#learning slovene

[elpidaeonia]

Risanke v slovenščini /cartoons in Slovene/

Here are links to some cartoons dubbed to Slovenian, for all you language learners (or native speakers reliving those Živ Žav and Ringa Raja days)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Ninja želve)

Benjamin the Elephant (Slonček Benjamin)

Lazy Town

Winx Club

Simsala Grimm

Bob the Builder (Mojster Miha)

VeggieTales (Zelenjavčki)

Radovedni Jaka

Professor Balthasar

The Smurfs (1, 2)

H. C. Andersen - The Fairytaler (and some others)

Cofko Cof and Pravljice o zobnih miškah

Fireman Sam, Wild Kratts and some others

These are just some, try searching for their Slovene titles through youtube to find more episodes.

Lepo se imejte! Have fun!

[elpidaeonia]

Sebi (Eng. trans.)  // Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl

Since it’s ESC week in Europe, I thought I’d translate the lyrics of Slovenia’s song. I’m really happy that it’s sung in Slovene this year!

Ko so tvoje misli polne,

When your mind is full,

lahko poslušaš, kako mi bije srce.

you can listen to the way my heart beats.

Ko težko je tvoje breme,

When you burden is heavy,

k meni se lahko zatečeš.

you can take refuge in me.

Vprašaj, kaj me vodi dalje,

Ask me what takes me further,

so dosežki in razdalje.

there are achievements and there are distances.

Kot list gre z vetrom in se mu upira,

When a leaf goes with the wind and resists it,

jaz grem s tokom in se mu upiram.

I go with the flow and resist it.

Vedno se ne vidi zvezd,

The stars aren’t always visible,

sam ostani sebi zvest,

stay true to yourself,

ne govori mi: »Oprosti!«

don’t tell me ‘sorry’.

Solze v tvojih so očeh,

There are tears in your eyes,

pusti, da tečejo.

let them run.

Ko najine želje so različne,

When our wishes are different,

sprejmeš me in sprejmem te.

you accept me and I accept you.

Poglej me,

Look at me,

ni nujno, da ima vse pomen.

not everything has to have a meaning.

Večnost in ta planet nista prijatelja

Eternity and this planet aren’t friends

in jaz sem kot snežinka, ki čaka na pomlad.

and I am like a snowflake, that’s waiting for the spring.

Vedno se ne vidi zvezd,

The stars aren’t always visible,

sam ostani sebi zvest,

stay true to yourself,

ne govori mi: »Oprosti.«

don’t tell me ‘sorry’.

Ni ti treba se dokazovat,

You don’t have to prove yourself,

vežejo nas iste solze, isti strah.

we’re bound by the same tears, the same fear.

Note: the translation is quite literal, so anyone learning the language has an easier time getting through unknown words/phrases.

If you like this and are interested in more song translations please let me know.

[elpidaeonia]

Meeting and parting vocabulary in Slovene

One thing you have to know in Slovenia is that everybody shakes hands all the damn time, and introductions are no exceptions. Usually, when you first meet someone (and later when you see them after a long time and you’re not like super close) you’re going to shake hands. Even teens do it (e. g. as a freshman in college last October I did with all of my peers as well). It doesn’t happen all the time in informal situations, which means you won’t get an evil eye, but it’s very common, so don’t be surprised.

This vocabulary will be divided by socially neutral expressions, formal ones and informal vocabulary. For pronounciation, please refer to my previous post about the slovenian alphabet, as it’s a very phonetic language (it’s pronounced almost exactly how it’s written). The stress of the word will be marked with bold lettering.

Alright, so let’s start with some standard stuff you can use with anyone:

Zdravo - hello (lit. healthy)

Dobro jutro - good morning

Dober večer - good evening

Lahko noč - good night

Onto the formalities:

Dober dan - hello (lit. good day)

Me veseli - pleased to meet you (lit. makes me happy)

Na svidenje - goodbye (lit. until we see each other again)

And for the informal vocabulary:

Živjo - hi (be careful, the v is pronounced as ‘w’!)

Hej - hey (mostly among friends in the younger generations)

Oj/ojla - hey

Čav/čao - can be used both as a greeting or as goodbye

Adijo (often shortened to ‘dijo’) - bye

Se vidiva kasneje - see you (singular) later

se vidiva kmalu - see you (singular) soon

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments feel free to contact me. Srečno! Good luck!

[elpidaeonia]

Hello to anybody interested in learning Slovene!

I encountered a website, made by the Slavic studies team of University of Ljubljana, targeted specifically at foreigners wanting to learn Slovene. It’s free and it looks really cute, although I haven’t tried it out.

Hopefully it will help anybody interested and also, if you use it please tell me your opinion so I’ll know if anybody asks for resources/advice/etc.

[elpidaeonia]

Politness in Slovene

Here you can find the most common expressions of politness (vljudnost) in Slovene language.

Dobrodošli - welcome

Oprostite - excuse me / sorry (formal)

Oprosti - sorry (informal)

Hvala - thank you

Prosim - please / you’re welcome

Ni za kaj - you’re welcome (lit. it’s for nothing)

Lep dan (vam želim (form.)) - have a nice day (lit. nice day (I wish you))

If you have any more suggestions for this post or any vocabulary topic in Slovene, please let me know.

Uživaj! Have fun!

[iamslovene-blog]

Visit Original Link

My interview on Radio Slovenia by Mojca Delač about my time in Slovenia.  It is for a program called "Slovenians Around the World" on the national radio program.  My interview comes in a few minutes before half way, maybe around 1/3 in.  I only lost about 1/2 of my body weight in a terrified sweat trying to speak Slovene on the national radio.   Some of the interview is in English, so everyone can understand something! 2 months of learning Slovene?  Not too bad, I guess.