Learn how to use numbers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 11 - An Interview with a Famous Bulgarian Opera Singer. Eric here. |
| Tina: Здравейте. I'm Tina. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use numbers. The conversation takes place in a radio broadcast. |
| Tina: It's between Dimitar and Rayna Tabakova. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll use formal Bulgarian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Димитър: Благодаря много, че приехте поканата да гостувате в предаване ни. |
| Райна Табакова: Няма за какво. За мен е удоволствие да съм тук. |
| Димитър: В края на 2014 г. с поредица от събития беше отбелязан Вашият 80-годишен юбилей в България. |
| Райна Табакова: Така е. На 18-ти декември направихме страхотен благотворителен концерт с 18 от моите ученици. Всички те са вече с международна кариера. |
| Димитър: Остана ли Ви време за равносметка след честванията? |
| Райна Табакова: Мразя да се връщам към миналото. Аз съм правила много, но гледам в бъдещето напред. |
| Димитър: Сега Вие имате своя школа за млади талантливи оперни изпълнители. |
| Райна Табакова: Досега около 70 души са били наши стипендианти. Да ви кажа - тези, които имат глас и талант, нямат пари. |
| Димитър: Да, често чуваме, че трудно се намират пари за култура. |
| Райна Табакова: Талантите трябва да се подпомагат, иначе загиват. Фондът плаща всичко - квартира, храна, джобни... В продължение на една година... |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Dimitar: Thank you very much for accepting the invitation to join us on this program. |
| Rayna Tabakova: You’re welcome. It’s my pleasure to be here. |
| Dimitar: At the end of 2014, your 80th birthday was celebrated with a series of events in Bulgaria. |
| Rayna Tabakova: That's right. On December 18 we had a great charity concert with eighteen of my students. They now all have international careers. |
| Dimitar: Did you have time for some reflection left after the celebrations? |
| Rayna Tabakova: I hate to go back to the past. I've done a lot, but I’ll look forward to the future. |
| Dimitar: You now have your own school for talented young opera singers. |
| Rayna Tabakova: So far, around seventy people have been our fellows. Let me tell you, those who have voice and talent don’t have money. |
| Dimitar: I agree, we hear often that it’s difficult to find money for the arts. |
| Rayna Tabakova: Talent must be supported, otherwise it perishes. Our funding covers everything—accommodation, food, pocket money... for one whole year. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Tina, is opera popular in Bulgaria? |
| Tina: Yes. There are a few world-famous Bulgarian opera singers, and we’re very proud of them. |
| Eric: Who are some of the most famous singers? |
| Tina: Gena Dimitrova, Boris Hristoff, and Nikolai Gjaurov are famous both in and outside of the country. |
| Eric: Please tell us a little about them. |
| Tina: Gena Dimitrova was born in 1941 in a very rural area in Bulgaria. She had a dramatic soprano voice and became internationally famous after her debut in Italy, at La Scala in 1980. She was also well-known for her teaching method. |
| Eric: What about the other two? |
| Tina: The other two were born earlier. Boris Hristov was born in 1914 and was considered one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. Nikolai Gjaurov was born in 1929 and unlike the previous two opera singers, he first debuted in Russia, then in Italy. |
| Eric: What’s the Bulgarian word for “aria”? |
| Tina: оперна ария |
| Eric: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Tina: приемам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to accept |
| Tina: приемам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: приемам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: поредица [natural native speed] |
| Eric: series |
| Tina: поредица[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: поредица [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: юбилей [natural native speed] |
| Eric: birthday, anniversary, jubilee |
| Tina: юбилей[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: юбилей [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: благотворителен [natural native speed] |
| Eric: charitable |
| Tina: благотворителен[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: благотворителен [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: равносметка [natural native speed] |
| Eric: balance, report |
| Tina: равносметка[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: равносметка [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: стипендиант [natural native speed] |
| Eric: fellow, person receiving a scholarship |
| Tina: стипендиант[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: стипендиант [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: подпомагам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to support, to assist, to patronize |
| Tina: подпомагам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: подпомагам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: загивам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to perish, to die |
| Tina: загивам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: загивам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Tina: квартира [natural native speed] |
| Eric: lodgings, accommodation |
| Tina: квартира[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: квартира [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Tina: гледам напред |
| Eric: which means "look ahead." |
| Tina: The phrase is used literally when someone is facing the direction ahead of them, as in Внимавай! Гледай напред! Хлъзгаво е и можеш да паднеш. |
| Eric: Which means "Be careful! Look ahead! It’s slippery and you might fall.” But figuratively the phrase means that someone is not reflecting on what has already happened, but is looking ahead to what is to come. |
| Tina: Right. It implies hope and optimism that the future will bring something better than the past. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this meaning? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Не съжалявам за това, което се случи, а гледам напред. |
| Eric: ..which means "I don’t regret what has happened, but am looking ahead." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Tina: правя равносметка |
