Learning Croatian is well, let’s be kind and say it is challenging. Although learning the language of the country you call home, even on a temporary basis, is vital and a sign of respect towards the community. Even if you just want a quick chat with a waiter, be able to navigate the basics of a government office or talk sports with your neighbour.
Now clearly, you’re going to need some help along the way, unless you have a super talent for languages you’re going to need some structured lessons. And when we discovered that the Centre for Languages at the University of Dubrovnik has just announced a new course at the beginning of the year, Croatian for foreigners, we were quick to get the word out.
Have no fear
The course was led by prof. Marija Konsuo, and we asked her a few questions before it all began. “I wouldn’t say that some languages are easier or harder than others to learn. For example, if we have students from a country that has a Slavic language then they find Croatian relatively easy to learn. And for native English speakers I also think that Croatian is possible to learn, yes, it might be more challenging but right at the beginning of the course we tell our students to have no fear,” said Konsuo full of positivity.
Croatian A1 students at University of Dubrovnik - Photo - Mark Thomas
And a couple of weeks ago the first, Croatian A1, course came to an end. And to bookend the story we went along to the university to see how the students had got on. The class was a little like a mini United Nations, students from the four corners of the world.
The course had covered all the skills of the language, speaking, writing, reading and listening, and clearly this pioneering band had enjoyed themselves and learnt a lot along the way. I arrived at the last lesson, well not lesson but exam, so there were a few nervous glances.
The Lion King in Croatian
“I only really had a little knowledge of Croatian when I started, and nothing as far as the grammar is concerned,” said one of the students, Victoria Brown from the UK. “I’ve been in Dubrovnik for around 18 months. And after completing this course I feel a lot more confident and I can understand so much more,” she added with a broad smile. “I need to push myself to speak more, but I can certainly understand much more when people are speaking. And I can now watch some movies in Croatian, I watched the Lion King the other day and found myself actually laughing,” concluded Brown clearly brimming with confidence.
In fact, this isn't a new course because the Centre for Languages has already been running this course for a few years, by Prof. Katja Bakija and Sandra Merdzan. However, after a pause for a few terms they started this Croatian language course again, explained Konsuo.
Looking to enrol in further levels
“I’ve been in Dubrovnik since the beginning of the year, and honestly I had absolutely no understanding of the language before I started this course,” explained Samantha Todd from Australia. “The only other language that I’ve studied was German, and I would have to say that Croatian is significantly more difficult. I hope that I pass the exam today and then I can enrol in the second level,” added Todd full of enthusiasm and determination.
You've all passed - Photo - Mark Thomas
That’s two continents covered, and now a third and onto South America, and Constanza Perišić, from Chile. The surname gave away her Croatian heritage, but as it turned out this family tie hadn’t given her much of a grounding in Croatia. “I’ve only been in Dubrovnik for two months. My grandmother taught us a couple of words as children, but we never really spoke it in the home,” smiled Perišić. “This is my third language, after Spanish and English, but it is also the hardest to learn. After this course I really feel much more confident and happy when I speak and meet people,” said Perišić.
Congratulations to all of the students!
“The Centre for Foreign Languages of the University of Dubrovnik organized Croatian language classes for foreigners. The first course A1.1 was successfully completed, which is extremely satisfying and an incentive for new language adventures,” concluded Konsuo. Yes, that’s right all of the students passed this first level, which is something that they can all be extremely proud of. Congratulations to all of the students!
New higher level programs are being developed that the Centre will offer in the near future. The head of the Croatian language program is associate professor. Katja Bakija, and the course was taught by Marija Konsuo, prof. Croatian language. And we will continue to follow this story and bring you updates as the when the new course starts.
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