What language do North Macedonians speak?

That was my big question of the past week. The simplest answer is "Macedonian," but that's not really helpful.

A better answer is, "a dialect that's somewhere along the South Slav language continuum -- kinda Serbian, and kinda Bulgarian." The best way to illustrate it is with this map. [Source]

Historically, the people of Macedonia considered themselves Bulgarian, but then the 20th century happened, and political considerations promoted a more separate identity for the Macedonians.

To their northern neighbors, "Macedonian is basically Serbian with a speech disorder." For Macedonians, Serbian can be easier to understand because a lot of their pop culture and television come from Serbia. For the Bulgarians, Macedonian sounds archaic and funny to them, like how their grandparents used to talk.

So I imagine it's kind of similar to the relationship among Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. If you know what you're listening for, it can be easy to understand, and easier to read, but new words and slang can really throw you off.