Learn Cyrillic and how to write your own name.
Learning Cyrillic is useful if you go to Bulgaria. If you are buying a property, it is nice to be able to read your own name on the contract. If you are buying an apartment, it is nice to be able to give other people your new address.Learning Cyrillic is much easier than you may imagine. It is not like learning Bulgarian, which is hard work. Cyrillic is very close to the English alphabet, there is a one to one correspondence for most letters, and half of them are even in the same alphabetical order!
If you think that the Cyrillic alphabet looks like an alien script, then you may be surprised at how easy it is to learn. It is surprisingly close to the English alphabet. In fact you only need to learn the three letters in the following paragraph, and you will be able to read dozens of Bulgarian words.
Learning the Bulgarian language is a different matter however, it is hard work requiring a language course and hours of lessons.
Cyrillic is very close to the English alphabet, each Cyrillic letter has an equivalent English letter.
Many letters look the same, others look similar but deformed or hand written (D = Д). If you learn the following three letters:
* the letter ‘r’ is written ‘Р’ in Cyrillic,
* the letter ‘n’ is written ‘Н’ in Cyrillic,
* the letter ‘i’ is written ‘И’ in Cyrillic,
and if you remember that the Cyrillic letter “c” is always pronounced
like “c” in “city”, then you will understand dozens of Bulgarian words:
| атом | администратор | Америка | идиот |
| Интернет | адрес | Канада | зомби |
| модем | директор | дискотека | акробат |
| диск | банкер | бар | ескорт |
| рекорд | бизнес | караоке | орнамент |
| радиатор | дебит | карате | зебра |
Each letter of the Cyrillic alphabet is only pronunced one way. For
example the Cyrillic letter "c" is always pronounced like the English
"s".
The English letter "c" however is sometimes pronounced like the letter "k" in "cat", or like the letter "s" in "city".
Once you have learnt it, you will be able to read Bulgarian, and even
if you don’t understand what you are saying, a Bulgarian will.
In the following table, note that the letters from "i" to "u" are in the same alphabetical order in both alphabets!
| Cyrillic | Latin | sounds like | ||
| А | а | a | a in alpha | |
| Б | б | b | b in bravo | |
| В | в | v | v in victor | In Spanish, “v” is pronounced “b” |
| Г | г | g | g in golf | |
| Д | д | d | d in delta | Да means “yes” in Bulgarian (and Russian) |
| Е | Е | e | “e” in echo | |
| Ж | ж | zx | s in pleasure | In French, like “J” in Jean |
| З | з | z | z in zulu | Similar to a z in English when written with joined-up writing |
| И | и | i | “i” in india | The next 14 letters are in the same order as the English alphabet |
| Й | й | j | “y” in boy | In German, like “j” in ja |
| К | к | k | “k” in kilo | |
| Л | л | l | “L” in Lima | Similar to an L in English when written with joined-up writing (with a flat bit on the top) |
| М | м | m | “m” in Mike | |
| Н | н | n | “n” in November | This can be confusing |
| О | о | o | “o” in Oscar | |
| П | п | p | “p” in papa | Looks like the Greek PI |
| Р | р | r | “r” in roll | Use Scottish rather than English pronunciation |
| С | с | s | “s” in Sierra | Easy to remember if you think of “c” in city |
| Т | т | t | “t” in tango | |
| У | у | u | “u” in put | Also like “oo” in foot - but not like “u” in cut |
| Ф | ф | f | “f” in foxtrot | English: “v” comes after “u”; German: “v” is pronounced “f”; Cyrillic: “f” comes after “u” |
| Х | х | h | “h” in hotel | In Spanish, “x” is also pronounced “h” (think of “Don Quixote”) |
| Ц | ц | ts | “ts” in cats | |
| Ч | ч | ch | “ch” in chair | |
| Ш | ш | sh | “sh” in ship | |
| Щ | Щ | st | “sht” in shtook | In German, like “st” in “stein” |
| Ъ | ъ | “a” in a | Not like “a” in cat. Like “a” in “a book, a pen, a …”. Like “er” in Peter. In French like “e” in le. | |
| Ь | ь | q | No sound | Used as a separator. Looks like a normal lower case “b” |
| Ю | ю | ju | “u” in uniform | Combination of Й + У |
| Я | я | ja | ya in yard | Combination of Й + А. In German sounds like the word “ja” |
The six vowels: А Е И О У Ъ
Once you have learnt Cyrillic, you will be able to do the following:
* Read a Bulgarian book or newspaper. (You may not understand what you
are saying, but a Bulgarian person listening to you will).
* Use a Bulgarian - English dictionary.
* Read a map and street signs
* Understand about 60% of signs on shops.
* Know which train station you are at.
* Spell out names over the telephone.
* Write your name in Cyrillic.
* Recognise the address of the house you bought.
* Write the address on an envelope.
Here is some practice, many of these words you will see everyday in
town, now you can read and understand them. A knowledge of German and
French will help with a few of them. It’s even easier when they’re in
context:
| Хотел | Такси | Супермаркет | Телефон |
| Офис | сервиз | компутър | България |
| Кетчуп | Кафе | Бар | Централна Абтогара |
| Хипербанд стерео тунер | Контраст | фаст Бургер | хот дог |
| Бистро | Министерство на финансите | фитнес центрове | солариум |
| Сауна | масаж | физиотерапия | рехабилитация |
| Ибан | Кино | Аптека | Каса |
| Kонтакти | Банк | информация | Температура |
| бекон | Паркинг | Оптика | ресторант |
| джакузи | студио | София | Матраци |
| Факс | Тенис Клуб Атлас | базар | етаж |
Here are some common names, written in Cyrillic:
| Donald | Доналд | Doris | Дорис |
| Tony | Тони | Sandra | Сандра |
| Martin | Мартин | Mildred | Милдред |
| Tom | Том | Anna | Ана |
| Tim | Тим | Nancy | Нанси |
| Ken | Кен | Robin | Робин |
| Mark | Марк | Marta | Марта |
| Erik | Ерик | Betty | Бети |
| Antonio | Антонио | Debra | Дебра |
| Adam | Адам | Liz | Лиз |
| Albert | Алберт | Karen | Карен |
| Norman | Норман | Dona | Дона |
| Andy | Анди | Karol | Карол |
| Bernard | Бернард | Alice | Алис |
