Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Monday, December 15, 2014

Greetings in Serbian Pronounced

Greetings in Serbian with Pronunciation

After trying to record the pronunciation for the basic Serbian lesson greetings with my computer running on Ubunty, it hasn't occurred to me to try switching to Windows. Once I did it, I saw how simple it was to make these little Quizlets even more useful! 

Let's learn the greetings by simply listening to the pronunciation of the following words for saying hello and goodbye:

dobar dan - good afternoon
dobro veče - good evening
dobro jutro - good morning
kako ste? - how are You?
kako si? - how are you?
dobro, hvala! - well, thanks!
doviđenja - goodbye
ćao - hi / goodbye
zdravo - bye bye / goodbye
zdravo - hello
laku noć - good night

Exercises with Greetings in Serbian

Now, let's do a dictation!


Games with Greetings in Serbian

The aim of the first game is to connect the Serbian word or words with its English counterpart.



In the second game, which is real fun, you have to type the word in Serbian until its English translation reaches the end of the screen.... so the bigger the screen, the easier, haha!




Greetings in Serbian


Genitive in Serbian - Exercise with Adjectives

Genitive in Serbian

Let me announce  a series of blog posts about the Genitive in Serbian with exercises. Theory can be easy to learn, but what's more difficult is to actually produce correct sentences and phrases. 



That's why I want to encourage you to play with the Quizlets I make for you and keep saying the words in Serbian out loud, especially while playing the SpaceRace :)

Practising Genitive in Serbian



Here comes the answer key:

od čistog zlata - of pure gold
prljave šolje - (of a) dirty mug
od tamnog odela - of dark suit
od svetlih gradova - of light cities
prijatnih žena - (of) pleasant women
od neprijatane dece - (of) unpleasant children
širokog osmeha - (of) broad smile
iz uske ulice - out of narrow street
od visokog čoveka - from the tall man
od niske žene - from the short woman
iz lepog sela - from the beautiful village
od ružnih pasa - of ugly dogs
od pametnih - from smart friends
od glupih političara - from stupid politicians
od duge suknje - of the long skirt
kratkih rukava - (of) short sleeves
od vrednih ljudi - from hardworking people
od lenje dece - from lazy kids
od dobrih roditelja - of good parents
lošeg uticaja - (of) bad influence
jasnih uputstava - (of) clear directions
nejasnih misli - (of) unclear thought
omiljenih kolača - (of) favorite cookies
udobnog kreveta - (of) comfortable bed
prazne kese - (of) empty bag
pune šake - (of a) full hand
srećne žene - (of a) happy woman
prostranih soba - (of) spacious rooms
nesrećnih kolega - (of) unhappy colleagues
bogatog muža - (of a) rich husband

Test with Genitive in Serbian


So you can try to do the test now :)

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Conjugations in Serbian - to Shave

Why Conjugations of Brijati - To Shave

While I was watching RTS1 today I saw a very interesting and insightful story about a very old "brica", a barber who works in  "berbernica". I looked it up on Youtube, but couldn't find it on RTS1 Channel. However, there was a similar story which can be turned in another interesting lesson at an upper-intermediate or advanced level.



How to use this video and introduce relevant verb conjugations?


  • As usual, it's always great to elicit the vocabulary based on watching the video, without the audio:
  1. BRICA - barber
  2. BRIJATI Present (brijem / brijes/ brije // brijemo / brijete/ briju) -to shave (impf)
  3. BRIJATI Past (brijao / brijala / brijalo // brijali/ brijale/ brijala) - shaved (past)
  4. BRIJANJE - shaving
  5. OBRIJAN - shaved
  6. OBRIJATI - to shave (perf)
  7. IZBRIJATI/IZBRIJVATI/IZBRIJAVANJE - to clean shave
  8. BERBERNICA
  9. Collocations: brijati + bradu/glavu, savladati brijanje, brijanje glave/brade, ucenje brijanja, vezbanje brijanja, oblikovanje brade
  • Now, let's watch the video with audio this time and simply encircle the words, conjugations and collocations as you hear them. 
  • The last step is vocabulary practice, which is soon to be uploaded onto Serbian School website with videos and exercises.