| Eric: meaning "to take stock, to strike a balance, to reflect on." |
| Tina: равносметка is translated in English as “balance.” It’s a complex word made of two other words- равно, which is an adverb and means "flatly, equally," and сметка which means "account, tab, bill." So it might be explained as "calculating what is due." |
| Eric: This phrase can be used literally and figuratively. |
| Tina: As the verb правя, meaning "to make” or “to do," is imperfective, the perfective, направя, is also used in the expression. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Като си направих равносметка прецених, че ще приема по-нископлатената позиция, която предлага повече възможности за израстване в кариерата. |
| Eric: .. which means "As I considered everything relevant to myself, I decided that I will accept the lower-paid position which offers more opportunities for career growth." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Tina: квартира |
| Eric: meaning "lodgings,” or “accommodation." |
| Tina: квартира generally indicates "a rented place." It’s often combined with the verbs живея |
| Eric: meaning "to live" |
| Tina: or плащам |
| Eric: meaning "to pay for." Because the expression is a neutral fact, it can be used in both formal and informal contexts. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Повече от 20 години живяхме на квартира, но сега вече си купихме собствено жилище. |
| Eric: .. which means "We had been living in a rented place for more than 20 years, but now we have already bought our own place." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about numbers and we’ll also complete the past aorist tense. Let’s start by reviewing numerals. |
| Tina: In this lesson we’ll cover in detail how to construct and use cardinal and ordinal numerals. When we count objects in Bulgarian, we use a form different than their plural. In this lesson we’ll learn about it. |
| Eric: When we count objects in Bulgarian, they come in their singular or plural forms, except for nouns in masculine and some in neuter. Then the plural form changes. |
| Tina: The rule this time is quite simple and nouns can have only one of two possible endings—mostly -a, but also -я. This particular case applies only to nouns ending in a consonant. |
| Eric: This form of the nouns is also called counting or numerical form. It’s also used with some adjectives denoting quantity. Can you give us an example? |
| Tina: час, which means “hour,” in the plural form, is часове, while in the counting form it’s часа. For example два часа, which means “two hours.” The word that means “degree” is градус and its counting form is градуса, for example двадесет градуса. |
| Eric: Which adjectives can be used with the counting forms? |
| Tina: колко, meaning “how many,” толкова, “so many,” няколко, “several” or “some.” |
| Eric: Are there any exceptions we should be aware of? |
| Tina: Yes, there are some exceptions when counting people. The word “man” - мъж, has a plural form - мъже, but not a counting one. In this case the counting indicator transfers to the cardinal number instead. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example? |
| Tina: Двама мъже и половина. |
| Eric: “Two and a half men.” |
| Tina: The same rule can be applied to the words човека or души, indicating a number of people. |
| Eric: What’s the difference between the two words? |
| Tina: човека is used when we are talking about people, for example, Това име е рядко, но аз познавам няколко човека с него. |
| Eric: “This name is rare, but I know a few people who have it.” |
| Tina: When we give the number of people, the preferred word is души, for example, Виждам двама души на пътя. |
| Eric: “I see two men on the road.” Now let’s see the ordinal numerals, which are necessary for reading the days of the month and years. Ordinal numerals in Bulgarian are considered nouns, but grammatically they behave as adjectives and have the three gender forms and plural in 1st, which is the same form as the masculine. For example, what are the forms for “seventh” in Bulgarian? |
| Tina: седми, седма, седмо |
| Eric: The ordinal numerals are positioned before the noun. Just like adjectives, they also have definite forms. |
| Tina: For example Аз съм третото дете в семейството. |
| Eric: “I am the third child in the family.” |
| Tina: When reading years, centuries, or days, we give the ordinal number. For example, хиляда осемстотин седемдесет и осма година |
| Eric: Which means “1878.” |
| Tina: седми век |
| Eric: “7th century” |
| Tina: When we mention a date, the ordinal numeral is followed by the name of the month. For example (на) петнадесети май |
| Eric: which means “May 15th.” Ok, now let’s move ahead with the past aorist. Continuing from Lesson 8, we will introduce conjugation patterns for the verbs in Conjugation 1 group in past aorist. |
| Tina: This is the group of verbs where changes in the stem of the verb happen most often, but you might be used to it as the changes happen in the conjugation of the verbs in present tense as well. |
| Eric: Listeners, you’ll find a chart that summarizes the conjugations in the lesson notes. |
| Tina: Here’s an example – чет-а, meaning “to read,” in the first person singular becomes аз чет-о-х, meaning “I read.” |
| Eric: Let’s give the whole conjugation for this one. |
| Tina: The second and third person singular are the same. чет-е. |
| Eric: So depending on the context, it can be either “you read” or “he or she read.” |
| Tina: Following that is ние чет-о-хме, |
| Eric: “We read,” |
| Tina: вие чет-о-хте, |
| Eric: “you read” with the plural “you.” |
| Tina: те чет-о-ха |
| Eric: “they read.” As the thematic vowel changed here, it’s good to remember at least the 1st person singular form of the verbs in past aorist, so that you have some indication of the conjugation pattern they follow. Let’s wrap up this lesson with a couple of sample sentences. |
| Tina: Here’s one that uses both the past aorist and the numerals. Детето направи първите си стъпки. |
| Eric: "The child took his first steps." |
| Tina: Here’s one with a date. България е освободена от турско робство на 3-ти март 1878 г. |
| Eric: "Bulgaria was liberated from the Ottoman yoke on March 3rd, 1878." |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Tina: До скоро! |
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