Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Sunday, August 07, 2016

Serbian Vowels Pronounced

Let me announce that the time of low quality video lessons is over. I am sure you will enjoy watching one of the introductory videos on how to pronounce Serbian vowels with a brand new tool :)

Serbian Vowels

Although there are only five + one vowels in Serbian: A, E, I, O & U + R, one must take into account that there is also a distinction between long and short vowels. This difference is not seen in orthography, but the stressed ones are more often the longer ones. 

Today I simply want to introduce you to the simplicity of the pronunciation of the basic five vowels, and then in the following videos we'll work on the pronunciation of the "sixth vowel" in Serbian, the syllable forming R, as well as the long and short vowel pronunciation and stress within a word. 


Thursday, June 30, 2016

Practicing Pronouns in Serbian

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Future Tense in Serbian



It's simply not enough to understand how to form the future tense in Serbian and its somewhat complicated word order! You need to practise as much as possible.

Future Tense in Serbian




Future Tense in Serbian with "Ej žalim žalim"


And what an enjoyable practice can it be when you simply  sing it! That's why I am focusing today on this beautiful song featuring the future tense in Serbian  :)


Saturday, May 14, 2016

Learning Serbian by Singing with Sanja Vučić

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?
Learning Serbian by Singing with Sanja Vučić

... or practice singing with her



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

Friday, May 13, 2016

Stress Patterns in Serbian

The following two videos are great for the students at upper-intermediate and advanced levels who are interested in stress patterns in Serbian and who can easily read Serbian Cyrillic script.




Monday, May 09, 2016

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian

When I started teaching Serbian I relied on the textbooks which taught commonly used adjectives one might need, such as "gladan" (hungry), "žedan" (thirsty), "lep" (beautiful), srećan (happy), tužan (sad) etc. This makes sense, doesn't it?

However, when I flicked through the list of the most frequently used adjectives I was surprised to find out that none of the "useful" ones was listed!!! That's why I made three sets of Quizlet exercises and recorded the pronunciation for the each of the 15 most frequent adjectives in Serbian, so you can learn them by choosing the activity you like best:
  1. Flash cards
  2. Learning activity
  3. Spelling activity
  4. Tests
  5. Scatter game
  6. Gravity game
  7. Spacerace game 

15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Masc. Sg. Form




15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Fem. Sg. Form


15 Most Frequent Adjectives in Serbian - Neut. Sg. Form




If you just started learning Serbian it can prove useful simply to do different quizlet activities to help you understand as much as possible at first. The most beautiful thing with Quizlet activities is that you can learn by playing games of Gravity and Spacerace! You can also access Quizlet on your mobile and practice while you are commuting! Finally, they are free (no need to buy anything, just register through Fb og Google to track your results, nothing more)!

Next time we'll practice these words in context!



Saturday, May 07, 2016

Aspect in Serbian with Verbs Describing House Chores

How to Practice Aspect in Serbian?

When talking about aspect in Serbian, I must admit it is best learnt by using the phrases in everyday situations. A good example is a set of the most frequently used verbs when talking about house chores:


Imperfective vs. Perfective Aspect in Serbian  

  • Prati / oprati sudove = to be washing / to wash the dishes
  • Raspremati / raspremiti = to be tidying up / to tidy up
  • Usisati / usisavati = to be hoovering / to hoover
  • Čistiti / (p)očistiti = to be cleaning / to clean
  • Brisati / obrisati = to be wiping / to wipe
  • Kuvati / skuvati = to be cooking / to cook
  • Pržiti / ispržiti = to be frying / to fry
  • Peći / ispeći = to be baking / to bake
  • Peglati / opeglati = to be ironing / to iron


Tuesday, May 03, 2016

Extensive Reading and Listening 1

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.






Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Common Mistakes in Serbian - 2

Another fun video about the most common mistakes in Serbian is coming your way:

Common Mistakes in Serbian


So, which of these are the correct options:

a. bombona
b. bonbona
c. ne bi
d. ne bih
e. nizašta
f. ni za šta


Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Learn Serbian Phrases with Beogradski Sindikat 1

I guess it is just the perfect time to learn a bunch of commonly used phrases and collocations in Serbian with a newly released song "Sistem te laže" by Beogradski sindikat.

