So you've been taking your lessons, reading the texts and diligently listening to audio tracks. Plus, you've been doing your grammar exercises, singing along with your favorite songs and talking to both yourself and to your Serbian friends. Do you feel ready to add more challenges? Read on to discover the best web-based and free resources you can use for enriching your knowledge and broadening your horizons.
1. Google Translate
Yes, that's right. First and foremost, I suggest that you use Google Translate, but make sure that you're using it wisely. If you're reading this article, chances are your English is good, and I suggest that you use this tool simply as a Serbian-to-English dictionary, which, is to say, for individual words only.
Let me explain this: computerized translation is a mess when used to translate whole sentences, especially for languages with complex syntax and case systems, like Serbian. However, Google Translate contains one of the best (if not the best) readily available and free online Serbian-to-English dictionaries. And, you need that to make the most of all the other resources I am going to suggest here. That's why it's on top of this list.
Best advice: Use Google Translate as a dictionary for quick reference to back up your knowledge of the structures and the words you're already familiar with.
2. Short Comics
These probably provide the best reading for beginners because they're short, and the satisfaction of accomplishment and success will come quickly. The most famous Serbian comics author, who follows the Serbian public and political scene by commenting on it daily in his funny drawings, is Marko Somborac. For many years now he's been publishing a short comic strip every day for Blic, a Serbian daily newspaper.
Make sure that you've gotten acquainted with the Cyrillic script to enjoy a new strip every day, published in another daily newspaper, Politika: Hogar Strašni (Dik Browne's Hägar the Horrible).
You can also take a look at the Facebook page of the most famous and ingenious Serbian illustrators, Dobrosav Bob Živković. His lovely drawings are frequently accompanied by humorous comments – you will love them, it's a promise. Some of them are written in Cyrillic as well.
Best advice: Don't skip your Cyrillic because there is plenty of interesting material in that script. Don't be confused by the letters Л, Љ and Д: many comics and some newspapers are printed in fonts that make these letters look a bit different, using Λ instead of П as the basic form.
3. Politikin Zabavnik
“Политикин забавник" is the most famous, educational, and entertaining Serbian magazine for children and grownups alike. Apart from extensive articles on various subjects from ancient history to cutting-edge technology, it also provides you with short amusing columns such as Веровали или не (Ripley's "Believe It or Not"), Јесте ли већ чули да... (Have You Already Heard That...), Ма шта кажеш (You Don't Say) and different comics.
Even though their online version features only a few columns, these will be more then enough. In their archive, you will find older issues, from August 2009 onwards–and that means many fun pages worth reading. Once you've chosen the issue, just click on the word "погледајте."
Best advice: Start with the short stories and after a while, you will be able to read long articles as well. Keep notes of the important new words you learn.
4. Novinarnica
This online newsstand offers a variety of journals and magazines for sale, but, luckily, it also contains a section with the magazines distributed for free. This is where you will find more than 60 different magazines on various topics, from health and fitness, mobile phones and technology, to city life, among many others.
Best advice: Always choose the magazines that appeal to you. And don't sweat it; even if you're only looking at the pictures and reading nothing but headlines, you are still making progress.
5. Српска дечја дигитална библиотека
The Serbian National Library has developed an online version, Дигитална Народна библиотека Србије where they provide a section called the Serbian Children's Digital Library with a collection of 127 Serbian children's books carefully chosen by experts.
Best advice: Children's books are not to be underestimated in terms of difficulty. You should probably start with short poems before you move on to stories and novels, but bear in mind that they sometimes contain obsolete or humorous words that are not useful for everyday conversations.
6. Цртани филмови – Cartoons
If you enjoy watching cartoons, do not hesitate to watch them in Serbian. There are several websites you can check out, like Crtani filmovi or Crtani Online. But you can simply use YouTube, as well: just hit the words "crtani filmovi na srpskom" and choose the ones you like.
An important word you should know is "Štrumpf,” which is what we call the Smurfs in Serbian. Another important word is "sihnronizovani,” which means dubbed--as opposed to subtitled--and that's important because dubbing is not an exclusive practice in Serbia. We're used to reading subtitles, and I consider that to be an extremely useful practice, because we are exposed to the sounds of other languages from an early age.
Best advice: It is a good idea to watch a cartoon you already know well, like your favorite Disney classic, so that you can focus on the language. You will be listening to the words being said while already knowing what ideas are being expressed.
7. RTS – Radio-Televizija Srbije
Be it intentional or not, the website of the Serbian national television station is made in a learner-friendly way. First of all, you can choose whether you want to see it in Latin or Cyrillic script by clicking on the button "ћир" or "lat" in the top right corner. Besides that, in the section "vesti" you will find many videos accompanied by the same text in the written form, like this one. This is great learning material because it enables you to practice both your listening and reading skills.
Finally, the other articles that do not provide a video have the button "čitaj mi" under the headline, which enables you to listen to proper pronunciation. See this article for an example. Even though the intonation is somewhat robotic, the pronunciation and the accents are accurate.
Best advice: Pick a headline that you find interesting and then listen to it several times, trying to catch the meaning without reading. Then go on to read the text and look up the words you can't understand. Again, keep note of the new words.
8. Naša snajka
Have you already seen this one? Naša snajka is a funny short series made for Serbian learners, and subtitled in several European languages. Unfortunately, there are only eight episodes so far, but we hope that they will film more. The main character, creator and chief actress is Martina, a Canadian polyglot with Spanish roots living in Paris and married to a Serbian named Daki. She is "naša snajka" (our sister-in-law) who is trying to figure out the Serbs and their customs. In case you had a doubt, her Serbian is near perfect in the series and her pronunciation is incredibly native-like.
Best advice: To make the most out of it, watch every episode at least three times, experimenting with and without subtitles.
9. Радио Београд
Yes, that is radio and you can just listen to it uncritically, but there is something more to it. There are two sections on their website especially interesting for us here. One of them is Српски на српском (Serbian in Serbian), а radio show that explains and corrects, often in a humorous manner, common mistakes natives make. Look for the mp3 Z(мп3) files on their page. The other section is Драмски програм, providing different radio dramas recorded in mp3 format.
Best advice: Both types of audio materials are recorded by professional radio presenters and actors. Their diction is impeccable and their pronunciation clear and perspicuous. You don't need to understand everything; just relax and enjoy the sounds!
10. Serije – TV Shows
There are excellent Serbian TV shows that are available on YouTube or elsewhere, but there are none with subtitles. That's why I've left them for the very end of this list. Only the advanced learners will be able to enjoy them fully.
I suggest that you first watch the show Državni posao, which has become extremely popular in Serbia recently. The episodes are short--about 15 minutes each. You can start with two short passages that are transcribed on my blog, and then go on to watch the full episodes on your own. After that, I'd suggest my personal all-time favourite, Otvorena vrata--a smart and witty show that has been popular ever since it first appeared in 1995. It was so popular that they started filming it again in 2013.
Best advice: Just enjoy! Be sure to have someone handy to ask him or her about the things you can't understand.
These are my ten best resources for improving your Serbian. Try them out! Don't forget that the most important thing is to enjoy the process and have fun. That's the best way to learn. Do not force yourself to listen to music you don't like or to read about a subject you're not interested in. Keep it relevant and interesting, talk about the things you want to talk about and read about the things you are interested in learning about. The results will surprise you.
How helpful was this article? What resource did you like the most? Would you add anything to the list?
Image Sources
Hero image by Anna Levinzon (CC BY 2.0)
Magdalena Petrovic is a teacher at italki who many students have described as “excellent” and “fun.” Did you like her article? Keep reading her blog, or access more interesting materials for Serbian learning here.