Monday, November 24, 2014

Short Serbian History - Part One

This year I have discovered three real gems for learning Serbian at higher levels:
As I have already written about Naša Snajka and Državni Posao, let me introduce you to  "Mala istorija Srbije" series which present Serbian tradition and history in a didactic and lively manner. For example, while watching the first episode you can learn:



  • until what time it is safe to greet someone saying "dobro jutro"
  • what "stalni gosti" usually drink
  • what "srpski političar" looks like
  • the connotation of the word "stoka"
  • who can save you on February 24th



Now, how can you learn Serbian while watching these videos?




  1. At first turn off the audio and describe what's going on
  2. When watching the video for the second time, do listen to it and ask as many questions as possible (of course, press pause in order to manage this!). So, the aim is to understand what's going on!
  3. Retell the story using the phrases and vocabulary used by Milena, Lane, Vlasta, Vasić and Žika
Have fun! 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Passive Participle Verb Form Exercises

Passive Participle Verb Forms

The Passive Voice in Serbian is not that hard, but the main problem is the verb form called "trpni glagolski pridev", or passive participle in English. Although I have already written about it, it can be useful to mention how to form it:
*VERB STEM + -N/-NA/-NO // -NI/-NE/-NA
Example: NAPISA+TI --- napisaN, napisaNA, napisaNO // napisaNI, napisaNE, napisaNA (to write --- written)

*VERB STEM + -N/-NA/-NO // -NI/-NE/-NA
Example: NAPISA+TI --- napisaN, napisaNA, napisaNO // napisaNI, napisaNE, napisaNA (to write --- written)

*VERB STEM + -T/-TA/-TO // -TI/-TE/-TA
Example: PRODA+TI --- prodaT, prodaTA, prodaTO // prodaTI, prodaTE, prodaTA (to sell --- sold)

*VOICE CHANGES: in some cases with the verb stem ending in  -e or -i:
  • NOSITI - NOŠEN
  • VIDETI - VIĐEN
  • RANITI - RANJEN
*ADDING an infix - V or -J between the stem and the passive suffix:
  • OBUTI - OBUVEN
  • ČUTI - ČUVEN
  • UBITI - UBIJEN
  • ISPITI - ISPIJEN
To exemplify all these changes and forms with real life examples, I am in constant search of good videos. Today I came across a very useful one which I want to share with you! 

Video with Passive Participle 

Passive Participle Verb Practice

You'll be able to practise the passive participle verb forms with the following exercises which are based on the verbs in the first four minutes of the video:


Saturday, November 15, 2014

Past Tense Practice in Serbian

Past Tense Practice in Serbian

You can find lots of useful info on the Simple Past tense in Serbian in some of the previous posts on this blog. Today I'd like to share a cute song I found on Youtube - all you have to do is to listen to it carefully and add the past tense suffixes to the past tense and present tense verbs and a few suffixes with the nouns in plural. 



Dlan_ _ _ ti puni snova
Osmeh boje izazova
Reci, kud si krenu_ _?
U srcu ti ceo svemir
U oč_ _ _ kriješ nemir
Snove si sakri_ _

Zvezd_  su u tvojoj kosi
Kao da te jesen pros_
Nikom neće da te da
Hoda_ lako kao vila
Gde si se do sada kri_ _
To me baš zanima

Samoj sebi već sam čudna
Svake noći ja sam budna
Šta se sa mnom desi_ _
Tvoji prst_ na gitari
I sve te lagane stvar_
Sviraj mi ponovo

Malo čežnje na tvom licu
Leptir slete_ na žicu
Nebo se osmehu_ _
Probaj sa mnom sne da deli_
Šapući mi sve što želiš
Niko nas ne čuje

Hajde da malo proba_ _
Baš to x3
Jagod_ s puno šlaga
Ti si mi tako draga
Pa nek ide sve
Do vraga

Hajde da malo krade_ _
Baš to x3
Osmeh od sladoleda
Noć ima ukus meda
Šta je iza tvog pogleda

Source and download via Youtube channel Vanja Grastić



If you are not sure about the meaning, I prepared a quiz with which you can learn the words, and later on you can try to sing the song :)

Let's learn the vocabulary:
Let's listen:
Let's play:

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Serbian Language Tests - Accusative Plural

There are so many different online tools for making tests, quizzes and fun video exercises and I think you noticed I like experimenting with them while creating various tasks for learning Serbian. Funnily enough, it takes time for some tools to develop and in the meantime, I completely forget about them. One of these is certainly Quizlet, which I joined three years ago, but haven't realized its potential until recently, thanks to my student, Paul! Hvala, Pavle :)

If you flicked through Serbian School website, you probably noticed that I started adding videos and Serbian language tests made with this tool. I even started making classes at different levels, to group the tests, so feel free to join in!

