After four years of living here in Bulgaria (yes, FOUR!), I finally decided to take Bulgarian language lessons. In my defense, we only live here about half the year and travel the rest… so I’ve been here for over 2 years 😉
But seriously, there is no excuse. I was the typical lazy English speaker!
Stumbling on the few Bulgarian words I know, while relying on English the rest of the time – in a country where only about 30% of people speak it – that’s not really enough.
It’s time to dive into the (somewhat) intimidating world of Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet and become a better resident of the country we now call home. we love Bulgaria! (translate: we love Bulgaria!)
The importance of learning a language
When living abroad, it is very important to be able to immerse yourself in the community. And what’s better than actually speaking their language!
Not only do locals appreciate the effort, but if you live somewhere (whether temporarily or permanently) it’s a bit ignorant. not has.
You will have a stronger bond with people and you will be able to easily carry out important daily tasks (supermarkets, doctors, transport, etc.), not to mention that you will be able to avoid paying the “tourist rate” in many cases!
I really enjoy being able to speak the local language and look forward to being able to speak some Bulgarian.
Why I chose Preply over other language learning options
I’ve tried the app route before, I used one when we were live in China and it was good for grabbing a handful of words. And I took in-person Spanish classes in Mexico for a few months while we were live in San Pancho.
But since we travel a lot, taking virtual classes is really convenient. And for me, I like having the human element rather than learning solely from an app.
We have been partners with Pre-response for years – promote become a tutor as a great way to earn money online for travelers and aspiring digital nomads.
This is a highly rated company on Trusted Driver and the reviews on Reddit and other blogs and YouTube channels are also good.
So when they asked us if we wanted to try it on the student side, I jumped at the chance! I’m excited to share my honest opinion on the lessons I took online with my Preply Tutor, Tanya.
How Preply works: finding your ideal tutor
To start Pre-response is quite simple.
First, you choose the language you want to learn (Bulgarian in my case), then you indicate what your goals are (I chose culture, travel and leisure), then you choose when you want to achieve this goal and add the learning style you prefer.
You can also choose if you prefer your tutor to be a native speaker (I do) and then add your budget per lesson. Everything is multiple choice and very easy to fill out.
From there, I simply created a profile with my email, name and the time zone I’m currently in and uploaded a photo of myself – I didn’t need to add my phone number, which was nice.
Finally, it was It’s time to choose my tutor! This part took me longer than I expected because I wanted to make sure I chose a tutor who had good reviews and who “felt” like the right fit for me.
Luckily for me, Bulgarian isn’t a very popular language so there weren’t many tutors to filter through!
You can filter by price, teaching style, native or non-native speaker, and more. I spent a while watching intro videos before landing on Tanya, and I’m really glad I did.
For a language as specialized as Bulgarian, I didn’t know how many teachers there would be and I was happy with my choice.
One thing I liked: Preply offers a discounted trial class so you can test the connection with the tutor before committing. And if you don’t agree with them, you can try another tutor for free.
What to expect from your first lesson
My first lesson with Tanya was a video call via the Preply platform – there was no need to download any software.
She started by asking me a few questions about my life here in Bulgaria: where I live, why I want to learn. It immediately felt like a real conversation rather than a classroom.
She quickly assessed my level (basically zero, let’s be honest) and came up with a rough plan of where to start and where she hoped to take me. We immediately dove into reading the alphabet – which being the Cyrillic alphabet is quite difficult!
What I loved is that she your own learning material – PDFs and documents that she shared with me throughout the lessons. It’s good to have a visual when learning, that’s for sure. And she sent them to me after the lesson for me to keep.
Although I struggled a bit, Tanya gave me great feedback and I left that first lesson excited to learn more.
Tackling Bulgarian… harder than expected
Bulgarian is not an easy language for English speakers. It is a South Slavic language, which means that the grammatical structure, sounds, and – most intimidating – the alphabet are all completely different from English.
Not to mention that some words contain so many consonants! My mouth has trouble moving this way.
Bulgarian has cases (meaning word endings change depending on how they are used in a sentence), verb conjugations that vary by gender and number, and sounds that simply don’t exist in English.
When we were travel through Russia and Central AsiaI was able to read a lot of Russian words – which contain 27 letters identical to those of the Bulgarian alphabet.
