FSI Bulgarian Basic Course

Bulgarian is a Slavic language, placing it in the same linguistic family as Russian, and if you know some Russian, many of the words will sound familiar. It has between eight and nine million speakers and is the official language of Bulgaria, where most of its speakers are found.

Unless you have a specific reason for learning it, Bulgarian might not be the most useful language to study. However, Bulgaria is an up-and-coming tourist destination that’s rich in history, culture and traditions, and being able to speak the language will greatly enhance any time spent in the country.

Furthermore, Bulgarian is much easier for English-speakers to learn than other Slavic languages, so studying it could serve as a stepping-stone to tackling more challenging related tongues like Russian.

Since it’s not the most common language to learn, study resources are limited. For this reason, this comprehensive and free Bulgarian course is an invaluable source of materials for anyone who wants to try.

Course Details

What is the FSI Bulgarian Basic Course?

This FSI Bulgarian course is made up of 29 units consisting of dialogs, drills and exercises. The course is accompanied by many hours of audio, which you can use to help with your fluency and pronunciation. Bulgarian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, and since this script is relatively easy to master, the course uses Cyrillic alongside a system of transliteration, meaning you can also learn to read Bulgarian as you study. This is in contrast with other FSI courses teaching languages that use more complicated scripts, many of which avoid teaching the writing system altogether.

How was FSI Bulgarian Basic originally used?

This FSI Bulgarian course was originally designed to teach Bulgarian to US diplomatic staff who were destined for postings in the country. They attended six hours of class per day, and they were also expected to spend a further two hours each day on personal study. During lessons, they were only supposed to speak Bulgarian, and even among themselves, they were encouraged to use Bulgarian. The result was that, after only around six months of intensive study, they were able to acquire a level of Bulgarian that would allow them to live and work in the country.

How can you use FSI Bulgarian Basic?

It is highly unlikely that you will be able to recreate the same study environment enjoyed by US diplomats. However, this free online Bulgarian course contains a wealth of study materials that will greatly benefit you if you know how to adapt them to your needs.

If you have another coursebook to follow, the dialogs and drills in this course can be a valuable aid to developing your fluency and pronunciation skills. On the other hand, if you are looking for a primary source of study materials, you can use FSI Bulgarian to learn the basics before quickly moving on to more advanced language.

Taking it further

Of course, if you are learning Bulgarian, your goal is to be able to use it to communicate with native Bulgarian speakers, and we encourage you to do this as early as possible. Take the Bulgarian you have learned and try to find native speakers to practice with – and as much as you can, try to make speaking Bulgarian a part of your daily life. If you do this, you will quickly see how rapidly your Bulgarian skills are developing.

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Course Contents

Unit	Topic	Key Grammar
Volume 1 — Phase 1: Core Grammar	Student Text (PDF)	494 pages · Units 1–15
Unit 1	Getting Around; Greetings and General Phrases	Cyrillic alphabet, съм (to be), noun gender, definite articles
Unit 2	Meeting People	Question words, nationality adjectives, negation, pronoun forms
Unit 3	Seeing the Sights	Demonstratives, prepositions, plural nouns, имам (to have)
Unit 4	What’s Your Trade?	Verb conjugation (I, II, III), object pronouns, reflexive verbs
Unit 5	Let’s Talk About the Weather	Future tense with ще, comparatives/superlatives, impersonal expressions
Unit 6	Review (Units 1–5)	Consolidation of Phase 1a grammar
Unit 7	Getting a Room	Ordinal numbers, possessive pronouns, aspect introduction
Unit 8	By Car	Aorist past tense, imperatives, motion verbs with prefixes
Unit 9	Dinner	Dative pronouns, трябва (necessity), conditional with бих
Unit 10	Shopping	Numbers/prices, relative pronouns, quantity expressions
Unit 11	Letter Writing	Imperfect past tense, temporal expressions, indirect speech
Unit 12	Review (Units 7–11)	Consolidation of Phase 1b grammar
Volume 1 — Phase 2: Expanding Skills
Unit 13	Stepping Out	Present perfect, passive constructions, relative clauses
Unit 14	Discussing the Play	Subjunctive with да, reported speech, theater vocabulary
Unit 15	The Post Office	Verbal nouns, formal register, passive participles
Volume 2 — Phase 2 (continued)	Student Text (PDF)	460 pages · Units 16–30
Unit 16	The Market Place	Conditional mood, numerals with nouns, collective numerals
Unit 17	Instructions to the Servant	Formal imperatives, diminutives, obligation expressions
Unit 18	Review (Units 13–17)	Consolidation of Phase 2a grammar
Unit 19	An Excursion	Aspect in detail, past perfect, motion verb prefixes
Unit 20	Visiting a Doctor	Modal verbs, body parts, medical vocabulary
Unit 21	On the Phone	Indirect object doubling, reported speech, future in the past
Unit 22	In the Country	Habitual past, comparatives, rural vocabulary
Unit 23	Government	Passive voice, abstract nouns, formal/official register
Unit 24	Review (Units 19–23)	Consolidation of Phase 2b grammar
Volume 2 — Phase 3: Advanced Topics
Unit 25	Sports	Verbal aspect overview, adjectival participles
Unit 26	About Bulgaria	Relative clauses review, geographic/cultural vocabulary
Unit 27	Culture	Active/passive participles, literary forms
Unit 28	Parade	Verbal nouns, journalistic style, military vocabulary
Unit 29	Bulgarian History	Past tenses review, narrative style, historical vocabulary
Unit 30	Review (Units 25–29)	Full course grammar consolidation