Let me see if I can share some of the tests on this blog as well! This particular exercise is a follow up of a video lesson explaining which phrases to use when shopping:

  • želeti = to want to
  • kupiti = to buy
  • videti = to see
  • želim da kupim = I want to buy
  • želim da vidim = I want to see
Kupiti/videti is followed by the Accusative (čaša - želim da vidim čašu), but in this exercise we practise asking general questions with the Plural noun form, in the Accusative. That's why the idea behind this exercise is for you to turn : I + want + buy + a glass into I want to buy glassES or in Serbian: JA + ŽELETI + KUPITI + ČAŠA into ŽELIM DA KUPIM ČAŠE

Sooooooo, let's give it a try! How well did you do it?

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Serbian for Beginners - Let's Conjugate Together

Video with Verb Conjugations

This video is made for you to practise conjugating Serbian verbs in the Simple Present tense. For more advanced students, this video lesson can be also used for making sentences in the past or future tense or in the conditionals.
  • imati = to have
  • videti = to see
  • voleti = to like
together with nouns which denote:

  • places
  • plants and animals
  • colours
  • entertainment

Conjugations




Monday, October 06, 2014

Learn Serbian Really Quickly

This is another fun exercise for real beginners in Serbian. I am sure it won't be difficult for you to figure out which words are missing :) Have fun!



For some help check out the previous posts with some grammar explanations for beginners in Serbian.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Active and Passive Voice in Serbian

Listen to this interesting story about Filip Vukša, a modest Belgrade hero, and try to do the following exercises dedicated to the verb forms in active and passive voice in Serbian.


a. Exercise 1 - filling in the gaps with the appropriate verb form in active voice.
b. Exercise 2 - turning the verbs which were in the active voice from into passive voice.

For some more exercises about the passive voice verb forms (trpni glagolski pridevi), here come two drills:
a. Lakša vežba
b. Teža vežba

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Jesam or Sam in Serbian?

After uploading a hundred of videos both from Serbian 101 and Serbian 102 course, and revising each of them, Ivan decided to help me with his 3D effects vidos. So far he's made 30 short videos with the verbs used in the course, in the present and past tense so far, but he plans to make 5 more each day.

I'll post some of them here on the blog, but for the complete version, refer to the Serbian101-102 course. Here comes its short description:

Serbian 101 &102 is perfect for absolute and false beginners in Serbian. It is organized in such a way that you can either follow it chronologically, or choose only the topics you are interested in. Each topic consists of an explanatory video lesson and then video exercises with links to follow-up quizzes with instant feedback. 
There are more than 100 lessons making well over 10 hours of video lessons and exercises which take you from the very start to the pre-intermediate level, covering:
  • Tenses: Present Simple and Past Simple Tense
  • Cases: Nominative, Accusative, Instrumental and Locative
  • Modals: Can, Must
  • Pronouns: Personal and Possessive Pronouns
  • Adjectives: Possessive Adjectives and Noun-adjective Agreement
  • Numbers: Cardinal and Ordinal
as well as basic:
  • functions such as:
    • Greetings
    • Introductions
    • Asking for Clarification/Explanation
    • Asking about Directions
    • Giving Directions
    • Requesting 
    • Offering
    • Expressing Likes and Dislikes
    • Asking about Likes and Dislikes
  • situations such as:
      • Meeting People
      • Small Talk
      • In a Restaurant
      • Shopping
      • Arranging a Meeting
      • Talking about Family
      • Talking about Routines
      • Talking about your Life
  • vocabulary topics such as:
    • Family members
    • Numbers
    • Food
    • Souvenirs
    • Places in a city
    • Countries and Cities
    • Means of transport
    • Colours
    • Jobs and occupations

Sunday, June 08, 2014

Shift = Smena

Here comes an ancient song called "Za treću smenu" = "For (people working) night/third shift" by Djordje Balašević. I want to share it with you here because this version is easy to follow, especially with the lyrics in the proper Latin script (not the "ošišana verzija", which is commonly found on Youtube - guess not many people heard of this lovely SlovoMajstor remedy).

