Bulgarian Learning Community and Resources

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This discussion topic is part of the 5-minute language learning sessions with which I aim to give you a short, but useful information about the Bulgarian language. Make sure to regularly check the Practice your Bulgarian forum for more learning content in the upcoming publications.

Want to advance in learning? Check Bulgarian A1 course.

In this discussion topic I talked Consonants. Some Bulgarian consonants can be tricky for non-native speakers because they don't exist in many other languages or have unique pronunciations. Let me make this easier for you.

"ZH" (Ж-ж)

• Sound: Similar to the "g" in genre.
• Examples:
  • жена (zhena) – woman
  • нож (nozh) – knife
  • жълт (zhŭlt) – yellow

"TS" (Ц-ц)

• Sound: Similar to the "ts" in pizza.
• Examples:
  цвете (tsvete) – flower
  цвят (tsvyat) – color
  улица (ulitsa) – street
  
  

"SH" (Ш-ш)

• Sound: Similar to the "sh" in shoe or shy.
• Examples:
  • шапка (shapka) – hat
  • шум (shum) – noise
  • Шал (shal) – scarf

"SHT" (Щ-щ)

• Sound: Similar to the English "sht" in shtick, but more fluid and blended.
• Examples:

щастие (shtastie) – happiness
ще (shte) – will (future tense auxiliary verb)
щъркел (shtŭrkel) – stork

"CH" (Ч-ч)

• Sound: Similar to the "ch" in cheese or church.
• Examples:
  • чай (chai) – tea
  • човек (chovek) – person
  • час (chas) – hour

If you have any questions, feel free to click on the REPLY button below and ask. Go and check ‘Ask the Community’ and ‘Living Abroad’ forums for more information and discussion topics.

Greetings!

Reneta, Community Manager – Bulgarian

5-Minute Learning Lessons: Cyrillic Alphabet
5-Minute Learning Lesson: Phrases for shopping and ordering food
5-Minute Learning Lesson: Requests for directions and assistance
5-Minute Learning Lesson: Bulgarian Consonants
5-Minute Learning Lesson: Bulgarian Vowels
5-Minute Learning Lesson: Everyday expressions in Bulgarian
5-Minute Learning Lesson: Colours In Bulgarian