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Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Don't Miss Naša Snajka on Youtube

Listening comprehension , Serbian holidays
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:

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Sunday, February 09, 2014

How to Use to Use in Serbian :)

Serbian collocations , Serbian language 365
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
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Saturday, February 08, 2014

Practicing Cyrillic Script

Cyrillic script , Serbian language 365
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 :)


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Friday, February 07, 2014

Improving your Listening Comprehension Skills

Listening comprehension , Serbian language 365
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:

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Thursday, February 06, 2014

Verb Conjugations in Serbian - koristiti

Accusative in Serbian , Serbian language 365
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.
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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
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