A language learners’ forum

Živijo!

New forum - new fun. Let's do some Slovene, shall we? Yes yes!

(my old log on HTLAL: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=34585)

Colloquial Slovene: 16 / 16
A, B, C ... 1, 2, 3, gremo: 8 / 8
Gremo naprej: 8 / 8

Slovenian should be fun If you've dabbled in BCS at all you'll notice a lot of similarities. I know I have read a few threads in Slovenian on another forum and I was able to pick up a fair bit.

I've tried some Croatian on the sideline because of the better resources, but I felt like it is confusing me in regard to Slovene. Some things are the same, some very similar, others completely different ... and I never know. I'll keep it at Croatian music for now.

I'm going to do Slovene only after Croatian, they're visually quite similar. Slovene looks more exotic with dual and distinction between closed and open ê/é and ô/ó like my native Portuguese, but Croatian is nearly omnipresent compared to that.

Let's do some shopping in Graz. I hope this board lets me edit the post often enough so I can fill in the blanks step by step.

V jutru sončna vsa - In the morning all sunny,
zelena si slovenija, - green thou art, Slovenia, (maybe hidden meaning: your are nuts - from zelena: celeriac)
sem zaveden plen, - I'm willing prey,
gor čez mejo grem. - up over the boarder I go.

Kam se vsem tako mudi, - To where all are in such hurry,
v žepih dinar, šilingi, - money in the pockets, Shillings,
rinejo čez mejo vsi, - all swarm over the border,
delavci, direktorji. - workers, managers.

Vsi tam nekaj skrivajo, - All there are hiding something,
mulci v vrstah lulajo, - brats in queues are peeing,
vlada panični trepet, - the panic-fueled tremble reigns, (panični must be definite form, no?)
na carini šverc pregled. - (it's) smuggle inspection at the customs.

Shopping, shopping in Graz, - Shopping, shopping in Graz,
žena, mulc in foter Maks, - wife, brat and father Max,
Slovenija am Hauptplatz, - Slovenia at the Hauptplatz (main square),
nos'm vreče k't magarac. - I carry bags like a jackass/idiot (guessed from Serbo-Croatian: donkey).
(nosim vreče kot magarac)

I look forward to following your progress with Slovene

I'm going to Slovenia this summer at the end of a trip around northern Croatia and I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can understand from my knowledge of Croatian. I've been to Slovenia many times before, but mainly before I'd started learning Croatian/while I was still at an A1 level in Croatian so I couldn't really understand anything. I definitely want to try and pick up some basic Slovene before my trip so that I can at least handle buying tickets and ordering food this time.

I've been to Slovenia only once and this was more than 10 years ago ... on some metal festival. Haven't seen much of the country except for the Soča river in Tolmin and the deadly Slovene mountain passes you have to pass when coming from Austria. Maybe I'll find some time this autumn for Ljubljana, Maribor or Piran.
My Tolars have become worthless by now I suppose.

Can I ask what resources you're using for Slovene? That's one that's always seemed interesting to me, but I don't know of much besides the Essential Grammar and the TY course.

Not many I'm afraid. I use the decks at Memrise for vocabulary acquisition and some basic grammar. Then a grammar written in Swedish (pretty bad stuff) and the Short Slovene Reference Grammar by Greenberg. Pons has an online dictionary Slovene-German and Slovene-English. It's also available as an app. Add youtube for songs and animated TV and this is pretty much it.
Chung recommended the new Colloquial Slovene by Greenberg, but I haven't come past the introduction. There is also an online course by the University of Hamburg, but it's in German I'm not much into textbooks, so I'm biding my time before I seriously start using them. Gotta learn as much as possible without them so they aren't so painful anymore when I finally use them.

I'm on an 80s trip it seems. Let's try some green valleys.

Zelena je, moja dolina. - Green it is, my valley.
Tu je dom mojega otroštva. - here is the home of my childhood
Sneg je na vrhovih vseh, - snow is on all summits,
cvetje mi krasi pogled, - flowers for me decorate the view
zelena je, moja dolina. - Green it is, my valley.

Zelena je, moja dolina. - Green it is, my valley.
Po jezeru zlato sonce žge. - on the lake the golden sun burns,
Tu sem se zaljubil že, - here I've fallen in love yet,
tega ne vzame mi nihče, - this nobody takes from me,
zelena je, moja dolina. - Green it is, my valley.

jo le li le ji la. - jodle jodle
Dober dan, Slovenija, Slovenija. - Good day, Slovenia, Slovenia

Zelena je, moja dolina, - Green it is, my valley.
slišim zvon, z zvonikov dveh. - I hear a bell, with belfries two,
Mati so prosili me, - Mother they requested (me),
da se k domu vrnem še, - (that) I still come back home.
zelena je, moja dolina. - Green it is, my valley.


That last stanza is kinda hard to translate. Maybe it will make more sense when I know the language better.