Learning Montenegrin & trying to stay motivated (week 2)

Learning Montenegrin & keeping motivated

Montenegro feels a long way away.  I have got tired of the uncertainty around international travel, particularly this last month, which is month 14 of the pandemic. So instead I am focussing on what I can do and am keeping the faith that one day I will be back to my favourite country.  And I will be exploring and soaking in the beauty of the place once again.

But in the meantime the language lesson awaits. 

With my brain engaged for the task, I have kicked off with a couple of translation tests following on from last week.  They should be easy for me as it is only lesson 1 of the my language book, but I got quite a few things wrong.  Oh dear. 

This is what I have concentrated on this week

Part 1 – Some tricky (for me) phrases that I got wrong, as well as some new words.  The quest to expand my vocabulary continues.

Part 2 – A little grammar that I only half knew. I feel like I know a lot of grammar, but it’s all very sketchy.

Part 3 – Listened to a video from Easy Croatian 2 to attune my ear to the language.  It was quite fast but I reckon if I keep listening over time it should get clearer.  There’s benefit in hearing it spoken even if you don’t understand it all.  (I learnt a lot that way when I originally learned the language in Zagreb).  

Part 1. More Montenegrin words & phrases I’m learning

lf you want to know more about the Montenegrin alphabet &  pronounciation, check out this 9 minute video by FC Lang Media

Prljav – dirty

Mjesto – place

Kaput – coat

Ozbiljan – serious (ozbiljna, ozbiljno, ozbiljni)

Ovamo – here (where movement)

Dama – lady

Svake godine – every year

Ljeti – in summer

Mnogo – a lot

Sve – all (everything)

Svi – all (everyone)

Dolazite li vi cešto ovamo? Da, dolazim svake godine. – Do you come here often? Yes, I come every year

Njihova ćerka je mlada, zar ne? Jest, i jako je lijepa. – Their daughter is young, isn’t she?  Yes, and she’s also very beautiful.

Zar svi uće srpski?  Da, zašto se čudiš? – Are they all learning Serbian? Yes, why are you surprised?

Part 2.  A little bit of Montenegrin grammar

Moj – my

Tvoj – your

Njegov – his

Njen (njezin Croatian version) – her

Njegov – its

Naš – our

Vaš – your (polite / pl)

Njihov – their

Here’s a few examples showing the word endings depending on the noun it precedes.  (There are loads of different endings to learn in Montenegrin).

Njegov sin – his son

Njegova ćerka – his daughter

Njegovi sinovi – his sons

Njen sin – her son

Njena ćerka- her daughter

Njeni sinovi – her sons

Njihov sin – their son

Njihova ćerka – their daughter

Njihovi sinovi – their sons

Part 3.  Listen to Montenegrin

Argh….Is it Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian?! Let’s all calm down. It’s basically the same language.

That’s it for my Montenegrin revision lesson 2.

Join me next week for more fun, strong coffee and grappling with this wonderful Slavonic language!

Vidimo se sljedeći tjedan!