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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

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"

Thursday, December 19, 2013

About St Nicholas and Krsna Slava in Serbian

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Let's Practice Serbian Cyrillic Script - Answer to Part 2

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Let's Practice Serbian Cyrillic Script - Part 2

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Grammar Tests in Serbian - Key to Test 1

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Serbian Language Tests - Locative 1

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Learning Serbian with Songs

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Serbian Lessons Online - Colours

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Serbian Language for Kids

If you enjoyed learning Serbian by watching Neven or Poletarac or Kefalica, I am sure you will love  "Slovo na Slovo" series, too :)

Monday, November 18, 2013

Places in the City - Video Exercise

If you haven't been to Novi Sad, you'll surely look forward to visiting it after you watch this video by Daniel Erdeg :















You can also practise making simple sentences as I did in the classroom exercise and prepare to do one or few tasks based with this video explanation (if necesarry, check the vocabulary video):
  • Exercise for Serbian 102: What can you see ? Šta vidite ?

  • Exercise for Serbian 201: Šta se nalazi ispred Vas / s leve ili desne strane ? Šta ste videli ? or Šta ćete videti kada dođete u Novi Sad

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Serbian Conjugations in Cyrillic Script

If you have always wondered it there were any videos with conjugations in Serbian with the Cyrillic script, here they come :

With this video you can not only pronounce the Simple present conjugations of the verb "zvati se", but you can also practise its word order and asking and answering simple questions in the second part of the video. Which words are missing there ?

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Easy Way to Learn Serbian Pronouns

In order to start speaking Serbian fluently, the best way to automatically recall the whole phrases and chunks of language is to listen to films and songs in Serbian (and  preferably sing along). For example, in the chorus of this song you can hear the following phrase over and over again:
Nije za nju, nije za nju ...za nju je ...
and I bet you won't make any mistakes in the future if you want simply to say:
  • ...for her = ...za nju
  • ... isn't for her = ... nije za nju 


On these pages you can find the :
...and don't forget to make the most of the first Serbian with Songs free e-book!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Breaking Bad - Connotation in Serbian

Here comes another listening comprehension for more proficient Serbian language learners, based on the following video:


Feel free to pause the video and try to answer the following questions:
  1. Koliko Mićko ima godina ?
  2. Šta se Mićku zapali i pukne ?
  3. Koliko časova hemije mu treba ?
  4. Zašto profesor hemije ne može da pomogne Mićku ?
  5. Šta profesorka hemije predlaže sve vreme ?
  6. Da li on sam upotrebljava ono što pravi ?
  7. Ko je nepoverljiv prema Mićku ?
  8. Koliko profesora hemije je Mićko do sada pozvao ? 
  9. Odakle Mićko više ne izlazi ?
Which phrases does the teacher use :
  1. to say that she can't help him
  2. to suggest another solution
  3. to inquire about Mićko's needs
  4. to decline his request
  5. to show understanding
  6. to end the conversation
What is the obvious meaning and what's the connotation of these phrases:
  1. ...jel' tu spadaju travnate površine ?
  2. ... malo sam nagoreo
  3. ... i ja sam posle miran dva dana
  4. Završio sam ja s hemijom !
  5. ...ja ne bih to više čačkao
  6. ...jer kad sam video u kom pravcu sve ovo ide, pravo da Vam kažem, šta mi drugo preostaje ?

Friday, October 25, 2013

Advanced Serbian Video Lessons


 After watching this video (several times) try to do the following exercises


 and  answer these questions:
1. Kako se zove prvi kandidat za posao ?
2. Koje su njegove prednosti ?
3. Koje su njegove mane ?
4. Koji posao bi on želeo da radi ?
5. Koji posao mu je predložen ?
6. Da li ga je odmah prihvatio ?
7. Koji je prigovor poslodavca dok on izlazi iz kancelarije ?
8. Kako se zovi drugi kandidat ?
9. Koje su njegove prednosti ?
10. Koje su njegove mane ?
11. Koji posao mu je predložen ?
12. Da li ga je odmah prihvatio ?

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Serbian Idioms and Phrases with Verb "nositi" - Part 3

This is the final part in the series of blog posts about the verb "nositi". The previous ones can be found on the following pages:

Today I am going to give you the explanations and various examples of the following phrases:

  • Što ga noge nose /  koliko me(te/ga/je/nas/vas/ih) noge nose = at full speed, as fast as possible = as fast as one's legs will carry one:

a) MREŽNI MARKETING, prevara ili ne - beži kud te noge nose !

or
b) Kakva greška ! Provocirao grupu navijača,  pa bežao kol'ko ga noge nose
  • Pas laje, vetar nosi = idle gossip should be disregarded = the dogs bark, but the caravan goes on; words and feathers the wind carries away; words are but wind
c) Pusti ti draga priče. Znas onu" PSI LAJU, KARAVANI PROLAZE !"?! Samo se ti smiri i slusaj lekare i sve ce biti u redu.
or
dPas laje, vetar nosi 
or
e) No, svako vredjanje najvise govori o onome ko vredja.Psi laju,vetar nosi... (the first comment under the text)
  • Idi gde te (oči vode i) noge nose = gubi mi se s očiju = idi mi s očiju (pej. nosi se) = get out of my sight, get lost, be off with you 
Examples from the internet sites:
fA FaceBook comment
or 
g) A folk song by Mira Škorić "Idi nek te noge nose" (lyrics)
  • Plati pa nosi (or more a more modern rhyming version: plati pa klati):
h) Naslov u tekstu o platnim karticama "Plati pa nosi"
or
 iTo su najobicniji lopovi. Svaka susa danas otvorila auto- skolu i kao poducava te. Plati pa se klati  (the penultimate comment)

And now the tasks for the more advanced /proficient learners of Serbian:

  1. Који од наведених примера комбинује две изреке, док носи значење само једне (на неки начин погрешно употребљено, али не омета разумевање) ?
  2. Који од наведених примера личи на превод енглеског идиома са истим значењем (што показује утицај енглеског због честих буквалних превода на медијима и Интернету )
  3.  Који од наведених примера је употребљен у букваном значењу, и уопште не носи идиоматско / пренесено значење ?

Monday, October 14, 2013

Baby Steps in Serbian

In order not to neglect the beginners in Serbian, here's  a video lesson about Jeremija without my voice. If you are a real beginner, do watch the version with slow pronunciation before doing the following tasks:




  • Say the sentences based on the facts before the answers show up
  • If that's difficult, try simply to read the answers (help)
  • If that's too easy, try to ask the appropriate questions for Jeremija's answers

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