Language barrier

Understanding the Language Barrier in Bulgarian – B1 Level

This lesson focuses on the concept of the "language barrier" and equips you with essential vocabulary and expressions in Bulgarian to discuss communication challenges effectively. You will learn how to describe situations where language differences cause misunderstandings or difficulties, an important skill for everyday interactions and travel.

Key Vocabulary and Expressions

• Езикова бариера (language barrier) – the main term used to describe communication difficulties between speakers of different languages.
• Не разбирам – I don't understand. Useful when you want to politely indicate confusion.
• Може ли да повторите? – Can you repeat? A common phrase to ask for clarification.
• Бавно, моля – Slowly, please. Helps when the other person speaks too fast.
• Говорите ли английски? – Do you speak English? Handy when checking if the other person can switch languages.
• Трудно ми е да говоря – It's difficult for me to speak. Expresses your struggle with the language.

Lesson Highlights

The lesson provides practical dialogue examples illustrating common scenarios where language barriers arise, such as in shops, restaurants, and public transport. It emphasizes polite ways to ask for repetition or clarification, which are crucial for maintaining good communication despite language limits.

Instruction Language Compared to Bulgarian

In English, sentence structure is fairly fixed, with subject-verb-object order, whereas Bulgarian allows more flexibility and uses different verb conjugations and endings to express tense and mood. For instance, Bulgarian verbs change according to gender and number, something less emphasized in English. Additionally, Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which requires learning a new script, unlike the Latin alphabet used for English.

Examples of useful phrases and their English equivalents:
Как се казвате? (What is your name?)
Извинете, не разбрах. (Sorry, I did not understand.)
Можете ли да говорите по-бавно? (Can you speak more slowly?)