Slovenski Kotiček (Slovenian Corner)

[Sasha]

Lep pozdrav vsem,

sem Slovenec in sem se pravkar pridružil UniLangu. Če imate kakšna vprašanja, kar pogumno. Lep pozdrav,

Saša.

(I'm Slovene and I've just joined UniLang. If you have any questions, go ahead.)

[pa-integral]

I don't know how TYSlovene is. Actually, we visited many book stores until we found Colloquial Slovene, but we couldn't find TY! Not either in Barcelona! So I finally bought Colloquial Slovene.

I don't think 13 lessons are few. Actually, it's got 322 pages (for me, this is thick ). In the first lesson, you learn (after having learnt the pronounciation on the introduction):

-Some forms of greeting and saying farewell
-The personal and some possessive pronouns
-The present tense of 'to be'
-Some masculine and feminine nouns
-Ways of addressing and introducing people
-How to ask and answer some simple questions

I've been looking at all lessons, and I think the language level you acquire is not low. I'll write the last dialog from the last lesson (13):

ROBERT: I don't know what to say!
SERGEJ: Don't say anything! Sit down and take your glass! It's your birthday!
SANDRA: Hold on, Sergej! Robert, will you tell us how old you are today?
ROBERT: You'll have to wait a bit, Sandra. I'll have something to drink first!
SERGEJ: Where is the wine?
SANDRA: Here!
SERGEJ: Robert, this is the best Slovene wine! But you have to drink a few glasses before it comes really good!
ROBERT: Thank you. Thank you all! Cheers!

So... I think the title of the book is not deceiving: what you learn is Colloquial Slovene.

[pa-integral]

Lep pozdrav vsem,

sem Slovenec in sem se pravkar pridružil UniLangu. Če imate kakšna vprašanja, kar pogumno. Lep pozdrav,

Saša.

(I'm Slovene and I've just joined UniLang. If you have any questions, go ahead.)

Me veseli

My Slovenian dictionary doesn't have the translation for Catalan and Catalonia, could you translate them into Slovenian? (I hope you know what it is )

[pa-integral]

2. Do you mean the stressed syllable? If so, there are two ways:
- listening to the native speakers
- looking for the word in a dictionary
BTW Please notice that the Slovenian stress is shifting, so it may fall on different syllables in different forms of the same word (it rarely happens though)

Yes, but my dictionary doesn't tell you what's the strong syllab. How can I know what's the strong syllab of reka (REka or reKA?)?

In Basque, I felt the same because you can't know what's the strong syllab of the words, but now, the second year learning it, I've got used to it and I can distinguish them a bit. Do you think it will be the same for Slovenian?

[Fenek]

Lep pozdrav vsem,

sem Slovenec in sem se pravkar pridružil UniLangu. Ce imate kakšna vprašanja, kar pogumno. Lep pozdrav,

Saša

Zdravo, Saša!
Fajno da si se pridružil UniLangu!

Prva, splošna prošnja: lahko popravljaš napake v mojih besedilih? Bom poskušal pisati po slovensko in rad bi vedel kakšne napake napravim.

In vprašanje:
sem bral besedila slovenske skupine Zablujena Generacija. Odlomek:
"Kakor da svet pred mano leži, čas je zdej na moji strani"
Kaj točno pomeni "kakor da"? Kako se reče "kakor da" po angleško?

Lep pozdrav,
Fenek

[Fenek]

Yes, but my dictionary doesn't tell you what's the strong syllab. How can I know what's the strong syllab of reka (REka or reKA?)?

That's a lousy dictionary then! If a dictionary doesn't mark stress, you don't know which syllable is stressed, if the vowel is short or long, if the vowel is open or closed... you don't know how to pronunce the word at all!

Well, when you get to know Slovene better, you will discover some regularities and you'll be able to guess (having a high probability of success) which syllable is stressed. But for the time being you'll have a problem indeed!

[E}{pugnator]

Pa: So, by "Colloquial Slovene" you mean no such things like the dual, am I right? Btw, could you please list which subjects are covered in the last lesson?

A friend of mine has bought TY German, which doesn't teach the future at all...I think buying a book which doesn't teach at least one tense for the future, one for the present and one for the past is waste of money...

