Numbers and Addition in Serbian

Let's watch the video where you can see and hear  numbers being added in Serbian. If you click CC you will be able to follow the English translation as well. If you decrease the speed, from normal to 0.75, you can practice your pronunciation :) Have fun!



For more advanced learners, there are a few, actually 3, questions:
1. Can you recognize the accent? Which one is it - Serbian or Bosnian or Montenegrin?
2. Could you hear the name of the famous scientist who is mentioned in the video?
3. Why are numbers 3, 6, and 9 magical?

Advanced Serbian će biti serija video priloga uz koje ćete moći da čujete lep srpski jezik, proširite i obogatite vokabular uživajući u raznovrsnim temama.


Prvi u ovom nizu će biti naredni video od pet sati  koji će vam otkriti prelepe zgrade Beograda, kao i zaboravljene priče iz davnih, i ne tako davnih vremena. Sigurna sam da ćete uživati uz živopisne detalje i korisne kolokacije koje ću podeliti s vama putem vežbi u narednim javljanjima.

Today's video lesson based on authentic listening material is all about food! Let's watch and listen to Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, one of the most famous Serbian actors in a short excerpt from Kamiondžije (always listed in top ten Serbian series).

Exercise

If invisible, here is the link.

Serbian Language Podcast 

There are quite a few Youtube videos which can be used for practicing your listening comprehension skills. One of them is  MarkaŽvala Youtube channel with short interviews with ordinary people. In their videos you can hear authentic, colloquial language spoken in Belgrade. Today I want to share with you a video in which  passersby are asked to show what they HAVE=IMAJU in their pockets.

How to practice Serbian with Learn Serbian Podcast?

1. Let's listen to the video (only first two minutes) and try to watch and see what people usually have in their pockets. If you would like to be prepared for the items one can find in their pockets, check the vocabulary list below the video.
2. Listen to the video for the second time and jot down what you hear (and see) 
3. After listening to it twice, you can check your answers in the comment below.
4. Finally, you can do the follow up exercise :)

Let's listen to this short piece of news and jot down the numbers you hear!







Many thanks to Kratke vesti portal for sharing the news on a regular basis!

While conducting a survey about your needs in learning Serbian, some of you mentioned that they would appreciate videos with authentic Serbian, spoken in everyday situations by ordinary people.

This video with a brand new  Serbian presidential candidate who is meeting the editorial team of a local newspaper is an excellent example of something like that. In it, Beli gets introduced with a lot of people, and you will be able to hear how ordinary people say "pleased to meet you".

1. Zdravo!
2. Ćao!
3. Dobar dan!
4. Dobro veče!
5. Ovo je ...
6. Dobrodošao!
7. Radujemo se tvojoj poseti
8. Radujem se Vašoj poseti
9. Drago mi je!
10. To su naše lektorke.
11. Bolje vas našao!
12. Kako ste Vi?
13. Kako si ti?
14. Hvala.
15. Kako ste?
16. Mnogo vam je lepo ovde.
17. Baš mi je drago.
18. Jeste dobri?
19. Jeste dobro?
20. Poštovanje!
21. Izvoli, dobrodošao!
22. Izvolte, dobrodošli!
23. Izvolite. 
24. Hoćete neku kafu?
25. Želite li kafu?
26. Šta želite da popijete?
27. Ne hvala.

Since Državni posao is quite difficult for lower levels, I'll just post a bunch of simple questions for the more advanced learners of Serbian to choose from.

1. Koja se sve hrana / jela pominju u ovoj seriji?

a. mleko
b. parmezan
c. salata
d. rukola
e. goveđi gulaš
f. eurokrem
g. krastavac
h. limun
i. pivo
j. paprikaš od mladih svraka
k. hleb
l. lovorov list
m. rečna riba

It really makes my day when I come across an excellent video in Serbian with perfect pronunciation,  along with subtitles. This is exactly what I want to share with you today! After watching this video you could choose only five photos out of ten to tell me which photo is the funniest, the most incredible, the stupidest, the best and the most interesting one!

