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Post by jujevic66 on Feb 23, 2006 19:14:46 GMT 1
Znam...je sam kriv...ako covjek zna sto ja hocu goviriti...je sam verlo sretno! Sranje! This language is so difficult! However, all of the people who work in the shops and such in my area know that I am learning and are pretty patient when I am struggling through sentences. I thought that I would be communicating in no time. Boy was I wrong. This is one of the hardest I have come by. And spelling is the least of my worries. I just want to be able to say...anything...sometimes I think that my brain is going into permanent shut down after not talking for a certain time! Haha. Hvala ti puno, Gav, za razu...heck...thanks for understanding what I was trying for!
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Post by gmh on Feb 23, 2006 19:24:37 GMT 1
No worries.
Understanding is my strong point, speaking is my weakness.
Spelling should be easy since it's phonetic.
You wrote 'je' instead of 'ja' and again 'verlo' instead of 'vrlo'
There are even some croatian words that have no vowels, such as 'prst'- finger.
Sounds like you at least try to speak it, I'm pretty lazy because the ladies in my shop speak english, as do all my freinds.
I didn't even know grammatical terms in english before coming here, and now I just can't remember which declination to use when.
Where do you live ?
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Post by Ribaric on Feb 23, 2006 23:32:17 GMT 1
Hi jujevic66,
Stick at it mate, in 40 odd years you'll have it off pat, no probs. Maybe a tip, learn to phrase things in English the way Croatians speak. like.....
He is to-me spoke = on je mi rekao
I see "to" him = vidim ga (I see him)
It's sounds daft but if you get used to the word order in English, you can then translate into Croatian in the right order. Tis 'ard tho innit!
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Post by bobsyouruncle on Feb 23, 2006 23:40:38 GMT 1
Ucim jezik...mitz po mitz. Razumiem samo malo, ali gramatika je verlo tesko za meni. Imam puno vrijeme... ;) Imam puno vremena ;) |
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Post by jujevic66 on Feb 24, 2006 14:17:39 GMT 1
I hear you, Gav...one of the reasons I am not really pressing the learning (no classes or anything...just a book and lots of listening) is that so many people do speak English. Sometimes, before I even say anything, people will automatically speak to me in English...I must just LOOK American or something. I live in Split, by the way...love the Dalmatian coast. Also spend a lot of time on Brac and Ciovo. What about you?
And Ribaric...you are so right about the word order...sometimes I feel like I am doing complex calculus work when I am subracting words and moving them around. Everyone has told me just to focus on the grammmar and that the order and endings will eventually sound right...and I guess that is true...now I am at the stage where I know that what I am saying is wrong, but it will come. Yeah..."vremena"...I said that I have a lot of weather, didn't I? Hilarious.
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Post by gmh on Feb 24, 2006 14:42:46 GMT 1
I'm in Zagreb where it is wet and cold right now !
Vrijeme is time and weather. You just got the declination wrong. I guess the rest of the sentence is supposed to portray which you mean.
What book do you have? I bought one when I first got here simply called 'Ucimo Hrvatski 1' printed by 'skolska knjiga'
Unfortunately it seems to have been created to compliment actual lessons, so it hasn't been as useful as I'd hoped.
I think I should concentrate on learning new words so I can understand more.
