Learn Serbian

Learning Serbian with exercises, video lessons and online courses

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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

How to practice Serbian - Ideas and Links

Practicing Serbian Daily


Let me share with you a few good posts and resources with great ideas how to learn and practice Serbian on a daily basis:

  1. With Youtube videos  
  2. Practicing Pronunciation
  3. Listening to Serbian authentic resources
  4. Doing exercises on my old website SerbianLesson.com and a new one SerbianLessons.com
  5. Practicing reading easy and fun books in Serbian Cyrillic and Latin alphabet
  6. Joining one of my Serbian language learning courses on Udemy

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:





Thursday, September 12, 2019

Listening Comprehension in Serbian - Numbers

Practicing Numbers while Listening 


Another exercise where your task is to jot down the numbers you hear while watching this funny add:



Listening Comprehension Numbers - Answer Key

Brojevi koje čujemo (they are written in white, just select them and you'll see the answers)

  • 30
  • 35
  • 10
  • 13 

Vocabulary  

Konotacije
  • držati se dobro  (keep oneself fit/taking good care of oneself)
  • imati oko za nešto (have a keen/sharp eye)
  • broj 13 donosi nesreću (number 13 is unlucky)

Brojevi kao imenice 

Numbers used as grades (at school, college, etc) behaving as nouns
  • jedan = jedinica
  • dva =dvojka
  • tri = trojka
  • četiri = četvorka
  • pet = petica
  • šest = šestica
  • sedam = sedmica
  • osam = osmica
  • devet = devetka
  • deset = desetka
  • jedanaest = jedanaestica 

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Listening and Reading Serbian

Unfortunately, there are too few Serbian videos with subtitles in Serbian. Whenever I come across one, I do my best to share it with you. I hope that with BBC in Serbian comeback, there will be more and more videos with subtitles covering interesting topics, like this one about how to live without waste = kako živeti bez otpada:


Monday, September 09, 2019

Serbian Intermediate - Listening Comprehension, King's Chicken

Besides a wonderful recipe for King's Chicken, you will hear three stories about the origin of this simple and tasty dish. Let's listen the following video first.



You can listen to the video as many times as you want, try to listen to it a bit slower (change speed to 0.75) and write down at least one short story on our joint Padlet :) Simply click twice on the background and start writing. There is no need for you to write your name! Have fun :)


  1. Prva priča - link  
  2. Druga priča - link
  3. Treća priča - link


Made with Padlet

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Foreigners in Serbia - Part 7

A few years ago I shared with you a few posts about foreigners in Serbia. Since there are so many beautiful stories about this topic on RTS youtube channel, I decided to share all them and make some additional exercises.

Srbija je haos sa nekim čudnim redom


Današnja priča je o Sine iz Norveške. Odgledajte ovu prelepu priču i odgovorite na pitanja ispod:




  1. Kako se ona zove?
  2. Odakle je?
  3. Zašto je došla prvi put u Srbiju?
  4. Kako se zove prijatelj iz Srbije kog je prvo upoznala?
  5. Šta joj se svidelo prvi put kad je bila u Srbiji?
  6. Šta nije uobičajeno u Srbiji posle plivanja, a što je normalno u Norveškoj?
  7. Kada pričamo o tašnama i torbama, šta u Srbiji ljudi nikad ne rade, dok je u Norveškoj to normalno?
  8. Da li je Sine udata i da li će se udavati?
  9. Gde ona živi sada?
  10. Gde ona radi sada?
  11. Šta je studirala u Norveškoj?
  12. Šta je studirala u Srbiji?
  13. Čime se sve bavi?
  14. Kakvi su joj planovi za budućnost?
  15. Zašto?



Sunday, July 21, 2019

What is so special about 3, 6 and 9?

Numbers and Addition in Serbian


Let's watch the video where you can see and hear  numbers being added in Serbian. If you click CC you will be able to follow the English translation as well. If you decrease the speed, from normal to 0.75, you can practice your pronunciation :) Have fun!



For more advanced learners, there are a few, actually 3, questions:
1. Can you recognize the accent? Which one is it - Serbian or Bosnian or Montenegrin?
2. Could you hear the name of the famous scientist who is mentioned in the video?
3. Why are numbers 3, 6, and 9 magical?

