| Jonathan: OK. That's all for this lesson. In the lesson notes, you can find more details about this expression. So be sure to read them. |
| Iva: Yes, please! OK, see you next time! |
| Jonathan: Bye everyone! |
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