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Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Showing posts with label Serbian language 365. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Serbian language 365. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Useful Phrases when Learning Serbian

It is a good idea to use at least two Serbian phrases from the very first lesson:
  • Šta znači? = What does ... mean?
  • Molim? = Pardon?
Of course, there are other ones which are useful, and you can start using them while learning the language. In this blog post, the idea is for you to practice them with the following Quizlets:








Monday, September 23, 2019

Step by Step Serbian

Why Step by Step Serbian?


Having made hundreds of quizzes and exercises in Serbian, I thought of posting them here on this blog on a daily basis, starting from the easiest ones. This will make it easier for you to learn regularly and have some kind of continuity.

All you have to do is to follow:
I also want to connect each post with the previous lessons covering the same topic, so you can practise using different materials (which are hidden in this ten year old blog). So, let's start!

How Step by Step Serbian?

Let's start with the alphabets used in the Serbian language: Ćirilica and Latinica


First, you can read more about these two alphabets in the previous posts:

Once you are acquainted with the theoretical part, let's play:





Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Verb Biti in Serbian

Biti in Serbian

The verb "TO BE" in Serbian is something you should learn at the very beginning, because you'll need it not to express the most essential facts about yourself, but also because it is used as an auxiliary verb in the Simple Past tense.

That's why this post dedicated to the different conjugations, i.e. forms, of the verb to be can be useful both for the beginners and more advanced students.

A few short videos and exercises with the verb Biti in Serbian

Exercise 1
While watching this video say "This is a... These are ...s" using these structures:
  • Ovo je ... (+ nominative Sg)


Exercise 2:
  • Ovo su ...(+ nominative Pl) 
  • Ovo je...(+ nominative Sg)

Exercise 3
While watching this video say what the photos are about (the locative case ) using the phrase: Ova slika je o... = This photo is about

Exercise 4
Using these full forms of the verb TO BE, give the positive and negative answers with 

the full form of the verb to be:


Links to the previous posts about the verb Biti in Serbian

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, 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 :)


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