Let me share the first lesson of my Serbian Course for advanced learners. It is based on the first episode of Državni posao and I am sure you are going to enjoy it!

Serbian Advanced Course, lesson 1  

Prvi korak

Odgledati SAMO prvi minut https://youtu.be/McwPB-eQ2BY?t=16s (od 0.16 - 1.20). Dok gledate prvi minut BEZ tona recite gde se odvija ova sekvenca, kako izgledaju ljudi i šta mislite o čemu pričaju.

Primer: Na samom početku vidimo dva čoveka koji sede u kancelariji. Oni ...

Test

Today's video lesson based on authentic listening material is all about food! Let's watch and listen to Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, one of the most famous Serbian actors in a short excerpt from Kamiondžije (always listed in top ten Serbian series).

Exercise

If invisible, here is the link.

Here is one fun exercise where you have to carefully watch the photo below and then decide what was the first face you noticed as you were watching it = Evo jedne zabavne vežbe gde treba da pažljivo gledate sliku ispod i odlučite se koje lice ste prvo primetili dok ste je gledali:

If you liked  the joke about an elephant, giraffe and the fridge, and all its variations through tenses, you will be more than happy to learn that there is a sequel to it :)




In this part you are simply learning to explain why not all the animals are at the lion's party.

Vocabulary:

• slaviti = to celebrate
• taj lav = the lion
• rođendan = birthday
• svi = all
• životinja = animal
• sve životinje = all the animals
• žurka = party
• njegova = his
• na njegovoj žurci = at his party

Pay attention to the word PARTY - žurka:

• Ovo je super žurka = This is a great party (Nominative)
• Dolazim sa žurke = I am coming from the party (Genitive)
• Idem ka žurci = I am going to(wards) the party (Dative)
• Idem na žurku = I am going to the party (Accusative)
• Lav je zadovoljan žurkom = The lion is satisfied with the party (Instrumental)
• Lav je na žurci = The lion is at the party (Locative)

Serbian Language Podcast 

There are quite a few Youtube videos which can be used for practicing your listening comprehension skills. One of them is  MarkaŽvala Youtube channel with short interviews with ordinary people. In their videos you can hear authentic, colloquial language spoken in Belgrade. Today I want to share with you a video in which  passersby are asked to show what they HAVE=IMAJU in their pockets.

How to practice Serbian with Learn Serbian Podcast?

1. Let's listen to the video (only first two minutes) and try to watch and see what people usually have in their pockets. If you would like to be prepared for the items one can find in their pockets, check the vocabulary list below the video.
2. Listen to the video for the second time and jot down what you hear (and see) 
3. After listening to it twice, you can check your answers in the comment below.
4. Finally, you can do the follow up exercise :)

A real fun and easy way to practice reading in Serbian. In the first part you will try to add the appropriate form of the following verbs:
biti - to be jesti - to eat piti - to drink

One of the best ways to learn SErbian is by playing games. I have recently found this website for learning Geography called Online Seterra and while playing this game, I made the following video  lesson for you:



A follow up exercise coming soon!

Now that you feel more confident telling a joke (ispričati vic) about an elephant and giraffe, let's do some grammar exercises for fun :)

Vic in Serbian means a joke.

Telling easy jokes makes learning a language fun and easy. That's why I am sharing with you the first two parts of a very long joke which has some of the most frequently used verbs:

1. otvoriti = to open
2. zatvoriti = to close
3. staviti = to put
4. izvaditi = to take out

Daily routines in Serbian - Game

The best way to learn a language is by playing games and listening to it. That is why I am sharing a new Memory game to help you out, followed by the video, so you can also listen and play :)

Useful conjugations and common collocations with daily routines in Serbian

1. PRATI zube / ruke /lice  (to wash your teeth /hands / face) - perem - pereš - pere /// peremo - perete - peru
2. SPREMATI (to get ready) doručak - spremam - spremaš - sprema /// spremamo - spremate - spremaju
3. PRIPREMATI  (to prepare) doručak - pripremam ... /// ... pripremaju
4. PRAVITI (to make) doručak - pravim ... /// ... prave
5. UMIVATI SE  (to wash your face) - umivam se ... /// ... umivaju se
6. TRČATI  (to run) - trčim ... /// ...trče
7. PECATI (to fish) - pecam ...  / ... pecaju
8. USTAJATI (to get up) - ustajem... /// ... ustaju
9. BUDITI SE (to wake up) - budim se .../// ... bude se

Here comes a fun slider to help you improve your speaking skills while describing these two photos:



Useful conjugations:

1. RAZMIŠLJATI: razmišljAM - razmišljAŠ - razmišljA /// razmišljAMO - razmišljATE - razmišljAJU
2. RAZGOVARATI: razgovarAM ... razgovarAJU
3. RADITI: radIM - radIŠ - radi /// radIMO - radITE - radE
4. MISLITI: mislim - misliš - misli /// mislimo - mislite - misle

In this exercise we are going to practice only the imperfective form of the verb ODMARATI SE = to be having a rest.



Take a look at these photos and make the following sentences:

Present Tense Conjugations of Odmarati

ODMARAM - ODMARAŠ - ODMARA ///ODMARAMO - ODMARATE - ODMARAJU

1. Na prvoj slici vidim mladića u odelu koji SE ODMARA na poslu. 

Past Tense Conjugations of To have a rest

Future Tense Conjugations of To have a rest

Today we are going to practice relative pronouns in Serbian in a fun way!



Relative pronouns /question words which and who in Serbian also change according to the number and gender, so I want you here to have fun playing a memory game + use a bit more complex sentences, such as:

1. Vidim čoveka koji radi na kompjuteru.
2. Vidim čoveka koji nosi kapu. 
3. Vidim ženu koja razgovara s nekim. 
4. Vidim dete koje nosi haljinu. 

• čovek koji radi = a man who is working
• žena kojA radi = a woman who is working
• dete kojE radi = a child who is working
• ljudi koji rade = people who are working
• žene kojE rade = women who are working
• deca kojA rade = children who are working

If you liked my video lesson with TRAŽITI - NAĆI (to search - to find), and the Accusative case, I am sure you will enjoy playing the following game with clothes:

Let's practice your listening skills with the following exercise, which is based on this video. You can do this exercise in two ways:

1. Try to drag the words in the gaps based on their meaning and then listen to the audio to check.
2. Listen to the audio and then drag the words into the gaps.