As I can see, your level of Slovene is already a bit advanced, Pa, Daniel and Fenek. And I haven't started yet...Hope I can progress, too...

And welcome, Sasha! You'll be of great help!

[pa-integral]

I don't know if they teach the dual too, I suppose they do, but I don't know. On the 13th lesson, you learn:

-How to use the instrumental case
-How to compare adjectives and adverbs
-Personal and national celebrations

On the 12th:

-How to use the locative case
-The prepositions v and na
-How to book accommodation
-How to report what other people have said
-The reflexive verbs

On the 11th:

-More parts of the body
-How to describe how you feel when you are ill
-The Slovene health resorts
-Words for some illnesses and adjectives describing what sort of illness someone has
-How verbal nouns are formed

On the 10th:

-Words for food and drinks
-How to order a meal
-How to use the conditional
-Some adjectives describing food
-How to complain if something is not to your taste

On the 9th:

-How to use the genitive case
-Where and how to buy some food
-The way the Slovene words for 'to know' are used
-How to fill in a form
-More ways of expressing an obligation in a positive or in a negative way

On the 8th:

-Ways of talking about future events
-Houses and flats
-How Slovene verbs are formed and used
-Expressing a mild command or a wish
-How to express the impersonal 'one'

On the 7th:

-Ways of talking about past events
-More adjectives
-More time expressions
-How Slovene adverbs are formed
-Some members of a family
-How to say that something hurts you
-Some parts of the body

On the 6th:

-The dative and the locative case
-More words and expressions about traffic
-Words and expressions describing weather
-More ways of expressing what you like
-How to express 'to go' and 'to be' somewhere

On the 5th:

-How to use the Slovene dual form
-The Slovene words for 'here' and 'there'
-Words and expressions about the bank
-The accusative case
-The expressions 'to like something' and 'to like to do something'
-Some words for colours

On the 4th:

-How to use and understand reflexive verbs
-How to ask for and give directions
-How to express ability and inability
-Words and expressions about the post office
-Verbs which are followed by an infinitive
-How to construct indirect questions
-The Slovene word 'prosim' (please)
-How to give a command or advice to someone

On the 3rd:

-Words and expressions about transport
-How to ask what time it is and how to tell the time
-Some adjectives describing physical state and emotions
-The Slovene cardinal and ordinal numbers
-The months of the year
-The professions
-How to express a possibility
-How to conjugate verbs in the present tense

On the 2nd:

-Days of the week
-Countries and their inhabitants
-How to make arrangements on the telephone
-The present tense of 'to have' and some common phrases using this verb
-More nouns and adjectives and the way they are used
-How to ask and answer the questions 'who' and 'what' something is

On the 1st:

-Some forms of greeting and saying farewell
-The personal and some possessive pronouns
-The present tense of 'to be'
-Some masculine and feminine nouns
-Ways of addressing and introducing people
-How to ask and answer some simple questions

[Sasha]

My Slovenian dictionary doesn't have the translation for Catalan and Catalonia, could you translate them into Slovenian? (I hope you know what it is )[/quote]

Zdravo,

nisem vedel, da se tako raznoliki ljudje učijo slovenščino. Tukaj je odgovor na tvoje vprašanje:

Catalonia - Katalónija
Catalonian (adj) - katalónski
Catalonian (m) - Katalónec
Catalonian (f) - Katalónka
Catalonian (language) - katalónščina

Lep pozdrav v Katalonijo,
Saša.

(Hello, I've never realised that so many different people are learning Slovene. Here's the answer to your question.)