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

How to Help Serbia?

Thursday, May 01, 2014

Large Numbers in Serbian

If you are familiar with numbers in Serbian, here comes a new lesson from Serbian 102 course which is a bit more complicated. It is about how to pronounce large numbers.

If this simple exercise is too easy, watch this video survey about the year of the Battle of Kosovo and jot down all the numbers you hear:

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Serbian Fun Expressions and Idioms

In one of my more advanced Serbian lessons there came up a few expressions which I wanted to share with you today. I will copy-paste a part of the text about Jeremija, with whom you can learn Serbian from the very start.  I'll list the tasks below this short excerpt:

Jeremija je bio veoma srećan tog jutra, jer je bio potpuno siguran da će dobiti povišicu na poslu. Njegov šef je u nekoliko navrata natuknuo Jeremiji da će od sledećeg meseca omastiti brk, kao i da je to potpuno zaslužio. Jeremija se pravio lud i uspešno se uzdržavao da ne vuče šefa za rukav i postavlja dodatna pitanja. Bio je svestan da sve što bude dobio jeste rezultat njegovog sopstvenog rada i da nije jednostavno palo s neba. Posebno mu je bilo milo što ovaj put nije morao da se kiti tuđim perjem. Njegova zasluga je bila očigledna. Kada je tog jutra stigao na posao i otvorio svoju kancelariju, imao je šta da vidi. Na stolu je stajao potpuno nov kompjuter i pored njega još noviji mobilni, a šef je sav sijao od sreće! "Šta sam ti rekao? Borio sam za tebe kao vučica... i izborio sam se! Najnoviji model? Hm? Šta kažeš?" Jeremija nije morao da se pretvara - na njegovom licu se videlo da su mu sve lađe potonule... Bio je 100% siguran da će dobiti veću platu, a sada mu je postalo jasno da je ostao kratkih rukava! Šta će mu sada Spomenka reći?
Right, now there are three tasks for you:
  1. The easiest task: Can you find the synonyms for these words in the text:
  • drago
  • aludirao
  • apsolutno
  • pravi
  • narednog
  • jako
  • blesav
  • totalno
  • puta
  • shvatio
  • sasvim
  • samo
     2. The more difficult task: which phrases and idioms mean:
  • down in the dumps/ in the doldrums
  • fight like a wolf
  • to be absolutely certain about something
  • keep asking for something
  • get a raise
  • take an advantage of something
  • to deck oneself in  borrowed finery
  • to get the worst of a bargain/ to come away empty-handed
     3. The most difficult task: what will Spomenka say to him when he arrives back home? Try to come      up with a suitable idiom or expression. Let me help you with a few ideas, and you try to guess                which ones are the most appropriate:
  • ko drugome jamu kopa sam u nju upada
  • svako nosi svoj krst
  • nema ti ravna
  • prvo skoči pa reci hop
  • nije zlato sve što sija
  • ko rano rani dve sreće grabi
  • doterao je cara do duvara
  • poklonu se u zube ne gleda



Sunday, April 20, 2014

Easter in Serbian

Monday, April 14, 2014

Advanced Serbian Lessons with Državni Posao



Very popular "Državni posao" series are perfect for highly advanced Serbian lessons. One can learn a lot of common Serbian phrases and expressions.  The fun part is to detect mistakes made by famous Đorđe Čvarkov, Dragan Torbica and Boškić (e.g. "lapsitops" instead of "laptop" or "Jututu" instead of "Jutjub").

