English Bulgarian language barrier

"You - as an English language native now living in Bulgaria, what level of Bulgarian language skills have you had to develop (if any at all) to be able to adequately get by living in Bulgaria?"

...Also, and for how long have you lived in Bulgaria?

Don't worry about it too much....  It just happens.  You just learn.  To start with, if you want something, you just point and say "Моля, колко струва?" (Molia, Kolko struva tova?).

Eventually you learn what stuff's called.

Lean your numbers....  that helps.  Loads of videos on Youtube to help.

Learn your manners too and learn how to apologies. After that it just starts to happen.  I'm useless at book learning or doing learning online. I have to interact with people. That'show i learn.  If you try, people will help you.  I'm also quite good at drawing so i carry paper and pencil.

I find it incredibly humbling, because now i know what it's like to be totally illliterate and stupid.  And i know i get called stupid English person. But so what?

Just don't expect others to learn or use English just because you don't know Bulgarian. That's my advice.

Hi there,

Here is my advice to the question about the language barrier-if you learn a little bit Bulgarian it will be easier for your stay here. Here are a few reasons why:
1. Unfortunately in the small town and in bigger towns as well the public administration is less likely to know and use English at such level that is needed to explain to a foreign citizen a procedure or a document that you have to bring or take from them. I am a lawyer here in Sofia and I have seen even here at some areas of the city how foreigners are struggling with the public officials.
2. The same applies for the police. In case of emergency it is difficult for the officers to understand the position of the foreign citizen. I have seen only here and in bigger towns a few officers to understand and speak some English language.
3. In the private clinics the doctors are using better English, but I see more and more doctors in the public clinics to know and use better English.
4. When you know some Bulgarian it is less likely for you to be a victim of a different amount of prices for different services administrative or even contractors' services.
5. As we say knowing Bulgarian is a power Just kidding. But it is one of the most difficult languages that you will struggle to learn, but once you do you will find that the comunication with Bulgarians is fun.
Have a save trip and stay safe when you get here!

Thanks for the replies.

yes a certain level of Bulgarian language skills has to be necessary to live in Bulgaria, as can you imagine living and functioning well enough in Britain if you only knew Bulgarian.

It amazes me that the people of Europe have been divided into speaking so many separate languages, over a relatively small land area.
Perhaps in 100 years if people are still around most people will talk English as a first language.

I certainly hope not. So many layers of thought and emotion would be lost if the world spoke only one language. Language shapes the way we view the world, so having different languages (especially as primary languages) gives the world different cultures and perspectives.

All earth bound written and spoken languages are limited and require a lifetime of study to learn comprehensively.
One is still learning English many many years after birth.

One prefers telepathy, and thinks its a shame that on this earthly plane it is not widespread.
Telepathy would enable instant communication with ones fellow humans when visiting other countries with no use of a dictionary or phrasebook.

I'd say the filter of speech can be precious and beautiful. I love speaking with my friends in both English and Bulgarian... each language reveals a different speech pattern and personality. Even my husband, who I know intimately, sounds like two different people based on which language he uses. This is an amazing affect, and one that would be lost with telepathy.

Ones point is, and one can only speak for oneself, but one sure does have many ways to better spend ones time than hundreds of hours studying foreign language dictionaries in order to eventually be able to "adequately" communicate with a fellow human who has been separated from one by their mother tongue.
All earth based languages have their limitations, and all earth based languages are fantastic, but in ones opinion so that all people across the earth realm could communicate easily (which surely must be a good thing?) without telepathy, a common language would have many many benefits. For example, emergency situations.
If another one thinks learning a foreign language is a great way to spend ones waking hours, good for one.
I am not in any way saying everyone should learn English. But the world does appear to be quickly going in that direction.......

Many people will speak English as they do now, but only as a second language. My mother who was Welsh, English was her second tongue.

In accordance with the EU population, the most widely spoken mother tongue is German (16%), followed by Italian and English (13% each), French (12%), then Spanish and Polish (8% each). For the majority of Europeans, their mother tongue is one of the official languages of the country in which they reside.

I hope Bulgarians work hard to keep their language alive.  I hope English does not become common.  It is important that the Bulgarian culture is maintained, including language, folklore, music and dress.

immigration can cause many problems in a country especially if people come from other countries and try to make changes.  "When in Rome, do as the Romans".

