One reader sent me an email asking me for tips in learning Bosnian as well as recommend books, software to download. Well, I’m not a very good person to ask because I didn’t make any progress with my Bosnian. To summarize, I sucked!

However, I can write about how I actually learned Bosnian, what I shouldn’t have done, and what I could have done more so that you can devise a plan more suited to you.

What I did

  • I watched Bosnian channels but I simply couldn’t understand anything.
  • Watched English speaking channels with Bosnian sub-titles to learn basic conversations. took quick notes on my laptop while watching TV. My notes had the Bosnian and the corresponding English translations, for example: “Moj tata je umro = my father is dead.” A simple paper and pen note taking will do but I type much faster than write.
  • I had a paper notebook which I carried with me most of the time to jot down new phrases.
  • Whenever I could make out the words in the sentence but didn’t understand what it meant, I just asked and wrote them down on my notebook. Normally, people you know would be happy to repeat what they just said.
  • I was surrounded by Bosnian speaking people so I heard Bosnian all the time.
  • Sometimes I tuned in to their conversation although I didn’t understand much, most of the time nothing.
  • Repeat phrase I just learnt as much as I could. (Be careful, you could look like a mad person when you try to talk to yourself.)
  • I bought a 2.5 EUR phrase book for Croatian travelers to learn English. (Yah, it’s a reversal learning technique. Books were really expensive there and I couldn’t find anything cheap enough.)

What I could and should have done

  • Took Bosnian courses by going to the language center or with a tutor.
  • Read simple books and newspaper. I didn’t read too much Bosnian except when I watched TV.
  • Spoke more Bosnian.
  • Use English less.
  • Tune in more to Bosnian conversation. (Sometimes I got to tired and I ignored what people were talking around me.)
  • Bough books, audio courses to learn Bosnian. (Remember if you don’t find these materials as often is the case, you can use the Croatian version instead as these languages are almost the same. You can’t go wrong.”

Uh, that’s it. I can’t think of anything else.

RESOURCES

Bosnian language for beginners: Basic grammars and phrases. Very useful for me in the beginning when I didn’t have any materials. It’s not a lot so I copy and paste them to Word and printed a copy.

  • Learn it here. [via word2word]
  • Download the Word version which I copied and paste. Remember to check the website though as new materials might be added.

Croatian language: Free online Croatian courses with audio for beginner. Here.

Croatian-English/English-Croatian dictionary software: This is a free software for Windows. Very lightweight, easy to install and use. You can add more words to the word list. Download it here.

My “Quick Bosnian” silly note: So this is the Notepad note I took while watching TV. Read it for your own misery.

Good luck!

 

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