No: Duolingo has no Bulgarian course, from English or any other language. Where to learn Bulgarian instead, from A1 to B2, and your first Bulgarian words.
Author: QlangoPublished: 3 min read
No, Duolingo doesn't have Bulgarian. Duolingo has no Bulgarian course for English speakers, and none from any other language: we read Duolingo's full course catalogue on 1 November 2026, and Bulgarian isn't in it.
A disclosure: we make Qlango, a language app that teaches Bulgarian, so we have an interest here. The Duolingo fact above is plain fact, and you can check it yourself on Duolingo's course list.
The nearest thing is the alphabet. Duolingo's Russian and Ukrainian courses use Cyrillic, and most Cyrillic letters are shared with Bulgarian. The languages themselves are a different story: Bulgarian is South Slavic, its grammar works very differently from Russian's, and a Russian course won't teach you to speak Bulgarian. Its closest relative, Macedonian, isn't on Duolingo either. Babbel and Busuu don't offer Bulgarian (checked November 2026).
Qlango teaches Bulgarian from A1 to B2, the four CEFR levels from beginner to upper intermediate. At A1 and A2 you introduce yourself, talk about daily life in simple sentences and get through everyday exchanges. At B2 you can hold a real conversation on familiar topics and follow the main points of articles and longer talk without either side straining.
A lesson gives you short example sentences in Bulgarian Cyrillic, with the translation in the language you learn from. You answer them in different ways, such as flashcards, picking one of two answers, matching pairs, putting scrambled words in order, writing what you hear and typing the translation in Cyrillic yourself. An AI voice reads each example aloud, and you can slow it down, which helps with Bulgarian stress: it isn't written, and it can fall on any syllable. When you finish a lesson, it comes back after one, two, four and eight days and then once more, and examples you needed a hint for return in harder questions later.
You choose the language you learn from. If that's another Slavic language, a good part of the vocabulary will feel familiar.
Russian has six noun cases, Polish and Czech seven. Bulgarian gave nearly all of them up, so a noun doesn't change its ending for its role in the sentence. Prepositions and word order do that work instead, much as in English.
What Bulgarian has instead is a definite article stuck to the end of the noun:
| Bulgarian | Meaning |
|---|---|
| жена (zhena) | woman |
| жената (zhenata) | the woman |
| село (selo) | village |
| селото (seloto) | the village |
It also has no infinitive. "I want to drink coffee" is Искам да пия кафе (iskam da piya kafe), roughly "I want that I drink coffee".
If you read Russian Cyrillic, three things are new. Bulgarian has no ы, э or ё. The letter ъ is a full vowel, close to the sound in English "but", and it's in the country's own name, България. And щ is said "sht": щастие (happiness) is shtastie.
| Bulgarian | Roughly | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Здравей | zdravey | hi, to one person you know |
| Добър ден | dobar den | good day |
| Благодаря | blagodarya | thank you |
| Моля | molya | please, you're welcome |
| Извинете | izvinete | excuse me |
| Довиждане | dovizhdane | goodbye |
To greet several people, or anyone you'd address formally, say здравейте (zdraveyte). Our full guide to learning Bulgarian covers the alphabet, the verbs and a four-week starter plan.
No. As of November 2026, Duolingo has no Bulgarian course, from English or from any other language.
It depends on what you need. If you want a course organised by CEFR level, in Cyrillic from the first lesson, with a set schedule for reviewing, Qlango teaches Bulgarian from A1 to B2. Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu don't teach Bulgarian (checked November 2026).
Qlango is free to download on iPhone and Android, and you can start your first Bulgarian lesson without creating an account. It also works in your browser.
We can't say. Duolingo's course list changes over time, so check its catalogue if you're reading this much later.
Bulgarian isn't the only gap. See every language Duolingo doesn't teach, or compare Qlango and Duolingo side by side. Your first Bulgarian lesson takes about five minutes.
Learn a language free
Get the appby QlangoReview
No: Duolingo has no Afrikaans course. Why Dutch isn't the same thing, how to learn Afrikaans in Qlango instead, and your first Afrikaans words.
Read moreby QlangoReview
No: Duolingo has no Armenian course, from English or any other language. Where to learn Armenian from A1 to B2 instead, and your first Armenian words.
Read moreby QlangoReview
No: Duolingo has no Azerbaijani course, but it teaches Turkish, a close relative. What Turkish gives you, what it doesn't, and how to learn Azerbaijani.
Read more