I created a new kind of exercise, with dropdown suggested answers, so you don't need to write while listening to the song, but simply click on the option you hear. You can also try to do the exercise before listening to the song, in order to guess what's missing. 


Make sure you listen to the song once again, following the same lyrics in the Cyrillic script!

Friday, April 15, 2016

Common Mistakes in Serbian

I must tell you that I am more than happy that there has been more and more educational videos about the Serbian language. They cover different topics, such as:
Today I wanted to present the series of short videos about the most common mistakes in Serbian called Negujmo srpski jezik! The first video in the series is about the words "all" and "he acted".

Common Mistakes in Serbian - sve or svo?




After listening to this video can you tell which of  the mentioned words is correct (tačna) and which one is incorrect (netačna):
  1. sve
  2. svo
  3. glumeo
  4. glumio
You can use the following form to say what you think: 

Mislim da je reč "svo" netačna / tačna.

Let' check the correct answers:

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Learn Common Serbian Phrases with Mikela

If you liked the previous post about the common Serbian phrases, I am sure you will like the following set of phrases people tend to use in  daily conversations when they meet the friends they haven't seen for quite a while.

I will add a translation next to the each phrase, so you can see what is only natural to ask if you have a friend who is from Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro or Croatia :) You will see that there are no "safe" topics about the weather though, lol:)


Đesi ba?* = Where are you? =what's up?
šta ima? = what's up?
kako si? = how are you?
šta radiš? = what are you doing?
ima li šta novo da me iznenadiš? 
= is there anything new to surprise me?

Kad si doš'o? = When did you come back?
kad se vraćaš? = when are you coming back?
vidiš li ti ovo? = can you see what's happening?
i kako ti to shvaćaš? = and what's your take on that?

Šta planiraš danas? = What are your plans for today? (what are you gonna do?)
jesi l' sutra šta planiro? = have you planned anything for tomorrow?
što si neraspoložen? = why are you in a bad mood?
ko te iznerviro? = who bothered you? 
Jes' ti diplomiro ono što si studir'o? = finished what you've been studying?
Nešto s' ti to čini mi se malo pauziro? = it seems you didn't finish it in time?

Jes' to novi telefon kupio? = Have you bought a new (cell) phone?
pošto?  = how much?
ako bi ga prodavo koliko bi košto? = if you were to sell it, how much would it be?
Kol'ko mu prostora u memoriju staje? = how much memory (space=prostor) is there?
kol'ko mu dugo baterija traje?  = how long does the battery last?
Jesu l' to tvoja kola? = is this your car? (The word "kola" in Serbian is always in plural)
il je rent a car? = or is it a rent-a-car?
Je l' to dizel il' benzinac? = is it using diesel fuel or gasoline?
kol'ko je star? = how old is it?

Je l' to na lizing? =Is it on lease?
il je gotovina? = or in cash?
je l' to vuče prednja ili zadnja osovina? = is it front or rear traction?

Refren 2x (* kaš = Kad ćeš)
Kaš* se žent? = When are you gonna get married (ženiti = to get married for men)?
kaš se udavat? when are you gonna get married (udavati = to get married for women)?
De mi reci pa da mogu mirno spavat! = do tell me, so I can sleep peacefully!
imaš li djece? = have any kids?
e nemaš pa što? = no? so why not?
šta čekaš više? = what are you waiting for? 
što ne rješavaš to? = why aren't you working on that?


Kako ti je mama? = How's your ma?
kako ti je tata? = how's your pa?
je l' ti ono imaš sestru ili brata? = have you got a sister or brother? 
(The word "ono"implies that he has forgotten about it)
Radiš li šta? = working?
i kol'ka ti je plata? = how much is your salary?
jesi l' u kreditu?  = having a (bank) loan?
kol'ka ti je rata? = how much is your (monthly) installment?


Đe budeš? = Where are you staying?
đe živiš?= where do you live?
đe stanuješ sada? =where are you living now?
je l' to periferija? = is it in the suburbs? 
za kolko si do grada? = how far is it from the city center?
jesi to na fejsu? = are you on Facebook?
koja ti je slika na profilu? = which is your profile photo?
je l' de da to i ti imaš viška koju kilu? = do admit it that you have put on weight! 
(some (extra) kilos = koju kilu viška)

Refren 3x



 *Đes ba or Gde si? here means "what's up", and is often used along with that phrase "Đes ba? Šta ima?

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