The biggest barrier faced by all visitors to Bulgaria is the language, and the Cyrillic alphabet in particular. In tourist resorts you will find most signs and menus have translations and that the service staff speak foreign languages, but in the countryside and even in the cities you may find that street signs are only in Cyrillic and people in the streets do not understand your questions. If you are staying for any period of time it is worth trying to grasp the language, and the alphabet at least. Your stay may also be made easier by our explanation of the alphabet and useful phrases below.

Bulgarian is a South Slavonic language, along with Serbo-Croat and Slovenian, though if you have knowledge of any Slavonic language you will recognize the roots of many words. It was the first written Slavonic language, though the alphabet has changed considerably since it was conceived in the 9^th century. You will find there are still many Turkish words in Bulgarian, adopted during the five centuries Bulgaria spent as part of the Ottoman empire, whilst many words related to technology and business have their roots in the German, French and English languages.

In 855 A.D. the missionary brothers Cyril & Methodius developed the first Bulgarian alphabet the Glagolic, which was said to reflect more accurately the sounds of the Bulgarian language (the Greek alphabet had been used till then). The new alphabet was to assist in creating a united Bulgarian nation from the Bulgar and Slav tribes and ultimately lead to the adoption of Christianity. This alphabet was later simplified by the missionaries’ followers to become what is nowadays referred to as the Cyrillic alphabet and is used in Bulgaria, Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus and Serbia (with minor variations).

It has thirty letters, and pronunciation of the language is almost entirely phonetic.

Most confusing is that although some letters look exactly the same as Latin letters they are in fact pronounced differently. A classic example is the word restaurant. A word such as ресторант is often read as pectopaht by those who grew up with a Latin alphabet, even after ten years of living in Bulgaria.