Maybe all the immigrants that have fled from the Middle East to Europe  want Europe to only speak Arabic and only have Islam as the main religion?  Do you think the French and the Germans will be okay with that "mountainview"?  You think they will like that?

Mountainview....  go look at the History of Bulgaria.  Learn what the word "assimilation" means to the Turks.  Go to YouTube and watch the movie "Stolen Eyes".

I'm not saying it is a good thing but it happened for sure.  Old Communist government tried to turn the Turkish minority into Bulgarians.  They made them change their names from Turkish names to Bulgarian names.  They banned the Turkish people speaking their own language and fined them by the word... or even sent them to work camps if they did not fall into line and speak only in Bulgarian.  This was not long ago and many people that this has happen to are still alive and remember it very well.

I want to lean better Bulgarian every day, I try to learn the words of the songs about the village where i have my house.  I try to learn the local history and folklore. I want to join the local celebrations to help keep culture alive.

English is a tool so people from Spain can speak to people from Germany....  or people from France can speak to people from Italy.  It is not a replacement for the language of a country... nor should it be.

So mountainview, you have a house in Bulgaria?  Yes?
You live in Bulgaria?  Yes? 
So now you must always write your name and address in Cyrillic and learn to talk again. 
You must learn to be a good neighbour and a strong member of a wonderfully community.   Remember, you chose Bulgaria....   It did not choose you. 
Now you are illiterate and have to start to lean to speak and write again like a child. 
All this you must accept.

It is the duty of every immanent to "assimilate" themselves. The Government can make many laws of "equality and diversity" to protect the minorities like you and me mountainview....  but, Government will never be able to change the way people think and feel towards us if we do not do our best to try and learn.

Save your English tongue for England and for foreigners that visit Bulgaria and rise to the challenge of self assimilation. It is the only way.

After Brexit the plans are that English will not be tolerated as it is now.

You know the problem is English speakers are lazy, because so many countries have English as a second language, it just makes it easier not to bother. I am from Liverpool and of course we can go all over the world and be understood as we talk with our hands, partly joke but with lots of truth, you will never find a Scouser not able to order a beer.
I am due to move more permanently to Ravda and have already arranged to have some Bulgarian lessons. I will only attempt to speak and be able to understand, I think reading and writing will be beyond me at my age.
I will let you know how I get on.

Dezza

Emanuela Stomonyakova wrote:

After Brexit the plans are that English will not be tolerated as it is now.

Without knowing what that would involve, it does sound surprising nonetheless.

As i thought English was firmly established as the second/international/business language of choice across earth and had been since year 2000 at least.

I personally do not think that English will become any less important as too many countries speak English, I know that France is wanting French to be the European language, but I think this is mainly for the Euro meetings, before the European Union was created English was still the chosen second language of most countries. With regard to French do you really think the Germans will stand by and let it happen, many people think that what the Eurozone will miss is UK's settling influence.

Emanuela Stomonyakova wrote:

After Brexit the plans are that English will not be tolerated as it is now.

I find that hard to believe.

Brexit may never happen if they get a second referendum on it.

mountainview...  i do not believe the majority of people voted for Brexit.  I believe the election was rigged by the politicians and the Royals.   They will drag us out of EU kicking and screaming.

I am probably alone in this opinion, but I do think the UK will be better off being out of Europe, I do not think right away but maybe 10 years time. I remember when everyone said the UK needed to adopt the Euro, so much doom and gloom when we did not.
It is strange to say the politicians want us out, in fact they wanted us to remain and what I find strange is that May was a remain but is sorting our exit, life surely is strange.

dezzaw wrote:

You know the problem is English speakers are lazy, because so many countries have English as a second language, it just makes it easier not to bother. I am from Liverpool and of course we can go all over the world and be understood as we talk with our hands, partly joke but with lots of truth, you will never find a Scouser not able to order a beer.
I am due to move more permanently to Ravda and have already arranged to have some Bulgarian lessons. I will only attempt to speak and be able to understand, I think reading and writing will be beyond me at my age.
I will let you know how I get on.

