United States Foreign Service Institute
   Serbo-Croatian Basic Course I

Learn Serbo-Croatian - Speak Serbo-Croatian

“You have a powerful motivation to learn Serbian. You enjoy studying and practicing it. You enjoy learning new words. When you hear or read a new word you focus on it, and it's meaning, and it enters your memory permanently. You recall the correct words quickly, easily and accurately. You speak it with fluency, confidence and the correct intonation. You master it”.

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About The Foreign Service Institute

As any seasoned vacationer, jet-setting businessman, soldier, diplomat or weekend warrior will tell you, traveling to a foreign country is a truly exhilarating experience. From the moment you first set foot on foreign soil, you're surrounded by a new, exotic world, full of unique sights, sounds, tastes and adventures. Your senses are in overdrive as you feel both excitement about what awaits you, and anxiety about adhering to local laws and customs. It is at this moment--when you desire to make the very most of this experience--that you realize your true barrier to this new world is not a cultural one, but rather one of basic communication. Learning the local language can be the difference between frustration and relaxation on a vacation. It can spell success or failure in a business meeting. It can help insure a safe, fulfilling and enlightening trip for virtually anyone, anywhere. The family of language courses assembled by Learn How To Speak.com is the answer.

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About the Serbo-Croatian Language

The Serbian language or Serb language is one of the standard versions of the Serbo-Croatian language (of the Slavic languages family), used primarily in Serbia and by Serbs everywhere.

It is based on the Shtokavian dialect, allows both Western and Eastern spoken variants, and uses both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet. Differences from other versions include phonetic transcription of foreign names.

Serb literature emerged in middle ages, and included such works as Miroslavljevo jevandjelje (Gospel of Miroslav) in 1192 and Dušanov zakonik (Dušan's code). Little of secular medieval literature is preserved to date but what is shows that it was in accord with its time, for example, Serbian Alexandride, a book about Alexander the Great and a translation of Tristan and Isolde to Serbian.

At the end of 14th century, Serbia was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and for the next 400 years there was no possibility for creation of secular written literature. However, some of greatest literary works in Serbian come from this time in form of oral literature, its most notable form being Serbian epic poetry; it is known that Goethe was learning Serbian language because he wanted to read Serbian epic poetry in original. Written literature was produced only for religious uses in churches and monasteries, which held to Old Church Slavonic and, by the end of 18th century, the written literature became estranged from the spoken language. In early 19th century Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic reformed the cyrillic alphabet by introducing the phonetic principle, as well as promoted the spoken language of the people into literary norm.

The first printed book in Serbian language is printed in Cetinje in 1494, only 40 years after Gutenberg's invention of movable type.

Serbo-Croatian Reference Links

SERBIA and MONTENEGRO (Formerly Yugoslavia)
» U.S. State Department
» U.S. Embassy - Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
» U.S. Central Intellegence Agency - Factbook - Serbia and Montenegro
» U.S. Department of Energy - Country Analysis - South Korea

CROATIA
» U.S. State Department
» U.S. Embassy - Zagrep, Croatia
» U.S. Central Intellegence Agency - Factbook
» U.S. Department of Energy - Country Analysis

» Pimsleur Language Programs from Plurality Language