The fastest way to learn Macedonian is to spend most of your study time on Macedonian you can mostly understand. That kind of Macedonian is called comprehensible input. What you read and listen to should change as you improve, so the plan below shows what to do at each level and how to split an hour of study.
What to Do at Each Level
Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.
- First Week
I can't read Cyrillic yet.
Learn Cyrillic 40 min. Listen 20 min.
The Macedonian alphabet has 31 letters, including Ѓ, Ќ, Ѕ, Љ and Њ, and each letter stands for one sound. Learn them first, and listen to easy Macedonian while you do, so the sounds start to feel familiar.
- Level 1
I can sound out words but not much else.
Read and listen 35 min. Review 15 min. Speak 10 min.
Read LingQ's Mini Stories with their audio, and watch the beginner videos from Macedonian Language Corner, which come with translations. Review the words you saved, then say a few lines out loud.
- Level 2
I can handle simple exchanges.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 10 min. Speak 10 min.
Listen to Makedonkast, a podcast in slow Macedonian, and read a first-grade school book from е-учебници. Look up only the words that stop you, and start short talks with a tutor or a friend.
- Level 3
I follow conversations on familiar topics.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 5 min. Speak 15 min.
Listen to the news and stories on SBS Macedonian, and watch Македонски народни приказни, a TV series of short folk tales you can find on YouTube. Talk about what you heard for longer.
- Level 4
I understand most content but miss some nuance.
Read and watch 45 min. Review 5 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch shows from MRT, North Macedonia's public broadcaster, one episode a week. Read about North Macedonia and the Balkans on DW in Macedonian.
- Level 5
I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch Turkish series dubbed into Macedonian, and read news and articles about things you like. Look up only the words that block the story, with Readlang to tap them on the page.
- Level 6
I read at near-native level.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read Macedonian novels and newspapers, and talk about them, for their own sake. Look up rare words in the Interpretive Dictionary of the Macedonian Language, which explains them in Macedonian.
Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Macedonian?
Macedonian takes 1,012 class hours, or about 44 weeks of full-time study, to reach professional fluency, according to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. That puts Macedonian in the third of its four groups for English speakers, with Bulgarian, Russian and Polish.
| Language | FSI group | Full-time weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | Category I | 30 |
| German | Category II | 36 |
| Macedonian, Bulgarian | Category III | 44 |
| Japanese | Category IV | 88 |
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje teaches Macedonian to foreign students in a one-year course of 480 hours, with A1 in the first semester and A2 in the second. Each semester has 60 hours of lectures and exercises and 180 hours of projects, independent work and homework, so A1 takes 240 hours and A1 and A2 take 480. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:
| Study per week | Ss. Cyril and Methodius A1 (240 hours) | Ss. Cyril and Methodius A1–A2 (480 hours) | FSI professional fluency (1,012 hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3½ hours | About 16 months | About 2⅔ years | About 5½ years |
| 7 hours | About 8 months | About 16 months | About 2¾ years |
| 14 hours | About 4 months | About 8 months | About 17 months |
| 28 hours | About 2 months | About 4 months | About 8 months |
The FSI numbers are class hours, and the university's include homework, so treat them as a rough guide. Time you spend understanding Macedonian on your own counts too.
What Slows Learners Down
- Missing the Short PronounsWhen the object is a definite person or thing, Macedonian names it twice. In Јас го видов човекот, “I saw the man,” го is a short word for “him” that points to the man. Notice these short words in everything you read.
- Article Tables AloneMacedonian puts “the” at the end of a word, in three forms: книгата is “the book,” книгава is “this book here,” and книгана is “that book over there.” A table of these endings is hard to use until you have read each one in many sentences.
- Content Far Too HardA Macedonian series where you know one word in five teaches you very little.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Macedonian app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Macedonian, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our Macedonian app comparison covers courses, tutors and speaking apps too.
Can I learn Macedonian in three months?
You can learn Cyrillic and enough Macedonian to greet people and introduce yourself. At 14 hours a week, three months is about 180 hours, which is three quarters of the 240 hours Ss. Cyril and Methodius University plans for A1.
How much should I study Macedonian each week?
Aim for three to five hours a week of Macedonian you understand, in sessions of at least 15 to 30 minutes. A longer session lets you get lost in a story, which teaches more than five minutes a day, and steady time each week matters more than a daily streak. Our post on deep sessions over daily streaks explains why.
Is Macedonian hard for English speakers?
Yes, by the Foreign Service Institute's measure: Macedonian is in its third group, and its 44 weeks are about one and a half times the 30 weeks for Spanish. Macedonian nouns have almost no case endings, and in words of three or more syllables the stress falls on the third syllable from the end. Most of the time goes into the words and the verbs, which you pick up fastest from Macedonian you understand.
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 your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
The Macedonian Cyrillic course on this site is also free and needs no account.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Macedonian alphabet (31 letters, one letter for each sound)
- U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (FSI language categories)
- Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Philology “Blaže Koneski”, Report on the one-year study program Macedonian Language for Foreign Students (480 hours for A1 and A2)
- Wikipedia, Macedonian language (stress on the third syllable from the end; three definite articles)
- Wikipedia, Macedonian grammar (Macedonian has lost the noun cases)
