Can I Learn Bulgarian on Duolingo?

Since releasing its language learning app publicly in 2012, Duolingo has become the go-to for language learners around the world. With over 100 courses in more than 40 languages, the app has more than 500 million registered users. Not only does Duolingo make learning a language fun by gamifying the process, but it does so for free! Users can take advantage of many of the app’s features free of charge, with more features and an ad-free experience available for those who choose to pay to use the app. Sounds like a great way to learn a new language, right? But what about learning Bulgarian on Duolingo?

Unfortunately, while you can learn a fictional language like Klingon or High Valyrian on the popular learning app, as of 2024, Duolingo still doesn’t offer instruction in Bulgarian and the reasons why remain unclear. Some speculate that since there is lower demand for Bulgarian from native English speakers, Duolingo’s main target market, they haven’t prioritized adding it to the platform.

Where to learn Bulgarian online?

Since Duolingo does not offer a Bulgarian course, you might be looking for an alternative.

Bulgaro is a modern Duolingo-inspired Bulgarian language course built with a single purpose: to help beginners learn Bulgarian. A powerful online language learning resource, Bulgaro was developed based on proven learning methodologies: spaced repetition, gamification, and frequency lists. The course uses interactive exercises to help you understand and produce sentences in Bulgarian, working on your passive and active language learning skills.

Taking you through nearly 50 lessons structured in a logical lesson tree, Bulgaro offers detailed lesson notes, distilling complicated grammar concepts into digestible information.

Who is Bulgaro for?

No matter what inspired you to learn Bulgarian, if you’re just starting out with the language then Bulgaro is for you. The course is specifically designed to teach beginners to comfortably get by in Bulgarian. This includes learning everything from communicating verbally to reading and writing in day-to-day situations. That’s right, we’re here to help you decipher those Cyrillic road signs and menus without breaking into a cold sweat, and based on our stellar ratings, we do it well. 🌟

How does Bulgaro compare to Duolingo?

If you’ve learned a language on Duolingo before, or if you’ve simply researched the app and found that it’s the gold standard in online language learning, you might be wondering how Bulgaro compares in terms of learning methodologies and features. And ultimately, of course, you want to know how this all benefits you, the learner.

First, let’s start by looking at the similarities between the two:

Duolingo and Bulgaro are very similar. In both cases, you progress through a lesson tree by completing interactive exercises. Most of those exercises require you to translate sentences back and forth between English and the target language (in our case, Bulgarian).

Bulgaro screenshot of the lesson tree

Each lesson comes with lesson notes (grammar explanations) and interactive exercises:

Bulgaro screenshot of the lesson notes

If you make a mistake, the program will not only tell you that your answer is wrong, but it will also, whenever possible, give you a proper explanation for your mistake:

Bulgaro screenshot of an incorrect answer and explanations

Here are some of the features we have in common with Duolingo:

Spaced repetition and frequency lists

Inspired by Duolingo, our course is built on these proven methodologies to help you learn the most important vocabulary with minimal effort. Using frequency lists, a powerful linguistic tool, we’ve identified the most frequently used words in the Bulgarian language. We deliver them using spaced repetition, to help you retain the information.

Gamification

Like Duolingo, Bulgaro turns learning a language into a game, celebrating your achievements, and inspiring you to keep going. Most importantly, learning Bulgarian on Bulgaro will always be fun!

Interactive exercises

We all know that active learning helps retention, it’s why teachers and professors create lesson plans to illustrate concepts in the classroom, rather than simply relying on students to develop an understanding by reading textbooks. Similarly, online learning is more effective when it’s interactive. That’s why, like Duolingo, Bulgaro uses interactive exercises.

Active community

In addition to making learning more enjoyable, having a forum to ask questions and share ideas makes it more effective. Like Duolingo, Bulgaro has a thriving community of experts and learners that you can tap into to discuss everything from vocabulary to grammar to pronunciation. Check out our discussion page to see what our community is talking about.

Now, let’s talk about what makes Bulgaro different:

Single-Focus

One of the biggest differences between Bulgaro and Duolingo is the fact that Bulgaro is dedicated entirely to helping people learn Bulgarian. This means that we can focus all our time and effort into perfecting our Bulgarian course, without being distracted by others.

Flashcards

When it comes to features, Bulgaro offers something that you won’t find on Duolingo: flashcards! Flashcards are our solution to helping you learn a lot of vocabulary quickly. Here’s how they work:

Each card has two sides: the first side prompts you to think of the word in Bugarian. When you have the word in mind, you simply flip the card to find the answer. If your answer was correct, Bulgaro will ask you to evaluate how hard it was to come up with the word: Hard, Good, or Easy. Based on your rating, the card will be dropped into the sequence for your next review — earlier if it was Hard, or later if it was Easy.