Dezza

Yes I understand that.

Reading and writing Bulgarian in the phonetic sense using the English alphabet, like a native English speaker would do with Spanish or French would be relatively easy, but with the Bulgarian alphabet, perhaps it is difficult for people beyond early childhood age.

I have moved here (to Plovdiv) almost 3 months ago, and yes, trying to learn the language.  My own case is different, as my native language is Russian, but I have lived in English speaking countries for 26 years, so I can understand your issues.

Here are some thoughts and experiences to share.

1. The alphabet. This is very easy (and not just for me). This is just another adaptation of the Greek alphabet, so many letters are the same, others are not that different. The script is largely phonetic, and it should be very easy to learn. Trust me, it'd be more difficult in Poland, although they use the Latin alphabet. Gaelic (both Irish an Scottish) is even worse in this respect. Spend a couple days and the alphabet won't be a problem!

2. So far Russian has been my life saver in everyday life and in dealing with various institutions. Most older Bulgarians understand it, and some even speak it well (no, it's not an easy language for them). I had some understanding of Bulgarian out of the box  too, and something to build on. Only once i I have to shell out money on an interpreter, and that was only because the bank staff wanted to cover their <...>s - all the conversation and most of the forms were in English

3. Bulgarian is not Russian. It is actually much more different from Russian than, say, Polish, which I know to some extent as well. It has lost most of the Slavic noun grammar (the cases), which makes it rather difficult for me to speak. It has also lost the verb infinitive, and has replaced it with a more complicated grammatical form. But my loss is your gain: this should be by far the easiest Slavic language for an English speaker to learn. Up to their unique (in the Slavic world) definite article.

4. Waiting for English to replace other languages is wishful thinking. Nor would it be any good. But for the time being it will be a common second or third language. Not so sure about the future.

Actually, I find it much more difficult to understand Bulgarian when it is written in the latin alphabet. (Many Bulgarians text/IM using the latin alphabet). Because Bulgarian is phonetic, once you learn the alphabet, it is pretty easy to read. Yes, learning the alphabet takes an initial investment of time/energy and maybe even hiring a tutor or taking a course. But it is not beyond older people. I came to Bulgaria in a group of 87 Americans, between the age of 20 and 68. Many had never learned a foreign language before. Every one of us learned the alphabet and at least enough of the language to interact, even those nearing 70. So, definitely not impossible.

I can hardly imagine one needing a tutor for that.  Just a wee bit of effort. Well, may be for the sounds. That's my problem too: often pronouncing "e" as "ye", as it would sometimes be in the same Russian (or Polish) word. This immediately triggers the question: "Rusnak li si?"

The stress is another problem. Just like in Russian (as opposed to Polish) it is random, and often on a different syllable from the one it would be in Russian.

For example, what i mean is -

hello
Здравейте

Sounds like - Zdraveĭte

I could learn to speak read and write Bulgarian using the English alphabet as in - Zdraveĭte - but may struggle with learning words written in the Bulgarian alphabet as in -Здравейте

Why on earth are there so many languages AND alphabets 

French German Spanish = much less challenging to learn.

Indeed, why doesn't everybody speak and write Chinese? Well, that may come soon

For many busy adults learning a new language may be a tough ask, but a new language with a vastly difficult alphabet may be a lot more difficult indeed.

Dealing with all the legal paperwork that an adult needs to in a different language in a different alphabet may be very problematic. Signing a tax return for example when you do not have a full understanding of what the writing on it says - is that a good idea?

The average brit moving to bulgaria may need to place their complete trust in the hands of many other people (who are hopefully trustworthy) including professionals acting in many different capacities in order to hopefully get by - with a bit of luck and lots of extra hard work.

Yes, this is true... being a guest in another country can be difficult- it can be more expensive for you than locals and more difficult to navigate. More people may take advantage of you. This is not just about language. Shopping can be difficult to learn when you first arrive, public transportation might be more expensive or difficult for you as a newcomer. These are all things that are easier for the people who have grown up here, who know the culture.

Those are all part of the risks a smart person expects when deciding to move to a new country.

If understanding the default language without putting in extra money or effort is important to you, there are many countries where the standard language is English.