Speaking Exercise with Superlatives in Serbian 

Dok gledate video odlučite koja fotografija je

• najsmešnija (smešan = funny)
• najneverovatnija (neverovatan = impossible)
• najgluplja (glup =stupid)
• najbolja (dobar = good)
• najinteresantnija (interesantan = interesting)

i ostavite (audio) odgovor u komentaru ispod:

This is the perfect moment for you to meet our gorgeous Sanja Vučić and practice Serbian while listening to this interview,





and doing a listening comprehension exercise based on her story:

1. Odakle je Sanja?
2. Koliko ima godina?
3. Kada je snimljen ovaj intervju?
4. Gde Sanja sada živi?
5. Šta je želela da studira?
6. Gde je njena mama sada?
7. Od kada Sanja prati Evroviziju?
8. Kako se zvala njena osnovna škola?
9. Da li je Sanja bila bolji đak u osnovnoj ili srednjoj školi?
10. Ko Sanju podržava?
11. Koju vrstu muzike Sanjini roditelji vole?
12. Kako je Sanja opisala svoju majku?
13. Da li Sanja ima dečka trenutno?
14. Gde je sve Sanja pevala?
15. Da li Sanja sada želi da bude operska pevačica?
16. Kada je Sanja bila jako srećna?
17. Koje trenutke Sanja uvek zaboravlja?

... or practice singing with her



p.s. don't forget to vote for her tonight!

It is such a delight to simply watch fun films, series or cartoons or read interesting books in Serbian and pick up the language, isn't it? This is known as extensive reading (or listening). It helps one to speed up the learning process and expand vocabulary very quickly and effortlessly. With authentic films and novels it helps you improve from an intermediate to more advanced levels.

That is why I am sharing with you the well known Pop Ćira and Pop Spira series based on the novel by Stevan Sremac.

Episode 1



Episode 2



Episode 3



For more similar series and films, check out this Youtube playlist - click here.

Let me introduce you to my nephew Aca who participated in the event called "Large Kolo for Guinness" which took place exactly a week ago in Novi Sad, Serbia. While watching and listening to this video you can do the following tasks:

A. Watch the video without listening to it at first (mute the audio) and try to guess:

1. Kako se Aca oseća?
2. Po čemu znate da se Aca tako oseća?

1. Odakle je Aca?
2. Kako je sve proteklo?
3. Čega su se učesnici bojali?
4. Zašto je ova manifestacija bitna?
5. Koje izraze Aca koristi da iskaže zahvalnost što je sve dobro pošlo?

1. "proteklo" 
2. "bojati se"
3. "bitan"

I think that children learn a language best through stories, chants and songs. I've already written about Dundo Bear's Wedding story back in 2013, but now I decided to turn it into a series of lessons which can be used for learning and teaching Serbian.

Let me introduce you to the first part of the story with this four minute long Intro to Medvedova ženidba by Desanka Maksimović.

A few days ago while I was preparing for my online lessons I came across this great video which can help you practice:

• vocabulary (fruit and vegetables)
• numbers and prices
• comparing prices of certain products at two different markets in Novi Sad (Limanska pijaca vs. Kvantaš)

You can write or record a short report by answering to the following questions:

Limanska pijaca:

1. Koje povrće je najjeftinije?
2. Koliko košta krompir na limanskoj pijaci?
3. Koje povrće je najskuplje?
4. Koliko košta kilogram krastavaca?
5. Koliko košta najskuplje povrće na limanskoj pijaci?
6. Koje voće je najjeftinije?
7. Koliko koštaju kurške?
8. Koje voće je nešto jeftinije od kruški?
9. Koje voće je najskuplje?

Serbian Expressions for Cheaper and More Expensive

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

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

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?

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 ...

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 :)

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:

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: