Learning Croatian is Tough
 

Well my Pimsleur's Croatian tapes arrived yesterday and so far I've learned two words!! This is going to be tough!! Unlike French, Italian or Spanish, most of these words and the pronunciations are completely foreign to me,having never heard them before. Anyone else trying to learn Croatian and having a tough time? I know it is not necessary to speak the language to travel there, but I want to be able to learn a few words/phrases, just some basics, to show my respect. I have two months to do this, wish me luck.

Learn to say "hello"; "good-bye"; "please"; "thank you"; "yes"; "no"; "excuse me"; "I'm sorry"; and perhaps "very beautiful". You won't need to say anything else, and they are easy in Croat and are very similar to the same phrases in other slavic languages like Bulgarian, Polish, Czech, etc, so you can use them elsewhere.

When you enter a cafe or shop or walk down a street full of people sitting outside their homes, say "hello" and smile. It goes a long way to making you welcome.

I live in a tourist town in the US, and people stop to take pictures of my house, bump into me in the post office, get in the wrong line at the grocery, and so forth. I love them because they are a constant show, but it would be nice if they said, in English, some of these polite words!

Barb,

I really feel for you trying to learn Croatian. I went through the same thing two years ago. Even though I have a working knowledge (tourist) of several (romance) languages, I found great difficulty in transferring the written Croatian language into sounds that I could produce -- much less remember. We even stayed with a Croatian family for a few days.

I finallly just gave up, and took comfort from the fact that, since English has been a compulsory language in Croatian schools for many years, almost every Croatian over 50 speaks some English.

You will just love Croatia, even if you have a block on the language!

:-)

Very good advice Ackislander. So far, I know "excuse me" and "do you understand English". I know it's not a necessity, but I think it goes a long way to leaving a good impression on people if you take the time and effort to learn a few phrases. Just didn't realize it would be so difficult to learn.

Nukesafe: Thanks for the encouragement. Even though I really like Pimsleur method, every time I am away from the Croatian tapes for a few minutes, I forget absolutely everything I just learned. It just isn't sticking with me. I am now writing down the words, the way they sound, and repeating it over and over to myself. As long as I can just learn what Ackislander suggested I will be very happy. But glad to know, it's not just me.

I kinda think "where is the (nearest) WC" might be a VERY useful phrase.

Is Pimsleur trying to pick up a young woman in Croatia? He has tried in every other country so far. Not really helpful for the rest of us, lol.

I agree and also, "I would like wine please".

SeaUrchin: I haven't made it past Excuse me and you understand English yet, but I'll let you know.

I never tried to actually lear Croatian, but tried once, long ago, to learn some basic "tourist's sentences". Which could have proven useful since at this time, the only foreign languages people spoke there were German and (sometimes) Italian, and nor me nor my then girlfriend spoke either.

Unfortunately, nobody ever understood what I was trying to say. I had each time to search for the book I was using and point at the sentence on it. Then only people stopped looking confused. I strongly suspect that in some (many?) cases, they didn't even understand I was trying to speak Croatian, and assumed I was using some unknown foreign language.

Good luck.

clairobscur, that is so funny! That will be me for sure. Or I'll be like I usually am with French/Italian - all totally prepared and feeling good about being able to communicate somewhat and then step off the plane and forget 3/4 of what I've learned. I wonder if it's worth all the effort, but the few times I've gotten a big smile when I try, I know it is.

I haven't used Pimsleur Croatian, but I have used Italian and Russian and am currently using the Spanish I series.

Sometimes you have to play the lesson over and over until it imprints. There is no hard and fast rule. For example, for the initial Spanish lessons, I had to play them only once, but now it is 2 or 3 times. Just do not move on until you are getting the current lesson. Eventually it will click in.

We were there a few weeks ago, I had a phrase book, words even sounded out. On the drive there we went over the very basic words. Before we got out of the car they had vanished from the memory.

We asked the desk person I don't know how many times how to say thank you - never stuck.

BTW we noticed quite a few bill boards in Croatia are in English.
Yet it was our last day before we heard someone else having a conversation in English.

Barb, we too are attempting to learn a little Croatia. The tapes we got are almost useless because I can't understand what they are saying, let alone try to pronounce it! I have had good luck learning some Italian, French and German, but Croatian (and Slovenian, since we will also be there) is a little out of our league.

Good luck!
Tracy

I married a woman of Croatian descent and she speaks it fluently. It is an extremely difficult language to learn as it includes Latin, Italian and slavic forms. Also, the dialect in the north is very different than in the south. Learn "hvala" - which is thank you. It's all you really need to know. Oh, and by the way the vast majority of words you will hear in conversation on the street are swear words. If French is the language of seduction then Croatian is the language of cursing. When I found out what my mother-in-law said in Croatian to my brother-in-law I almost died.

Just to note that if one learns only the phrase, "Where is the nearest WC" in a language one doesn't otherwise speak, one hasn't accomplished much. The answer, of course, is likely come back in the language one doesn't speak, as well, leaving the problem unresolved.

Much better, I think to learn to say, "Please *point* me to the nearest WC", and to practice saying it with a certain expression of both urgency and pain on one's face.

Fritzl

Actually, I made the most progress (still pitifully small) in learning Croatian by using the Croatian language site:
http://tinyurl.com/rqgog
You can download enough short lessons to really fit your needs.

Best of luck!

:-)

If there's a folk-dance group in your area, go and learn some Croatian and other "kolo" dances. Along the way you'll pick up Croatian words and songs.

I had to laugh at the person who said that all you need to know is one sentence, "Where is the bathroom?" I have said that to many people and I can ask that question in many languages When desperate, just say the word toilet and put a question type look on your face and they will point you the way.

It also helps to know "left" and "right" and the numbers if you have the time.

By the word, even in Russian the word for toilet is a variant, pronunced roughly "tooalet". In German it is "toiletten". The word in many languages has the same root.

I don't know if this works with Asian languages. There you might be reduced to gross mime gestures.