Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Bulgarian when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Bulgarian you can mostly understand. Easy Bulgarian can be hard to find, and a learner on Reddit says good videos for learning it on YouTube are rare.
These apps, shows, and radio stations give you Bulgarian at your level, or help you follow the Bulgarian you pick yourself. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Bulgarian app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Bulgarian with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Bulgarian about music, food, family, or daily life.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for your level and goals. If a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain the words or the grammar.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help you read Bulgarian you found yourself. For a web page or a video you already picked, the tools in Read and Watch Bulgarian You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- New lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy for help as you read.
- Lesson audio uses AI voices, not recordings of Bulgarian speakers.
- You cannot bring in your own books, articles, or videos.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches Cyrillic
Mobile
Read and Listen to Lessons for Learners
LingQ
LingQ lets you read and listen to Bulgarian from its library or from things you bring in. It highlights the words you have not met yet and the ones you are still learning. A learner on Reddit says its Bulgarian stories with text and audio are great for comprehensible input.
- A Mini Stories course of more than 60 lessons for beginners to read and listen to.
- Song lyrics, children's books, and TEDxSofia talks to read when you know more.
- Bring in your own Bulgarian videos, articles, and books.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
BulgarianPod101
BulgarianPod101 teaches through short recorded conversations, with notes on the words and grammar in each one. A learner on Reddit calls it good for listening practice.
- Short audio and video lessons built around Bulgarian conversations.
- Teachers slow down and explain each word and phrase.
- Slowed-down audio and line-by-line breakdowns help you follow each dialogue.
- Flashcards
- Teaches Cyrillic (partly)
MobileWeb
Hear the News and Radio in Bulgarian
BNR
BNR is Bulgaria's public radio. A Reddit user suggests BNR's news site for reading practice, and the site has audio streams too. It suits learners who know the basics and want to hear real Bulgarian news and talk.
- Listen to Bulgarian National Radio live.
- Read and hear its news, and play its podcasts and video shows.
- Listen to songs and fairy tales for children.
- It is made for people in Bulgaria, so the news and talk are at full speed.
- Doesn't teach Cyrillic
MobileWeb
Read and Watch Bulgarian You Choose
These tools help you learn from Bulgarian web pages and videos you pick yourself. They suit learners who already know what they want to read or watch.
Language Reactor
Language Reactor works with videos on YouTube and Netflix. Its Bulgarian catalogue has news, comedy, and music videos. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- Find Bulgarian YouTube videos by level, from easy to hard.
- See Bulgarian subtitles beside a translation, and look up words as you watch.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
- Doesn't teach Cyrillic
Browser extension
Readlang
Readlang helps you read Bulgarian on the web, such as a news story on BNR's site.
- Tap a word or short phrase on a Bulgarian web page to see what it means.
- Read short Bulgarian texts that other learners share, from beginner dialogues up, each marked with a level.
- Save new words and review them with flashcards.
- Flashcards
- Doesn't teach Cyrillic
WebBrowser extension
Free Videos, Shows, and Stories
Simple Bulgarian is a YouTube channel of comprehensible input videos for learners. Its host reads comics and storybooks, takes you on walks and rides around Bulgaria, and has casual chats. Videos are labeled by level, from beginner to upper intermediate. A learner on Reddit likes it because the host speaks clearly and the videos have captions.
Shows for children are another easy place to start. A learner on Reddit suggests Peppa Pig, because the characters speak clearly and use simple words, and its official Bulgarian channel has whole episodes. Cartoon Network България posts cartoons in Bulgarian on YouTube, including whole episodes of Adventure Time. Детското БНР, the children's site of Bulgarian National Radio, has more than 100 fairy tales to listen to. It also has Новините на детски език, which tells the news in words for children.
For TV, BNT, Bulgaria's public television, streams its four channels live on its website. One of its BNT 1 streams adds subtitles made by a computer, so they can have mistakes.
Learn Bulgarian in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store) and Readlang (its help forum). Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| BulgarianPod101 | 1 | Full list |
| BNR | 1 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
| Readlang | 1 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (8)
- Fluent FictionBulgarian stories as a podcast and an app. Each story is followed by a retelling that switches between Bulgarian and English sentence by sentence, with a transcript and a word list.
- DWNews in Bulgarian from DW, Germany's international broadcaster, with stories and videos about Bulgaria, Europe, and Germany.
- Свободна ЕвропаBulgarian news, reports, and shows from Radio Free Europe.
- Noo SpeakA free email newsletter with short news stories in Bulgarian every weekday, in the length you choose.
- StorytelAudiobooks and e-books in Bulgarian from Storytel's Bulgarian store, with a kids' mode.
- Language PlayerVideos with subtitles you can tap for meanings, with Bulgarian among its languages.
- Bulgarian - Listening SpeakingVideo lessons built from real Bulgarian videos, where you tap any word to see what it means. It is new and growing.
- StoryWeaverFree picture books for children, with a small set in Bulgarian.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to learn the Cyrillic alphabet first?
Yes, if you want to read. Bulgarian uses a Cyrillic alphabet of 30 letters. Bubblegum's free Bulgarian alphabet course teaches them in seven short chapters, right in your browser, starting with letters you already know.
Should I watch shows dubbed into Bulgarian?
People on Reddit disagree. One says dubbed shows use the same Bulgarian as shows made in Bulgaria, just with fewer sayings, and suggests them for beginners. Another says nobody talks the way the dubs do. For a show made in Bulgaria, several people suggest the series Под прикритие for its everyday speech.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- r/bulgaria: How can I learn Bulgarian? (a learner on how rare good YouTube content is, the Simple Bulgarian channel, and Peppa Pig in Bulgarian)
- r/bulgaria: How can I learn bulgarian as fast as possible? (LingQ's Bulgarian stories, and BulgarianPod101 for listening)
- r/bulgaria: Best way to learn bulgarian language (BNR's news site and audio streams)
- r/bulgaria: What are the best shows to learn Bulgarian? (dubbed shows for beginners, and the series Под прикритие)
- r/bulgaria: Learning Bulgarian language (a Bulgarian speaker on dubs, and Новините на детски език)
- r/bulgaria: Learning Bulgarian for free online (Под прикритие for everyday speech)
- Simple Bulgarian: a comprehensible input video library on YouTube
- Детското БНР: Приказки (fairy tales podcast)
- BNT 1 live stream with automatic subtitles
- Britannica: Bulgarian alphabet
- Bubblegum
- LingQ
- BulgarianPod101
- BNR
- Language Reactor
- Readlang
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