Let's watch just the first three minutes and try to do the following tasks:

Task 1: Tick the phrases you hear
  • Do juče se nisam brinuo
  • To je samo fol
  • Digneš narod na noge 
  • Prazne duše
  • Bez i zrna energije, bez i zrna poleta
  • I ne bi se digli
  • Pogledajte šta nam rade
  • Za mnogo manje sitnice
  • Nikom ništa
  • Mož' misliti
  • Čime se ti baviš
  • Ukinuli seriju
  • To je neka mutna radnja
  • Ako nisu umešali prste 
  • Imao (seriju) pa nemao
  • Nije to bilo koja serija
  • Neko će odgovarati
  • Nema milosti
Task 2: Even if you don't understand each and every word, can you understand what the problem is?

Task 3: After watching the first part (0:20 - 1:30 - I added the subtitles to make things easier), try to answer the following questions:


a. Da li je Dragan Torbica mislio da je ukidanje serije istina ili ne?
b. Da li Đorđe Čvarkov misli da je narod u depresiji, ili pun energije?
c. Koje reči je Boškić čuo kada je ušao u kancelariju?
d. Na koje tekuće probleme je Boškić mislio kada je pričao o "dizanju naroda"?
e. Ko se čudi Boškiću?
f. Ko objašnjava u čemu je problem i kojim rečima?

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Serbian for Kids - Šuma blista, šuma peva

Saturday, April 05, 2014

New Serbian Lesson - HAPPY in Novi Sad

If you have been in Novi Sad, I am sure you  will enjoy doing this fun speaking/writing exercise which can be done along with  Pharrell Williams'  Happy [WE ARE FROM NOVI SAD] version:



You can make simple sentences when you recognize the places where the people are:

  • Ovo je autobus. On igra u autobusu.
  • Ovo je trg. On igra na trgu. 
  • Ovo je kej. Oni igraju na keju....
The verbs you can use are as follows:
  • igrati/ plesati u/na + Loc = to dance (deca igraju na ulici)
  • nalaziti se  + Loc= there is/are (oni se nalaze u parku)
  • prepoznati + Acc = to recognize (prepoznajem Frušku goru)
  • biti u/na + Loc = to be (bio/bila sam na ovom mestu)
  • videti + Acc = to see (vidim or video/videla sam tvrđavu)
The idea is not to stop the video while making these short sentences :)

Monday, March 03, 2014

Exercise with Instrumental Case in Serbian

If you enjoy learning Serbian with easy texts, here comes a very simple one, which is actually a part of Serbian 102 course:



Vocabulary you might need:

PUTOVATI - to travel
NA MORE - to the seaside
U ZAVISNOSTI OD - depending on
ODREDIŠTE - destination
IĆI - to go
A - and/but
NAJVIŠE VOLETI - to love most of all
ZATO ŠTO - because
ZAUSTAVITI SE - to stop
ZAŽELETI - to wish
SVE VREME - all the time
SVAĐATI SE - to argue
MENI - to me
MOM SUPRUGU - to my husband
POŠTO - because
MIRAN - peaceful
TRAJATI - to last
DUGO - long
Here comes the same text, but in the Cyrillic script:

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Learning Montenegrin?

Regardless of the fact that if you learn Serbian, you will be able easily understand Croatian, Bosnian and recently Montenegrin, (so called BCS language) spoken in the region of ex Yugoslavia, I'm sure you'll appreciate to hear the different accents. Today, I chose this interesting story from a Montenegrin news Youtube channel about a musician physicist :) and transcribed it into Montenegrin/Serbian:



The follow-up exercise for this video can be received via Advanced Activator

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Serbian Phrases through Songs

If you're learning Serbian, you'll surely need these commonly used phrases (on a daily basis LOL):
  • Ostaviti (nekoga) na miru = Leave (someone) alone (e.g. ostavi me na miru! = leave me alone)
  • Poludeću = I'll go crazy
  • Učiniću sve da + present tense = I'll do everything to...
  • Možda i grešim = maybe I'm mistaken
  • Samo nebo zna koliko + phrase = (only) heaven knows how much ...
Let's learn them while singing this oldie song by Oliver Mandić:

Monday, February 17, 2014

Tourism in Serbia in Serbian

While making a short video exercise based on one of our previous lessons I also came across this short video which can teach you a variety of common collocations connected with tourism and hospitality. Let's listen to the video and try to jot them down.


