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Books in "Serbian" or "Croatian"? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7159 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes  20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 9 of 18 25 October 2014 at 12:46am | IP Logged | |||||
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As a beginner I think that it'll work better if you focus on one variant even though about 95% of what you learn will be identical to what's used/usable in the other variants (to the point that you'll most likely be praised for knowing the others' language perfectly even if you're under the impression otherwise (cf. my observation and experience of being praised for knowing "Serbian" perfectly even though what I used came from "Teach Yourself Croatian" and the Croatian part of "Introduction to the Croatian and Serbian Language")).
The potential problem of using the "wrong" word or structure (i.e. mix variants) in BCMS/SC is slightly greater if you want active knowledge. It's rather as if you as a Colombian would deal with some student who uses Spanish in a way that blatantly mixes conventions or forms from different parts of the Hispanosphere. It could get annoying for you even if it won't hinder understanding at all. If your goal is to learn enough to read, the problem of mixing isn't that great. In that case your goal would be to build as large a stock of vocabulary and grammatical structures as possible so that you can read with minimal consultation of a dictionary or grammar reference manual. Since you're big on literature, I would start with the variant that is nominally associated with the first book that you want. If you want to read a Serbian author, then get started with courses for Serbian or Serbo-Croatian which were biased toward elements that are unique to or at least more commonly used by Serbs than non-Serbs. Similar logic applies if you want to read a Croatian author first. As Radioclare mentioned, a lot of the difference within BCMS/SC is based on frequency. It's not as clear-cut or aligned to ethnicity as sometimes fancied. A given word or structure can be acceptable in all standards although some people may use one form more than another and even start to harbor stereotypes that what they use is proper for "their" people and kin and that everything else is used by the "other". 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5348 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 10 of 18 25 October 2014 at 1:01am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thank you both for your replies.
I was hoping to use Alexander's book, but now I see the answer key is only available in electronic format, and I absolutely cannot stand studying from a screen. There is almost an unlimited supply of beginner's textbooks so in that regard I can easily substitute it, but what would you recommend for intermediate and advanced levels? Do you know of CEFR-graded monolingual textbooks? How about readers? Regarding bookstores, I am looking to order either from Knjižara or Domaća Knjižara. For the books I'm interested in I have not been able to find separate "Serbian" and "Croatian" editions, though indeed most of them are offered in Latin script. Edited by Juаn on 25 October 2014 at 1:10am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6600 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 11 of 18 25 October 2014 at 1:15am | IP Logged | |||||
Do you think the opposite is possible btw? Ie learning Serbian and being praised for your Croatian? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7159 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 12 of 18 25 October 2014 at 2:02am | IP Logged | |||||
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Can't you just print the answers? They are .pdfs...
For graded readers, look for čitanka in the title. Here are some examples from Croatia and Serbia. It seems that past the beginner's stage, teachers of BCMS/SC either use more authentic materials of their choosing or textbooks from the former Yugoslavia. However I'm not sure how suitable these textbooks would be if you're studying on your own. See these examples of syllabi from Kansas University, Indiana University and University of Pittsburgh. For intermediate textbooks I've found RAZGOVARAJTE S NAMA B1-B2: udžbenik hrvatskog jezika za niži srednji stupanj - III izdanje. Unfortunately I haven't been able to turn up more. If you're OK with online material, you could also use LangMedia involving Bosnians, Croats and Serbs as they give interviews (accompanied by transcripts) and GLOSS for comprehension exercises based on authentic texts. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7159 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 13 of 18 25 October 2014 at 2:07am | IP Logged | |||||
I suspect so, although that would mean that the student would need to pick up early on the distinction between ijekavian and ekavian (basically use the ijekavian reflexes almost always correctly) and where applicable use the language in a way that isn't ethnically marked. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5348 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 14 of 18 25 October 2014 at 2:09am | IP Logged | |||||
That is exactly the kind of material that I like. Excellent! Thank you. Now let's see if I can find B2-C1 volumes to go along with that. By the way, looking at these sites, it is incredible how transparent Serbocroatian is to me after having studied Russian. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6600 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 15 of 18 25 October 2014 at 3:32am | IP Logged | |||||
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The more you learn, the more differences you'll see ;) Have fun!
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5348 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 16 of 18 25 October 2014 at 7:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Radioclare, given that you have reached the level where you are able to read Serbocroatian literature, I'm still greatly interested to know what did you use for intermediate and advanced materials.
Thanks in advance! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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