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Post by Slatkica on Feb 24, 2006 16:15:39 GMT 1
I hear you, Gav...one of the reasons I am not really pressing the learning (no classes or anything...just a book and lots of listening) is that so many people do speak English. Sometimes, before I even say anything, people will automatically speak to me in English...I must just LOOK American or something. I live in Split, by the way...love the Dalmatian coast. Also spend a lot of time on Brac and Ciovo. What about you? And Ribaric...you are so right about the word order...sometimes I feel like I am doing complex calculus work when I am subracting words and moving them around. Everyone has told me just to focus on the grammmar and that the order and endings will eventually sound right...and I guess that is true...now I am at the stage where I know that what I am saying is wrong, but it will come. Yeah..."vremena"...I said that I have a lot of weather, didn't I? Hilarious. where abouts in split do you live? how long have you been living there? |
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Post by jujevic66 on Feb 24, 2006 16:20:16 GMT 1
The first time I was in Croatia, 5 years ago, I bought a book in Zagreb. However, this book was written by a Croatian and the explanations just didn't make sense to me. When I was at home in the States, I was constantly checking the language sections at the books stores, but Croatian wasn't really in high demand. Then, finally, I saw a book written by David Norris for the "Teach Yourself..." series (they have books for over a hundred languages). It is based on the concept of giving people "all around confindence" with a language. The first couple of chapters start off like your general tourist language guide, then delves into the harder stuff. I've read it from cover to cover, so I know what I need to know, but it is taking time to sink in. All I am using in it now is the croatina-english dictionary in the back. Going through 30 words every three days or so. Polako...polako. It's also cold and wet in Split. Not as cold as there, I am sure. This has been my first winter here...kind of feels like hibernation. Luckily, I am an extrememly easy going person and can adapt to entertaining myself with the simple things. I have quite a few friends here who are letting me raid their bookshelves...just read "The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" by Douglas Adams for the third time. Ever read Adams? Brilliant.
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Post by jujevic66 on Feb 24, 2006 16:43:02 GMT 1
Sladka...I'm right in the center...well, not living within the walls of Diocletian's palace, but about 5 min. walking from everything. I've been living here for about 7 months. Came here with my husband...who is a Croatian. We met in the States while he was there going to school. We came here for the first time 5 years ago before we got married, so that I could meet his family and see the country that played such a strong role in his character. We decided shortly after returning to the States that we wanted to move here, but it took a number of years for everything to be in sinc with what we wanted. Now we are here and trying to make it work. Where are you located? I'm relatively new to this forum, so I don't know what info has already been shared...are you origianlly from here or where?
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Post by Ribaric on Feb 24, 2006 19:05:50 GMT 1
You have David Norris's book? Is this the one with "Mark" and "Sandra", the world's most tedious people? "I go to work in town and have a sandwich" - riveting stuff!
If so, we share the same educational heritage. You got through it, cover to cover? Most impressed I am, I just can't stay awake long enou..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Do they get killed in the end?
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Post by Ribaric on Feb 24, 2006 19:08:04 GMT 1
It's those red tartan tops and yellow pants that do it y'know.  |
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ianl
Full Member
Posts: 80
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Post by ianl on Feb 25, 2006 0:00:57 GMT 1
Ribaric, thanks. I'm working through that book and that just cracked me up.
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Post by brightside on Feb 25, 2006 9:48:24 GMT 1
Have you seen Hrvatski za poèetnike, written by a group of authors: Èileš, Gulešiæ-Machata, Pasini, Udier?It's recommended by the Faculty of philosophy in Zagreb (Department for Standard Croatian Language), which is a recommendation good enough.
And then there are:
V. Grubišiæ: Elementary Croatian 1, 2003
J. Barešiæ: Dobro došli 1-2, Zagreb, 2002
M. Engelsfeld: Croatian through conversation, Zagreb, 1997
For a better understanding of the cases in Croatian:
M. Cesarec: Uèimo hrvatski: Sintaksa padeža, Zagreb, 2003
Grammars:
S. Ham: Školska gramatika hrvatskoga jezika, Zagreb, 2002
D. Raguž: Praktièna hrvatska gramatika, Zagreb, 1997
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Post by Ribaric on Feb 25, 2006 11:11:12 GMT 1
Books n stuff. I think these are OK for all you "readers" out there. I have: J. Barešic: Dobro došli 1-2, Zagreb, 2002. M. Engelsfeld: Croatian through conversation, David Norris: Teach yourself. Only the Norris book has an approach that I can understand, the other two seem to say "read this and remember all of it", my brain, such as it is, cannot do that.  Mark Bryant apart, Teach Yourself has been far and away the best learning tool for me. However, how do you keep it all in? I am sometimes seen wandering about Varazdin muttering to myself like a demented wino " gledam, gledas, gleda, gledamo, gled......" in a vain arrempt to memorize it all - a bit like times tables when I was a kid a couple of years ago.  You seem to know the secret Brightside, were you brought up bi-lingual?.....or maybe protestant? |
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Post by Slatkica on Feb 25, 2006 11:15:15 GMT 1
were you brought up bi-lingual?.....or maybe protestant?  |
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