In case it's too fast, do watch my subtitles in Serbian, which will be integrated in the videos on this blog from now on :)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Talking about your childhood dreams in Serbian

You may remember some of the funny Kefalica videos from my past posts. This time, the video is about "Kafana", which is combined with very nice story about what a pop singer wanted to become when she was a little girl. I added subtitles under her story in this video:


If you want to enjoy the whole story and hear what the kids are saying in between, do watch the video on Youtube.


Thursday, February 13, 2014

Don't Miss Naša Snajka on Youtube

Finally a great Youtube channel dedicated to teaching you both the Serbian language and customs :)


Besides English subtitles, you can also choose French, Italian, Russian, German and Spanish!!!

Please do support Naša Snajka by sharing her videos  and liking her FB page with anyone interested in learning Serbian :)
Hvala, Martina!
*****
Edit: Here is the same video with the Serbian subtitles:

Sunday, February 09, 2014

How to Use to Use in Serbian :)

One of the ways to express that you "use" something or something is "useful" in Serbian is to learn all the speech parts of the verb #koristiti, which is connected with our previous post with Present Simple conjugations.

If you use it as a verb: KORISTITI, možete ga koristiti kroz različita vremena i oblike:
  • Present Simple conjugations: koristim- koristiš- koristi // koristimo-koristite-koriste (For example: Koji program koristiš za obradu slika? Koristim "Paint", ali mi se ne sviđa. Da li si video Miletove fotografije? On sigurno koristi nešto drugo!)
  • Radni glagolski pridev - the form used in Past Simple: koristio-koristila-koristilo//koristili-koristile-koristila (e.g. Ma i Mile je koristio "Paint", ali je išao na neki kurs gde su svi koristili "Korel", pa je i on naučio da radi u njemu... a i ja sa njim, tako da sada koristimo isti program.)
  • Trpni glagolski pridev - the form which equals the Past Participle in English, used either in the Passive or as an adjective: korišćen-korišćena-korišćeno//korišćeni-korišćene-korišćena (e.g. Šta je korišćeno pri izradi? ) as well as korišten-korištena-korišteno//korišteni-korištene-korištena
  • Always check this great Logos Conjugator when searching for Serbian verb conjugations!
If you use it as an adjective: KORIStAN. Here are a few examples
  • Ovaj savet je koristan = The advice is very useful.
  • Čuo sam veoma korisnu priču = I heard a very useful story:


If you use it as a noun: KORIST = benefit, or KORIŠĆENJE (upotreba) = use.

Here comes a list of clever thoughts (mudre misli) with this noun - check the link. Meni je najkorisnija i najzabavnija bila ova: (To me the most useful and funniest was this one)
Čovjeku koji je intelektualno viši od drugih, samoća pruža dvogubu korist; prvu, što je sam, i drugu, što nije s drugima :)))) 
Here are a few interesting common phrases and idioms with koristiti & korist:
  • Gde se dvojica svađaju, treći se koristi (verb=glagol) = two dogs strive for a bone, and a third runs away with it (similar to "zavadi pa vladaj" = divide and rule, which is more often used)
  • Izvući korist iz nečega =  to turn sometning to good account (Moj prijatelj iz svake situacije izvuče korist )
  • Raditi u korist nečega =in favour of someone, to someone's benefit/advantage (Sud je doneo presudu u našu korist) 
For more similar posts, check out the "Serbian Collocations" tag

Saturday, February 08, 2014

Practicing Cyrillic Script

If you need to practise writing Serbian Cyrillic script, it's a good idea to either


read these beautiful poems by Mika Antić...

...and type down while reading...

or simply click pause and write it in your diary :)

If you want a more difficult practice, simply listen Mika and jot down what he's saying :)


Friday, February 07, 2014

Improving your Listening Comprehension Skills

In order to develop your Serbian listening comprehension skills, it's of vital importance to listen to Serbian on a daily basis. It would be perfect if you can also understand what the speakers are saying and what the subject matter is. That surely increases your motivation :) Unfortunately, there aren't many youtube videos with subtitles in English, like this one:



with Serbian translated into English in subtitles or like this one in English translated into Serbian.