If you didn’t answer correctly, the card will be dropped later into the sequence of the session you’re in.

Flashcards represent another great way for us to use spaced repetition to help you retain what you learn on Bulgaro. In this case, Bulgaro will use a powerful algorithm to calculate the ideal time for you to review a card again — just before you forget it! As you successfully review a card several times in a row, the interval between reviews for that card increases. When you get an answer incorrect, the interval automatically resets.

With more than 1,000 flashcards on Bulgaro, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll pick up useful new words in Bulgarian.

Real Voice Audio

Have you ever taken a course in Duolingo and noticed that the audio recordings designed to help you with listening comprehension and pronunciation sound a little robotic? Well, that’s because they are! Duolingo uses voice synthesizers to create audio for its courses. By contrast, Bulgaro features audio spoken by native speakers. This helps you learn and get familiar with Bulgarian pronunciation in a way that audio created with a synthesizer just can’t.

Why Learn Bulgarian?

If you’ve read to this point, you’re probably genuinely interested in learning Bulgarian, but maybe you need a little more encouragement. Let us help you with that by giving you a few more reasons to learn Bulgarian:

Bulgarian is the easiest of the Slavic languages

Slavic languages are considered by linguists to be very challenging to learn, especially for native English speakers. Now, we’re not going to try to convince you that this isn’t true, however, we’re here to tell you that if you’re interested in learning any Slavic language at all, Bulgarian is your best bet.

Acknowledged as the easiest of the Slavic languages to learn, Bulgarian doesn’t use grammatical cases. You can learn more about the case system, and what makes it so difficult to learn here.

Bulgarian can be spoken and understood in Macedonia

Bulgarian is spoken by around 12 million people around the world. Around half of Bulgarian speakers live in Bulgaria, while others include communities like Bessarabian and Banat Bulgarians and communities in Serbia, Turkey, and other neighbouring countries. In fact, Macedonian and Bulgarian are so closely related that they form a dialect continuum that makes it possible for Bulgarian speakers to speak and be understood in Macedonia.

With a significant Bulgarian diaspora abroad, you might also find yourself making Bulgarian friends in the most unlikely places.

Learning Bulgarian will help you understand other Slavic languages

If you’re interested in learning other Slavic languages, Bulgarian is a great place to start! Less complicated grammatically, it’s a great introduction to Slavic pronunciation and the Cyrillic alphabet. There are similarities between Slavic languages in terms of vocabulary as well. In fact, while Serbian isn’t quite as close to Bulgarian as Macedonian, many Bulgarian speakers can communicate with Serbian speakers, too! In fact, the entire southern branch of Slavic languages, including Slovenian and Bosnian, becomes more accessible if you speak Bulgarian.

Travel, Culture, and History

Learning Bulgarian is a great way to get acquainted with the country’s rich culture, which is especially important if you plan to travel to Bulgaria. And why wouldn’t you? Bulgaria is a hidden gem that’s both naturally beautiful and historically significant. From the breathtaking Balkan Mountains to the bustling Black Sea coast, there are countless ways to take in the beauty of nature in Bulgaria.

Dating back to 1500 BC, the country has a long history and the artifacts to show for it. There’s no shortage of fortresses, ancient theatres and churches, tombs, stadiums, and other historical sites to explore, including an impressive nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites!

Being able to communicate in Bulgarian even a little bit opens the door to experiencing the culture and history on a different level. And being able to order a delicious traditional Bulgarian meal isn’t half bad either! 😋

Getting Started with Bulgaro

Ready to get started with Bulgaro and learn Bulgarian? Great, because we can’t wait to welcome you to our amazing community of Bulgarian language learners!

To access Bulgaro, simply visit our homepage to register or log in. Don’t forget to check out our discussion board and join our growing Facebook community, too. These resources will help you connect with others who are learning Bulgarian, just like you! They’ll also give you access to our Bulgarian experts, who are always happy to answer questions.

Before you embark on your language learning journey, set some goals to help you track your progress. Just make sure they’re reasonable and attainable. We also recommend scheduling time to use Bulgaro without distractions regularly, even if it’s just half an hour a few times a week. In other words, set yourself up for success and let us take care of the lesson plans!

Welcome to Bulgaro or shall we say, Добре дошли на Българо!