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Friday, May 27, 2011

"Vukova crtanka" - part two

The previous post with Serbian proverbs and sayings covered letters from A to Đ, and now we continue from E to Ž:
E
1. E, darovnome konju zubi se ne gledaju (Don't look a gift horse in the mouth) - nowadays we tend to say "Poklonu se u zube ne gleda" (obviously the word "horse" is omitted, which makes this modern version a bit funny, but it's widely used)
2. E, da sam juče umro ne bih to danas čuo
(literally: If I'd died yesterday I wouldn't hear it today)
3. E, dok jednom ne smrkne, drugom ne svane
(the death of the wolves is the safety of the sheep) -here's the fun definition 
4. E, dok se čovek dima ne nadimi, ne može se ogrejati.
(you must take the rough with the smooth)

Ž ( Ж is my favourite letter in the Cyrillic script)
1- Žena muža nosi na licu, a muž ženu na košulji
(literally: "A wife wears a man on her face, and a husband wears his wife on his shirt", which obviously mean that one can judge how a husband treats his wife by looking at her face, while one can judge how a wife takes care of her husband by looking at his shirt)
2. Žedna preko vode prevesti
(pull the wool over sombody's eyes)
3. Žena će samo onu tajnu sačuvati koju ne zna
(a woman can keep only the secret which she doesn't know)
4. Ženi sina kad hoćeš, a ćerku kad  možeš
(Marry your son when you will, your daughter when you can)

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Oluja u Novom Sadu

My friend Gale takes such lovely photos, so I recently  asked him to allow me to use them in this blog. I was happy when he agreed. That's why I'm sending Gale a huge HVALA :-)


I'll start with the yesterday photos of the streets of Novi Sad, after the storm:

VOCABULARY:
oluja = storm
kiša = rain
grad (with very short "a") = hail
poplava = flood
automobil = car
taksi = taxi

TASK - answer the following questions
(you can write your answers in the comments)
1. Šta vidiš na slici?
2. Kakvo je vreme bilo juče u Novom Sadu (na osnovu slike) ?
3. Da li je grad bio poplavljen ?
4. Kakvi sve problemi mogu da se jave posle ovakvog nevremena ?
5. Da li ti se sviđa vreme u Srbiji ? Zašto ?
6. Da li voliš kada grmi i seva ? Zašto?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Verbs of Movement in Locative, Dative and Accusative Case in Serbian Language

In the Serbian language, one can express location using the verbs which require nouns in different cases.
The dative and locative case have the same form, but wheras the dative case needs a verb which  denotes movement and direction, the locative case requires a stative verb or verbs expressing who we are talking about 
Dative: 
Sg. Fem. Kreni prema kući. Prilazim crkvi. (krenuti prema = leave for, prilaziti = approach)
Sg. Masc. Idi ka Beogradu. Kreni prema muzeju. (ići prema, krenuti prema)
Sg. Neuter. Idi ka selu. Krećemo se ka jezeru.  (ići ka, kretati ka = "ka" is the same as "prema")
Plural: Prilazimo + kućama, crkvama, jezerima, selima, muzejima
Locative: 
Sg. Fem. Sedim u kući. Ja sam u crkvi. (sedeti u = sit in )
Sg. Masc. On priča o Briselu. (pričati = to talk)
Sg. Neuter. Nalazim se u selu. (nalaziti se  = to be in/at)
Plural: Pričam o + kućama, crkvama, oblacima, dvorištima, selima (I'm talking about houses, churches, clouds, gardens and villages)

The accusative case is also used with the verbs which denote movement, but it denotes the aim  or goal, as can be seen in the following examples:
Sg. Fem. Idem u Budimpeštu. Ptica sleće na granu. (ići u = go to, sleteti=land)
Sg. Masc. Izađi pred muzej.  Avion sleće na aerodrom. (izađi pred = come to, sleteti)
Sg. Neuter. Izađi u dvorište. Stigli smo na selo. (stići = arrive)
Pl. Fem: Ptice sleću na grane. 
Pl. Masc. Izađi pred muzeje.
Pl. Neuter. Reka teče kroz sela. 