 I spend a few hours weekly in search for good, quality listening material for my students. It's not only enough to find a video with a catchy title, but also for a speaker to pronounce Serbian at a normal speed and speak about an appropriate topic for a lesson. I say that I spend hours looking for useful videos, not because I'm too picky, but because I tend to get fascinated with some stupid or bizarre stuff which usually happens to be listed first on Youtube. Unfortunately, the real gems are usually sitting on the third or fourth page. One of the examples, besides the first video with Zoran Milivojević, is this insightful interview with Aleksandar Ćirković:



I'll transcribe the first part of the interview and make an exercise. Until then, can you listen to the first three minutes and try to answer the following questions:

1. Ko je oduševljen "dunavskim raftingom"?
a. Amerikanci   b. Nemci    c. Englezi

2. Koliko dugo postoji DR (Dunavski Rafting)?
a. 4 god         b. 9 godina    c.3 godine

3. Za koliko ljudi je DR?
a. 1-2 ljudi  b. preko 20 ljudi  c. 12-15 ljudi

4.Da li postoji ruta Novi Sad - Beograd?
a. da      b. ne    c. ne znam

5.Šta gosit mogu da dožive na DR?
a. stres    b.umor     c.opuštanje

The answers are under this beautiful song about the Danube:

Thursday, February 06, 2014

Verb Conjugations in Serbian - koristiti

Here comes a brand new video lesson with the verb "koristiti" or "to use". This verb is commonly followed by the Accusative case and you can practise using both singular and plural form of the nouns while watching this video:














This sounds very simple until you want to make more complicated sentences or to say what is useful to you (šta TI koristi?) and similar. That's why my next post will cover collocations and phrases with this verb used in many different contexts, similar to the previous ones.

Monday, February 03, 2014

Revising Serbian Phrases

It's true that it might be difficult to understand some of the Serbian phrases if pronounced quite fast and somewhat incomprehensibly, but the real challenge is surely how to respond appropriately!

That's why I recorded a new video lesson for you, which can be used at all levels (click stop when you are out of your depth). You can use it in different ways:
  • To check how well you can understand fast speech, simply listen to the phrases and try to jot them down, without watching the video below!
  • If it is too easy, try to hear the phrase and then respond to it, as fast as you can, without clicking the pause button.
  • If you are not sure if you understood the phrases, play the video while watching it. 
  • Now, if you are sure what all the phrases mean, try to respond to them, even try to write down/practice with your language partner, how you'd continue the conversation. 
  • Have fun!

Monday, January 27, 2014

Serbian Slava Sveti Sava

Friday, January 10, 2014

Serbian Pronunciation Practice with Đ and DŽ

If you started learning Serbian and you are confused as to what might be the difference between DŽ and Đ sounds, let me help you by taking you through these five steps:

Step 1
Which of these two sounds is softer to your ear ? 
Dž/dž (or Џ џ  in Cyrillic)

or 

Đ / đ (or in Cyrillic script: Ђ ђ)?

Step 2: If you don't hear ANY difference, let me tell you that the sound Đ is much softer than DŽ.
*You'll get this sound to be softer, i.e. produce Đ, by pressing the tongue onto the lower teeth. Repeat "đ" several times and feel the tongue low, behind the teeth, touching them.

*To get the harsh "DŽ" curl your tongue behind the upper teeth, slightly above them. You'll notice that the sound becomes less soft as you raise your tongue upwards. (even curling it backwards). Now repeat it several times.

Step 3: Try to contrast the soft Đ with harsh DŽ, paying attention to the tongue position and listening to yourself. Can you hear the difference ?

Now it's time to practise with minimal pairs and not-so-minimal pairs, because there aren't that many words with Đ and DŽ:

Step 4:
Listen and repeat:
  • đak              džak
  • leđa             odžak
  • đinđuva       dživdžan
  • ceđenje        karakondžula
  • đubre           dželat
  • đurđevak     džanarika
  • đakonije      džangrizalo
  • đavo            džem
  • đevrek         džemper

Step 5:
Encircle the word you hear me say:
  1. đubre     džak        đak           odžak
  2. đevrek   džaba       đavo         džem
  3. džoker   đon          džomba     đozluci
  4. džudo    đevrek     džukela     đuveč
  5. ceđenje  dživdžan  đinđuva    dželat  
For more pronunciation practice visit the previous blog posts tagged "pronunciation in Serbian"

Monday, January 06, 2014

Serbian Christmas Customs and Songs

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