Oh, and you might want to be aware that Bulgarians tend to be super proud of the Cyrillic alphabet (which is used in many countries, not just here). Just something to keep in mind before complaining about the alphabet when you are here.

kojidae wrote:

Oh, and you might want to be aware that Bulgarians tend to be super proud of the Cyrillic alphabet (which is used in many countries, not just here). Just something to keep in mind before complaining about the alphabet when you are here.

Who has complained about or criticised the cyrillic alphabet?

kojidae wrote:

Yes, this is true... being a guest in another country can be difficult- it can be more expensive for you than locals and more difficult to navigate. More people may take advantage of you. This is not just about language. Shopping can be difficult to learn when you first arrive, public transportation might be more expensive or difficult for you as a newcomer. These are all things that are easier for the people who have grown up here, who know the culture.

Those are all part of the risks a smart person expects when deciding to move to a new country.

If understanding the default language without putting in extra money or effort is important to you, there are many countries where the standard language is English.

Many people consider - "earth" - the place where we were all born, to be their home, regardless of geographic location.

Who said they would not be prepared to learn Bulgarian?

It's not vastly different. It is another adaptation of the Greek alphabet, just as the Latin one is.

Again, you will need a lot of effort to learn the language itself, but the alphabet is the least of your worries.

Let's start now

1. А, Е, К, М, О, Т are exactly the same as in the Latin alphabet. You already know them.
2. If you have studied Math(s) and Physics in school, you should know some Greek letters. A number of these (with tor without much modified graphics are here too): Г (capital Greek "gamma), Д - capital "delta", having grown wee legs - and looking just like the Latin D (as a capital) in handwriting, Ф, and X.
3. В, Н, and Р denote different sounds than in English, but they look familiar, no big deal to memorize what they denote. It took me minutes to memorize what Щ and Ъ do in Bulgarian - an it's quite different from what they are used for in Russian.

Hey, you have almost half the alphabet now!

First, love Bulgaria and never compare her to where you came from. Talk to Bulgarians even just saying hello for the first time. Just learn their alphabet, it is not that hard and you'll be able to read all the signs. Bulgarians have beautiful songs, listen and learn some of it. Celebrate with them on their Holidays and try to cook some Bulgarian dishes and of course drink with them, they are always very glad for your company.

You need the language , and it's doable.  I found music to be most helpful.

Another thing - learn the culture.  Culture and language are inseparable.

I think you maybe just wishful thinking. I think the reason that Bulgarians learn to speak English, It is an International language, unlike Bulgarian. It is also taught at school  A lot of Bulgarians need to speak English for their jobs in the holiday season, hotel workers, taxi drivers, shop keepers to name but a few. It's not only the English that speak English, people that come to Bulgaria from the whole of Europe including Russia also speak a certain amount of English.

So for you to Imply that English speaking after Brexit will not be tolerated is laughable, English speakers will still come here after Brexit from all countries for holidays which is good for your economy and workers jobs.

If you come to stay you will learn lots of the language without realising it. The biggest problem that I find is more and more people, the younger ones anyway, are learning English and want to speak it with you so it doesn't help my Bulgarian. Even a lot more policemen are speaking English so there's no escape.We get on great with the people in the village most of whom don't speak English and they make allowances for our language problem. Oficialdom is sometimes difficult and even then sometimes there is an English speaker but we have a good friend on call if needed. Reading road signs helps to recognise words too. All in all it's a great place to be.

The young Bulgarians with any get up and go know that they need English if they are going to do well in the world outside of Bulgaria.

Except for the ones choosing to study and work in Germany... in German, rather than English. (There are fewer of them, but definitely a lot who study German instead of English).

kojidae wrote:

Except for the ones choosing to study and work in Germany... in German, rather than English. (There are fewer of them, but definitely a lot who study German instead of English).

But even in Germany, English is used more among the young as it is with other countries.

It still doesn't get away from the fact that English will not disappear from Bulgaria or be discouraged  after Brexit. I also speak German  I learnt it when  I  was there back in 1973 when learning a 2nd language was not a problem now I am nearly 70 learning Bulgarian is very difficult as my brain just doesn't work like it used to.

We have a young friend who goes to Germany for work and he speaks German but still says English is more useful.