Friday, May 20, 2011

Subtitles In Serbian :-)



Homework: 
Translate this dialogue between little Fedex (Federer) and Rafo (Rafael) into your mother tongue :-)
Let me start with the Serbian - English translation:
Title: Federer i Nadal se svađaju zbog Noleta
=Federer and Nadal are quarrelling about Nole

Rafo zašto si opet izgubio od Noleta ?
= Rafa, why did you lose to Nole again
Fedex, muka mi je više od tvojih prigovora!
=Fedex, I'm fed up with your complaints!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Practise Plural Nouns in the Serbian Language




Devojka iz grada (City Girl) 
Miroslav Ilić 


Ja sam rođen u __________  (flowers) livada 
čuvar stada pokraj reke Gruže 
al zavoleh devojku iz grada 
sa _________ (lips) ko pupoljak ruže. 

Bele __________ (hands), a prsti ko dirke 
pričaju mi najnežnije __________ (fairy tales) 
zalud uzdah iz grudi pastirke 
zalud ___________ (tears) moje stare majke. 

Sin sam plavih ________ (woods) i livada 
gajih dobre ___________ (horses) i volove 
zbog lepote devojke iz grada 
zaboravih __________ (hills) i dolove. 

Zvao sam je ___________ (streets) dugim 
i venuo ko trava jesenja 
jednog dana spazih je sa drugim 
zagrljenu u senci ________ (chestnut tree) 

Šta sad mogu već ________ (pain) svoj da patim 
mladost moju da tužim za celo 
__________ (had to) sam kući da se vratim 
svome domu u rođeno selo 

I sad opet svoga vranca jašem 
i u _________ (inn) krčmim svoja stada 
kitim svirce i razbijam __________ (glasses) 
i proklinjem devojku iz grada.

Friday, May 06, 2011

Djurdjevdan, Serbian Slava

Advanced Serbian: Listening / Reading Comprehension Exercise

1. Listen to this audio file first:
Listen!

2. Go to this quiz page I prepared for you, and try to answer the quesitons correctly, while listening to the audio once again.

3. If you'd prefer just to read the text about Đurđevdan in the Cyrillic script and try to answer the quiz questions, visit this page first, before doing the quiz.

Srećna Slava svima koji slave Đurđevdan :)

Monday, May 02, 2011

"Vukova crtanka" - part one

Recently my son showed me his newly bought booklet with numerous proverbs, adages, tongue twisters and riddles called "Vukova crtanka" (Vuk's Colouring Book). Let me list my favourite ones:

A - Ako je neko lud, ne budi mu drug.
      Ako hoćeš koga da poznaš, podaj mu vlast.
B -  Bez alata nema zanata.
      Bolje umeti, nego imati.
V - Videla žaba gde se konj potkiva, pa i ona digla nogu.
      Veselo je srce golemo blago.
G - Gladnog ne teši, već nahrani.
      Gde je stida, tu je i poštenja.
D - Delo čoveka hvali.
     Dogovor kuću gradi.
Đ - Đe (gde) je obraz tu je i duša.
     Đe će kruška no pod krušku.

Q-A:
Pitao sin oca, kad je po svetu hteo poći:
- Od šta mi se valja najviše čuvati ?
- Od tuđe muke.

Tongue Twisters: (audio)
Pitala metla metlu, gde je metla metlu; Metla metla metlu iza vrata.
Čokančićem ćeš me, čokančićem ću te!
Cvrči, cvrči cvrčak, trči, trči trčak; trči, trči trk! Trčak trkom trči, crni cvrčak cvrči!

Part 2

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Easter Egg Hunt

SkolaSrpskog.com Easter Egg Hunt finished on Tuesday. Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to everyone for joining ! It wasn't easy  to find an egg and then to record an answer in Serbian. All the members of Learn Serbian Podcast FaceBook group were able to follow this exciting hunt. I'm publishing the results now ... you can read them as "This prize is in..." = Ova nagrada je u ..." or "This egg is now in..." = "Ovo jaje je sada u ..." 

Since the first egg at the top, worth 3 months of free Aktivator membership, was the most difficult to find, and wasn't claimed at all, I'll give it to Silvina from Argentina, the woman behind @NovakFunClub . There was also one more unclaimed egg, worth one month of free SkolaSrpskog Aktivator, which I'm giving to Tina - a dedicated student from the Netherlands. Čestitke svima  :-)

Advanced Serbian - Srpski kao drugi jezik

Gde je ključ? Где је кључ? - Učimo srpski sa Marinom
Gde je ključ? ...
Where is the Key?-...
By Marina Petrović
Photo book