Despite everything, I forgot a lot of things and during the lessons it was a challenge. Tanya started our very first lesson with the alphabet, and I’m so glad she did.
In just a few lessons, I could pronounce words and read much faster. That said, reading fluently is a long way off for me – I’m still trying to remember what’s in the letter. ‘F’ it seems.
There were definitely times in my classes where my brain felt full!
But there’s something satisfying about slowly cracking the code of a language that once seemed completely impossible. Every little victory during my classes felt HUGE.
How my classes were structured from week to week
Each lesson with Tanya followed a flexible but coherent structure.
First, there was a warm-up reviewing vocabulary or grammar from the previous session, new material from the day (grammar concept, alphabet or vocabulary topic), practice through conversation or exercises, and a mini assignment to work on before next time.
There was a lot of talking and talking too, so it wasn’t just about learning the alphabet or grammar.
I loved how she asked me what I thought about this plan for the lesson, and if there was anything else I would prefer to learn. She really adapted to my needs.
The “homework” was simply for me to practice and study what we had learned that week in order to become familiar with it. And go practice Bulgarian in the real world!
I do two classes a weekwhich is manageable alongside normal life and work. I would recommend at least once a week, twice a week if your schedule and budget allows – consistency makes a real difference.
The cost of Preply
Tutor prices on Preply vary widely: you’ll find tutors ranging from around $10/hour up to $80+/hour depending on their qualifications and experience.
Tanya’s rate was a bit high at $35 for a 50 minute lesson compared to most other Bulgarian teachers.
BUT, I still chose her based on her reviews, her qualifications, and her energy on the intro video she made! Having been his student now, and considering the quality of his lessons and his patience with me while I learned, the price was right.
Choosing the tutor that suits you is SO important.
There is also a Preply subscription option that helps you stay consistent in your language learning by automatically scheduling and renewing lessons with the same tutor each week. Obviously, this helps create accountability and momentum.
Take lessons with Preply is more expensive than an app, of course. But it’s also infinitely more effective because you’re learning from a native speaker and practicing your conversational skills!
What Preply does well (and where there is room for improvement)
Preply’s tutor market is impressive. The range of languages available (there are 90!), prices, tutors and teaching styles mean there really is someone for everyone.
The platform itself is clean and easy to use, the built-in lesson space works well, and because there is an option to change tutors if you’re unhappy, it takes a lot of the risk out of getting started.
Tutors are selected before being able to join the platform. They must provide identification ity issued by the government, their profiles are reviewed and their credentials (if applicable) are verified.
Keep in mind that tutors are not required to have specific qualifications (if they do, they will be listed on their profile).
The best indicators of a professional tutor are usually a high number of completed lessons, excellent reviews, and proven experience teaching a specific language or subject.
The only thing I didn’t like about Preply was the emphasis on the subscription model – which I understand because the more lessons you take consistently, the faster you’ll learn. But I was trying to book a few lessons at a time and it wasn’t so easy to do.
Who I would recommend Preply to
If you are planning to travel or live abroad somewhere temporarily or more permanently, I highly recommend learning a little of the local language!
Preply is perfect for you if:
- You want flexible individual lessons that fit your life
- You are traveling or are a digital nomad who plans to spend a month or so in a destination
- You are the type of person who wants to become more immersed in the places you visit
- You want to make real conversational progress
This might not be the ideal solution if you’re looking for a completely standalone solution. For this, applications or YouTube will serve you better. But if you really want to speak a language, there’s no substitute for a great tutor.
Do I really speak Bulgarian now?
Ha! Okay, “speaking Bulgarian” might be an exaggeration. But so far, after my lessons with Tanya, I can confidently read the alphabet, navigate basic in-store interaction, introduce myself, and have greatly expanded my vocabulary.
For someone who spent four years pointing and smiling, this feels like a huge victory.
I continue my lessons, it is not inevitable for me. Bulgaria is our home, I want to honor it properly and I am finally doing something about it.
If you’ve been putting off learning a language, whether it’s the local language you live in or plan to travel, or a language you’ve always wanted to speak, I can’t recommend enough that you take the plunge. And if you want to try Preply, click here to find your ideal tutor!