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Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Sunday, February 21, 2016

International Mother Language Day

Today is the International Mother Language Day. Mother tongue is part of the cultural identity of a people, the point of recognition, diversity, tolerance and understanding. Taking care of the mother tongue is a way of proving the people's awareness of their own identity. 

The legacy of the Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja says: "My dear child, guard your language as your country. Word can be lost as a city, as a country, as a soul. And what is a people if it loses its language, country, soul? Do not take someone else's word in your mouth. If you take a foreign word, know that you didn't conquer it, you've actually alienated yourself. It's better to lose the biggest and the toughest city of your country than the smallest and the least significant word of your language. People who lose their own words cease to exist as people."

***Many thanks to Meet the Serbs FB page for this post and translation:

Данас је Међународни дан матерњег језика. Матерњи језик је део културног идентитета народа, тачка препознавања, различитости али и толеранције и разумевања. Брига о матерњем језику је начин доказивања свести народа о властитом идентитету. 


Завештање Стефана Немање каже: „Чувајте, чедо моје мило, језик као земљу. Реч се може изгубити као град, као земља, као душа. А шта је народ изгуби ли језик, земљу, душу? Не узимајте туђу реч у своја уста. Узмеш ли туђу реч, знај да је ниси освојио, него си себе потуђио. Боље ти је изгубити највећи и најтврђи град своје земље, него најмању и најнензнатнију реч свога језика. Народ који изгуби своје речи престаје бити народ“. („Завештања великог жупана српског Стефана Немање свом сину светом Сави“, аутора Милета Медића).





Saturday, February 20, 2016

Serbian Verb to Go to with Places

The topic of today's lesson is the verb IĆI U/NA(to go to) followed by different places. Because of the preposition U/NA, which mean in/at/on in English, students tend to make a mistake and use the Locative case of a noun instead of the Accusative. However, since IĆI U is the verb which denotes movement, we can translate it with GO TO and then it is followed by the Accusative.

So, with today's Quizlet set we will be  practicing:

  • different conjugations of the verb IĆI in its imperfective form: idem (sada)  = I am going to (now). 
  • prepositions U vs. NA
  • Accusative Singular nouns (there is a change only with the Feminine nouns, which drop the final A and add U)

Learning Serbian Verb to Go to with Places



Practicing Serbian Verb to Go to with Places



Test with Serbian Verb to Go to with Places


Monday, February 15, 2016

Serbian for Beginners in Cyrillic and Latin Alphabet

Yesterday I made two brand new Quizlet exercises as a follow up of the following video Serbian exercise for beginners, both in the Serbian Cyrillic script and Latin alphabet. 



If you are not sure what some words mean, do check them out with the following flash cards:

Once you feel confident about the meaning of the words, feel free to  do the following exercises in the Cyrillic script:


or Latin Alphabet:





Sunday, January 24, 2016

How to Pronounce Serbian R?

How to Pronounce Serbian R?


If you patiently listen to Nada Zeković until the very end of the video below, you'll find out what is the secret of the accurate pronunciation of the Serbian "r". Verovali ili ne,  the secret is in its vibration :) Watch, listen, repeat and practice!




  • The position of the tip of the tongue is upfront, behind the upper front  teeth.
  • Besides, there's a slight vibration. (Listen to Nada comparing Spanish and Serbian name "Oskar" )

Advice on How to Pronounce Serbian R?



According to Nada, the best way is to practice by :
  • simply running round the house saying the vibrant "rrrrr" :)
  • focusing on sound clusters such as "pr" (pravo, prvi, pre, preko, prošlo...), and later on other words with this sound!
Best of luck!

Thursday, January 07, 2016

How to Congratulate Orthodox Christmas in Serbian?

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating it today! Today and in the next seven days, until Serbian New Year,  I want to give you a  Christmas gift of a free online course!

I also want to share with you the best Christmas SMS or IMs to be sent on this day which I found on various websites:

Christmas SMS for religious  family and friends

In the Cyrillic Script via Duhoviti website

Лепшег јутра од данашњег нема, ко је верник за Божић се спрема. Срце твоје љубав нека води, мир Божији и Христос се роди! Ту где се бадњак данас ложи, у том дому срећа нек се множи, нека срећна звезда кроз живот вас води Мир Божији и Христос се роди!


In the Latin Alphabet

Lepšeg jutra od današnjeg nema, ko je vernik za Božić se sprema. Srce tvoje ljubav neka vodi, mir Božiji i Hristos se rodi!

Tu gde se badnjak danas loži, u tom domu sreća nek se množi, neka srećna zvezda kroz život  vas vodi Mir Božiji i Hristos se rodi!


Informal Christmas SMS 

In the Cyrillic Script via Opušteno

Догорева Бадњак свети и полако ватром тиња, пуно здравља и среће желим теби и твојима. Христос се роди! Срећан Божић!

In the Latin Alphabet

Dogoreva Badnjak sveti i polako vatrom tinja, puno zdravlja i sreće želim tebi i tvojima. Hristos se rodi! Srećan Božić!


Formal Christmas SMS 

In the Cyrillic Script via Stihovi

Нек Вам сребрне зраке Божићног јутра под бором осветле поклон исплетен од здравља, среће, мира и љубави… Срећан Божић!

In the Latin Alphabet

Nek Vam srebrne zrake Božićnog jutra pod borom osvetle poklon ispleten od zdravlja, sreće, mira i ljubavi… Srećan Božić! 

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Serbian Online Course about Animals


Brand New Serbian Online Course

If you have followed my previous posts about using different groups of vocabulary to build up more complicated sentences in Serbian, I am sure you will like my new mini course which focuses on vocabulary (here comes the Christmas discount link). It is called Expanding Serbian Vocabulary - Animals and right now it covers all levels, from the beginner to advanced. You will be using the same sets of words in different contexts and with different grammar structures, starting with the verb to be, to the past tense, Accusative, Genitive, comparisons to conditionals.

This course is perfect for all the students of Serbian at different levels, who would like to expand their vocabulary in different contexts. It is based the vocabulary describing domestic and wild animals

Serbian Online Course - Structure

Each section consists of:
  • intro video lesson with me pronouncing the words
  • video lesson without my pronunciation
  • video lessons with exercises where you have to supply the missing words
  • quizzes and grammar exercises
  • speaking practice video with lots of questions and a link where you can record/write your answers

Serbian Online Course about Animals - Free Lesson





Friday, November 13, 2015

Reading Comprehension Exercises for Advanced Learners

I'd like to share an authentic text about a teenage inovator from Novi Sad, Jovana Kondić.  I made a few exercises based on this interesting story and I'm sure you'll like them!

Reading Comprehension Exercises for Advanced Learners


Right Order


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Missing Words


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Earn some Money :D


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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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