Bulgarian typing practice
Learn to touch type in Bulgarian, free in your browser: lessons built from real Bulgarian words, Bulgarian books to type, and every Cyrillic letter on the standard BDS layout or the phonetic one.
What you can practise
Smart Lessons in Bulgarian
Real Bulgarian words in Cyrillic script, built around your slowest key. You start on six keys and add a letter at a time as the others come up to speed.
The Bulgarian alphabet
Every letter in order against the clock, with how to type each Bulgarian letter on your keyboard.
Typing games in Bulgarian
Pilot and Spaceship: steer through the gaps or shoot down enemy ships by typing Bulgarian words.
6 Bulgarian books
Classic Bulgarian books, out of copyright, typed a passage at a time.
Bulgarian letters
Bulgarian is written in a 30-letter Cyrillic alphabet, with letters English has no match for, such as ж, ш, щ, ъ, ю and я. Щ is said "sht", and ъ is a full vowel, as in "България" and "път" (road). Some letters look Latin but are not: р is r, с is s, н is n. Smart Lessons bring each letter in once the letters before it are up to speed.
Two layouts are in daily use. The national standard, BDS, places letters by how often they are used, not by sound: у, е, и, ш, щ, к across the top row, а and о under the left fingers. The phonetic layout puts each letter on a Latin key that sounds alike, а on A and б on B, which is why many people who also type English prefer it. Windows' Bulgarian (Phonetic) is the newer one, with ч on Q and ш on W (Windows also offers Bulgarian (Phonetic Traditional)); macOS and Linux use the traditional one, with я on Q and в on W.
On a Bulgarian keyboard
Windows: Bulgarian · macOS: Bulgarian · Linux: Bulgarian
Add it in Windows under Settings > Time & language > Language & region, in macOS under System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources, in Linux under Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources.
| Letter | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| а | АD | АD | АD |
| б | Б/ | Б/ | Б/ |
| в | ВL | ВL | ВL |
| г | ГH | ГH | ГH |
| д | ДO | ДO | ДO |
| е | ЕE | ЕE | ЕE |
| ж | ЖG | ЖG | ЖG |
| з | ЗP | ЗP | ЗP |
| и | ИR | ИR | ИR |
| й | ЙX | ЙX | ЙX |
| к | КU | КU | КU |
| л | Л. | Л. | Л. |
| м | М; | М; | М; |
| н | НK | НK | НK |
| о | ОF | ОF | ОF |
| п | ПM | ПM | ПM |
| р | Р, | Р, | Р, |
| с | СI | СI | СI |
| т | ТJ | ТJ | ТJ |
| у | УW | УW | УW |
| ф | ФB | ФB | ФB |
| х | ХN | ХN | ХN |
| ц | Ц[ | Ц[ | Ц[ |
| ч | Ч' | Ч' | Ч' |
| ш | ШT | ШT | ШT |
| щ | ЩY | ЩY | ЩY |
| ъ | ЪC | ЪC | ЪC |
| ь | ЬA | ЬA | ЬA |
| ю | ЮZ | ЮZ | ЮZ |
| я | ЯS | ЯS | ЯS |
On a US or UK keyboard
Windows: Bulgarian (Phonetic) · macOS: Bulgarian – Phonetic · Linux: Bulgarian (traditional phonetic)
Add it the same way. Letters sit on the Latin keys that sound alike, but Windows and macOS or Linux differ on в, ж, ч, ш, ь, ю and я, so check your system's column.
| Letter | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|---|---|---|
| а | АA | АA | АA |
| б | БB | БB | БB |
| в | ВV | ВW | ВW |
| г | ГG | ГG | ГG |
| д | ДD | ДD | ДD |
| е | ЕE | ЕE | ЕE |
| ж | ЖX | ЖV | ЖV |
| з | ЗZ | ЗZ | ЗZ |
| и | ИI | ИI | ИI |
| й | ЙJ | ЙJ | ЙJ |
| к | КK | КK | КK |
| л | ЛL | ЛL | ЛL |
| м | МM | МM | МM |
| н | НN | НN | НN |
| о | ОO | ОO | ОO |
| п | ПP | ПP | ПP |
| р | РR | РR | РR |
| с | СS | СS | СS |
| т | ТT | ТT | ТT |
| у | УU | УU | УU |
| ф | ФF | ФF | ФF |
| х | ХH | ХH | ХH |
| ц | ЦC | ЦC | ЦC |
| ч | ЧQ | Ч` | Ч` |
| ш | ШW | Ш[ | Ш[ |
| щ | Щ] | Щ] | Щ] |
| ъ | ЪY | ЪY | ЪY |
| ь | Ь\ | ЬX | ЬX |
| ю | Ю` | Ю\ | Ю\ |
| я | Я[ | ЯQ | ЯQ |
Tips for typing Bulgarian
Choose one layout and keep it
BDS and phonetic put most letters in different places, so switching between them undoes your practice. Phonetic is quicker to learn if you already type English; BDS is the national standard.
On BDS, start from the home row
The BDS home row reads ь я а о ж г т н в м ч: а and о under the left middle and index fingers, т and н under the right index and middle. Learn that row first; е and и are just above it, on E and R.
On phonetic, learn the odd keys
Most phonetic letters are obvious, but ъ is on Y, ц on C, and on macOS and Linux ч, ш, щ and ю sit on `, [, ] and \. Words such as "още" and "чаша" make good practice for those reaches.
Shift from the other hand
Capitals are Shift with the letter. Use the Shift on the other side from the letter: on BDS the left one for Т in "Търново", which is under your right index finger.