Welcome onboard to this unique course in the Serbian language.

Zdravo svima i dobrodošli na ovaj jedinstven kurs srpskog jezika.

When we made this course, we did want to cover as broad an audience as possible. However, it has
been designed for adult learners predominantly.

There are many language courses on the market. Some have been made just to entertain, others are
focused on grammar, vocabulary, speech or all of that. We strongly believe that a good language
course has to incorporate all aspects. It has to be hard science, as hard as language learning can be,
but it also has to offer an exciting approach that would help learners get to know the language as it
really is, with real-life speech examples that are usually not found in traditional textbooks. Still, this
course is going to rely on modern linguistic science and the experience of the people who are
linguistic professionals.

INTRO

At this point, I have to tell you who is “behind” all of this. My name is Voja. I am a language teacher
with 11 years of classroom experience, and I will be your host. However, Ivan, an academic, active
teacher with a Ph.D. in Serbian language and literature, is the man behind the course. This time, you
are just going to see a photo of him.

The course is going to be in English because we do believe that if you are not a child, the only way to
learn a foreign language is like chemistry, math, or economy, which means a good teacher and
adequate learning material. Using the target language solely is, of course, the best possible way.
However, it is often something that affects both the motivation and success and helps avoid the
feeling of helplessness that is so common in a classroom. The “helping” language being English will
inevitably lead to some comparisons between the languages, but again, as English is widely spoken
all around the world, this must come in handy, rather than be a matter of disturbance.

At the end of this course, we expect you to be able to introduce yourself in Serbian, find your way if
you come to Serbia, be able to read and write to the fullest extent as it is not difficult at all, you’ll
see. You will produce clear and meaningful sentences in different environments, be it for business
or, leisure purpose, say, you’ve come as a tourist or you are an executive of an international
company in Serbia.

What we should say at the very beginning is that once you have done this course, your knowledge is
going to be applicable in several countries in the Balkans. Yes, that is PRECISELY what you have just
heard. There is no difference between Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, or Montenegrin languages that
would diminish your ability to use what you have learned here in all the mentioned countries. Until
thirty years ago, that was one language called Serbo-Croatian, or Croato-Serbian, depending on the
federal unit of the former Yugoslavia you were from. Once the country fell apart, all the peoples of
the Balkans wanted a language on their own, and we started calling it Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian,
and somewhat recently Montenegrin. Despite differences in vocabulary and the issue of political
correctness, a Serb, a Croat, a Montenegrin, and a Bosnian would understand one another perfectly
well! When it comes to writing, with some exceptions, actually just one letter from Montenegrin,
Serbian language can be written in both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets with no differences whatsoever,
and equally acceptable in public communication, in Serbia at least. Yes, that is exactly what you have
just heard! If you are familiar with the Latin alphabet, except for some letters specific to Serbian
(Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin) all the letters are entirely the same across the languages.

Finally, we are going to try to make it more interesting and interactive for you to follow it through to
the very end, and follow us to the next course that is meant to take you even further, to the B1 level.

You will find here some 6 hours of video, all the texts, examples and learning material both in
Serbian and English, while the video itself will be subtitled in English.

So, let us go!

Jedan, dva, tri, SAD!

Cesto svako zeli jako!!!!