Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Textbook: With Exercises and Basic Grammar

by Ronelle Alexander, Ellen Elias-Bursać

Three official languages have emerged in the Balkan region that was formerly Croatian in Croatia, Serbian in Serbia, and both of these languages plus Bosnian in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Textbook introduces the student to all three. Dialogues and exercises are presented in each language, shown side by side for easy comparison; in addition, Serbian is rendered in both its Latin and its Cyrillic spellings. Teachers may choose a single language to use in the classroom, or they may familiarize students with all three. This popular textbook is now revised and updated with current maps, discussion of a Montenegrin language, advice for self-study learners, an expanded glossary, and an appendix of verb types. It also

•    All dialogues, exercises, and homework assignments available in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian
•    Classroom exercises designed for both small-group and full-class work, allowing for maximum oral participation
•    Reading selections written by Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian authors especially for this book
•    Vocabulary lists for each individual section and full glossaries at the end of the book
•    A short animated film, on an accompanying DVD, for use with chapter 15
•    Brief grammar explanations after each dialogue, with a cross-reference to more detailed grammar chapters in the companion book, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Language

515 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gets points for being essentially the only such textbook for learning Serbo-Croatian. However within the very first lesson it translates the Serbian Cyrillic 'C' as a Croatian 'C', which it very much isn't. A Serbian Cyrillic 'C' is a Croatian 'S'. This wasn't just in some random sentence either, it's in the CYRILLIC ALPHABET GUIDE. I appreciate how ambitious this book is, but if they are going to make such unforgivable mistakes how can I trust the rest of the book to teach me correctly?

[Fiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

B/C/S are such niche languages that you kind of have to take what you can get when it comes to learning material. I worked with a private tutor for two years and she used this textbook to help guide our agenda each week. The book certainly isn’t perfect as there’s a fair amount of outdated vocabulary at this point and the authors have a tendency to overcomplicate examples unnecessarily. Additionally, the explanations on grammar (which are written in English for much of the book) are difficult for even a native English speaker to interpret! That said, it’s much better than the sparse set of alternatives out there.

Best of luck to anyone attempting to learn these languages!

[Annyaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read the blue book, grammar and sociolinguistic commentary to better know what’s going on. I had to put word ranges on each page of the glossary. Glossary is good. Verbose to the max and written for linguists more than the regular language student.