Monday, July 15, 2019

Ordinal Numbers in Serbian - Part 1

Ordinal numbers in Serbian behave as adjectives, so they change according to the noun's:

  • number (singular or plural - prva kolona vs. prve kolone)
  • gender (masc. fem or neuter - prvi red vs. prvA kolona vs. prvO mesto)
  • case (after the basic form of Nominative, there will be all six cases - prvi čovek - prvog čoveka - prvom čoveku - prvog čoveka / prvi hamburger - prvi čoveče - sa prvim čovekom - o prvom čoveku)
That's why we are starting just with a very simple list of 12 ordinal numbers in masc. sg. Nominative to learn the form, hear it, pronounce it and practice it. 


In our next lessons we'll be practicing more complex structures with the ordinal numbers in Serbian :)
I know it looks complicated, but it can be fun, and it is certainly good for your brain!

The list of exercises both in the Latin and Cyrillic script can be found on my Patreon page.

Saturday, July 13, 2019

Verb HTETI - to want

What do they want?
Hajde da slušamo ovu zabavnu pesmu i da odlučimo ko šta želi da jede? = Let's listen to this fun song and decide who wants to eat what? 

VOCABULARY

  • Tulumbe =  Tulumba or Bamiyeh is a deep-fried dessert  
  • kolač = a cake
  • čokolada = chocolate
  • šlag = whipped cream
  • jagode = strawberries
  • kolač sa čokoladom = a chocolate cake
  • kolač sa šlagom i jagodama = a cake with whipped cream and strawberries
  • hteti = to want to 
  • Hoću - hoćeš - hoće ---- hoćemo - hoćete - hoće
  • Hoću da uzmem = I want to have 

EXERCISE

  • Maksim hoće da uzme ...
  • Mama hoće da uzme...
  • Tata hoće da uzme ...

KVIZ

TRANSLATION

  • Poslastičarnica "Tumbe-tulumbe" = A sweetshop "Tumbe-tulumbe"
  • Dobar dan x 10 = Good afternoon
  • Izvolite, šta želite? = Can I help you, what do you want = would you like?
  • Mi bismo baš voleli da probamo vaše kolače. = We would really like to try your cakes.
  • Evo neka Maksim prvi izabere. = Here, let Maxim be the first to choose.
  • Mama, tata, ja ću ovaj kolačić sa čokoladom. = Mom, dad, I'll take this cake with chocolate.
  • Odličan izbor, Maksime, izvoli! = Excellent choice, Maxim, here you are!
  • Hvala. = Thanks.
  • A meni ćete dati ovu sa šlagom i jagodama. = And to me you will give this one with whipped cream and strawberries.
  • Svakako gospođo. Izvolite. = Sure, madam. Here you are.
  • Jao hvala Vam, baš ste ljubazni! Oh, thank You, you are so kind!
  • A ti tata, koji kolač ćeš ti da uzmeš? = And you daddy, which cake will you take?
  • Tumbe - tulumbe! = (I'll take) Tulumbe
  • Ah, izvolite. = Here you are.
  • Hvala. = Thanks.
  • ...
  • Oprostite, ako mogu da dobijem još samo pet komada? = Excuse me, if I could get only five more pieces? 

Monday, July 08, 2019

Serbian Vocabulary - Furniture, Step by Step

Serbian Vocabulary - Furniture, Step by Step
Today I want to show you how you can practice a bunch of words in an easy way, expanding your sentences and learning new grammar with the same vocabulary. Let's take some most common words for furniture, for example:

Nameštaj u kući - samo reči= Furniture, only words


Nameštaj u kući - with GIVE ME... or SHOW ME + Accusative for inanimate objects, please (formal)

Only fem. sg. nouns will get an U at the end, instead of A. For example: LAMPA --- Dajte mi lampU molim Vas (Give me the lamp, please). Otherwise, masc. and neut. sg. nouns won't change:
---
To support daily video lessons and quizzes for learning Serbian, join Patreon. Хвала!

Thursday, July 04, 2019

Easy Reading Exercises in Cyrillic Script

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