Learning Cyrillic

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