Bulgariathree appsChapter I · Language
Learn Bulgarian
Bulgarian course and dictionary · iPhone, iPad and Android
Learn Bulgarian takes you from your first Cyrillic letter to a real conversation at the café, the pharmacy and the town hall, and on to the news, official letters and Bulgarian literature in the original. The course covers all six levels, from A1 to C2. It is free, has no ads, works fully offline and is available for iPhone, iPad and Android. The app is made by independent developer Andrii Matiushev (Zydeno).
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Learn Bulgarian is free: there are no ads, subscriptions or in-app purchases. No account, email address or phone number is needed. Progress, mistakes and settings are stored only on your device, and the app contains no analytics or tracking. The whole course, the dictionary and the phrasebook work without an internet connection. The microphone is used only in speaking exercises, and recordings stay on the device.
ChallengeStress is not written, so words are mispronounced
How it helpsStress is marked on every word and phrase of the course, and every word and sentence can be played at normal and slow speed.
ChallengeTextbooks teach the standard language, but people on the street speak differently
How it helpsColloquial expressions stand next to the formal ones and are labelled, and 19 situations — from the pharmacy to the town hall and the bank — prepare you for real conversations.
ChallengeCourses for adults often stop at B1
How it helpsThe course goes all the way to C2: official and academic texts, functional styles, idioms and literature in the original.
ChallengeWithout internet or money for lessons, learning stops
How it helpsThe course, the 58,345-entry dictionary and the audio work fully offline and are free — no subscription and no purchases.
ChallengeGrammar is rarely explained in the learner’s native language
How it helpsGrammar is explained in each of the 16 interface languages, including Ukrainian, Arabic, Turkish and Hebrew.
ChallengeWords are forgotten a week after the lesson
How it helpsThe FSRS algorithm brings each word back when you are about to forget it, and “My mistakes” turns every error into practice.
The course teaches the Bulgarian you actually hear every day: мерси and айде stand next to благодаря and моля, and formal and informal phrases are labelled. Stress, one of the hardest parts of Bulgarian, is not shown in ordinary writing; in the app it is marked on every word and phrase of the course, in lessons and in exercises. Letters are shown in their Bulgarian forms, alongside the Russian-style shapes that many phone screens display.
The core course has 79 units and 430 lessons across all six levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. It leads from the alphabet and the past tenses to the renarrative and conclusive moods, functional styles, idioms, dialects and the history of the language. With lessons on everyday situations, vocabulary and travel, the app contains 665 lessons. Grammar is gathered in 69 topics with tables and quizzes, and 104 writing and speaking tasks come with model answers. A placement test up to C2 suggests where to begin; every unit ends with a test and every level with a final test.
The A1–B1 part of the course has been compared with the curriculum of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science for teaching Bulgarian as a foreign language to adults seeking or granted international protection. Every A1–B1 theme in that curriculum has matching lessons in the app, and grammar coverage is close but not complete. Levels B2, C1 and C2 were added in version 2.0; a detailed comparison with the curriculum’s B2 module has not been made yet. The comparison was made by the author; the app is not endorsed by the Ministry or affiliated with any government body. Latin transliteration follows the Bulgarian Transliteration Act.
The course includes 148 reading texts with more than 43,000 words, and from B2 onwards every unit has its own long text: news, opinion columns, academic and official writing. Tap any word to see it in the dictionary, and translate a paragraph only when you need to. In listening practice you hear the recording first; the text stays hidden until you choose to open it. At C1 and C2 you read Vazov, Botev, Aleko Konstantinov, Yovkov, Pencho Slaveykov, Yavorov, Debelyanov, Smirnenski and Vaptsarov in the original, with commentary.
Across 19 situations and 74 lessons, the course prepares you for real conversations: at the café and the supermarket, at the pharmacy and the doctor’s, when renting a home, at public offices and with paperwork, at work and at the bank, about children and school, behind the wheel and in an emergency. A dedicated Medical Bulgarian section is designed for medical students, and seven short lessons gather the essentials for a trip.
There are 12 exercise types, including listening, dictation, matching, building sentences, filling gaps, choosing the right form and dialogues. You can type in Cyrillic without a Bulgarian keyboard, record your voice and compare it with the model audio. Beyond the course, the frequency dictionary adds 9,450 of the most used Bulgarian words in 189 decks sorted by level. The FSRS algorithm brings each word back just before you would forget it, and “My mistakes” turns every error into practice. The daily goal ranges from 5 to 30 minutes, and a single missed day does not break your streak.
The interface is available in 16 languages, including Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish, Arabic and Hebrew, and grammar is explained in each of them. For speakers of other Slavic languages there are 86 false friends: words such as неделя and стол, which in Bulgarian mean Sunday and chair. People who already speak Bulgarian can study entirely in Bulgarian: explanations and more than 18,000 word definitions in Bulgarian, definition exercises and a quick start at B2, C1 or C2. This mode also suits children of Bulgarian families abroad.
Yes. All lessons and tests, as well as the dictionary and the phrasebook, are available without payment, subscriptions or in-app purchases. There are no ads.
Yes. The whole course, the 58,345-entry dictionary and the audio are built into the app, so you can study with no connection at all. You do not need the internet for lessons or reviews.
It starts from the very beginning and goes all the way to C2, the highest level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. If you already know some Bulgarian, the placement test shows where to continue. The practice exams from A2 to C2 are unofficial, and the course-completion certificates are not an official language qualification.
Yes. The course opens with the alphabet: 30 letters with sound, examples and finger tracing, shown in their Bulgarian forms next to the Russian-style shapes. Without a Bulgarian keyboard, you can type in Latin letters and the app converts them to Cyrillic.
Yes. Learn Bulgarian is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, on Google Play for Android and also on Huawei AppGallery. On iPhone and iPad, three widgets show your daily goal, the word of the day and the words due for review.
Yes. The app includes more than 39,000 audio clips, and every word and sentence of the course can be played at normal or slow speed. In speaking exercises you record your voice and compare it with the model audio, while stress marks show which syllable is stressed.
Yes. With the Bulgarian interface you study in Bulgarian: explanations and more than 18,000 word definitions in Bulgarian, definition exercises and a quick start at B2, C1 or C2. The advanced levels cover styles, idioms, dialects, the history of the language, literature and the comma rules that even Bulgarians check.
Learn Bulgarian
Get the app
Documents and support
AvailableII · Land
Guide to the whole of Bulgaria
iPhone, iPad and Android
27,220places
AvailableIII · Memory
An illustrated history of Bulgaria
iPhone and iPad
59stories