[Sasha]

Živijo (ali živio ),

I've noticed some of you have troubles with the pronounciation of the phoneme /v/, which (according to the traditional grammar) has 4 allophones: [v], [w], voiceless [w] and non-syllabic [u]. The distribution is as follows:

[v] (a dentolabial consonant; pronounced as English /v/ in the word vase): only in pre-vocalic positions: vaza, krava

[w] (a voiced bilabial approximant, pronounced as English /w/ in the word win): (1) in word-initial or syllabic-inital positions following the consonant and preceding a voiced obstruent /b, d, g, z, ž, dž//: vzeti, odvzeti, or (2) in word-final positions following a sonorant /m, n, l, r, j/: barv

[w] (a voiceless bilabial approximant, the correct symbol is turned upside down but I cannot paste my IPA symbols here; pronounced as English /w/ in who, what, where): in word-initial or syllabic-inital positions following the consonant and preceding a voiceless obstruent /p, t, k, c, č, f, s, š, h/: vsak, predvsem

[u] (a non-syllabic u, the correct symobil is u with a semi-circle turned downwards): in word-final positions, following a vowel: siv

Instead of the bilabial approximants (voiced and voiceless) you can always use a syllabic (an ordinary) /u/, which can simplify the rule to a great extent.

Thus, you should use

[v] in front of vowels,
[u] in all other positions in words.

I hope this explanation will help you. I used only English this time since double explanations wouldn't be of much use anyway.

Lep pozdrav vsem,
Saša.

[Sasha]

Zdravo, Fenek,

kako je kaj na Poljskem?

Seveda lahko popravljam tvoja besedila, če misliš, da se iz tega lahko kaj naučiš. Beseda fajn je neknjižna in se uporablja kot pridevnik (fajn človek = dober človek, fajn knjiga = dobra knjiga, fajn vreme = lepo vreme), ki ga ne sklanjamo (juhuhu ), in kot prislov (fajn delati = dobro, lepo). Torej moraš napisati: Fajn, da si se pridružil UniLangu.

Of course I can correct the mistakes in your texts if you think you can gain from it. The word fajn is non-standard and can be used as an adjective, which doesn't get inflected (yay ) or an adverb. So you should write: Fajn, da si se pridružil UniLangu.

In tvoje vprašanje:
kakor da = kot da = as if
"Kakor da svet pred mano leži, ..."
"As if the world lied in front of me ..."

Lepo se imej,
Saša.

[Sasha]

Zdravo Danijel,

hvala za dobrodošlico. Upam, da vam bom lahko pomagal pri učenju slovenščine in se tudi sam česa novega naučil.

(Hi Danijel, thank you for your words of welcome. I hope I'll be able to help you with your learning Slovene and at the same time learn something new myself as well.)

Lep pozdrav na Škotsko,
Saša.

[Fenek]

Hvala, Saša!

V Ljubljani sem srečal študentko iz Maribora in ona je rekla "fajno!". Zdaj že vem, da normalno se reče "fajn!" in "fajno!" je bila verjetno "individualna sprememba" Tudi mi, Poljaki, imamo to neknjižno besedo, ampak mi sklanjamo pridevnik "fajny, fajna, fajne" in prislov je "fajno" ali "fajnie".

Še eno vprašanje: kako se izgovarja po slovensko ime "Pavel"?

[pa-integral]

Yesterday I finished Lesson 2 of my book, and I reviewed everything. I don't have many questions, Slovene seems quite regular until now.

Btw, this thread seems to have totally died....... Is anybody there?

[Fenek]

I'm still here, but the Slovenian guy seems to have left.

[E}{pugnator]

Good news for us, a new Slovenian member has arrived, his nickname is duro, I met him at the chat yesterday and we talked a lot in German

He seems to be a nice person, hope he gets to be an active member nd therefore help us...

[Sasha]

Lep pozdrav vsem,

brez skrbi, nisem izginil, samo delo sem imel z izpiti.

Sedaj pa odgovor na vprašanje, kako se izgovarja ime Pavel.

I Pavel /'pa:v"l/ (" polglasnik kot v angleščini: / schwa, as in English: bird)
R Pavla /'pa:ula/
D Pavlu /'pa:ulu/
T Pavla /'pa:ula/
M pri Pavlu /pri 'pa:ulu/
O s Pavlom /s 'pa:ulom/.

Lep pozdrav, Saša.

Hello everyone,
don't worry, I haven't disappeared. I was a bit busy with my exams. Now, the answer to the question how the name Pavel is pronounced.

Greetings to all of you, Sasha.

[Fenek]

Hvala!

[Sasha]

Četrtek, 6. november 2003


Zdravo vsem,

v Sloveniji se po kratkih praznikih, ki smo jih imeli prejšnji teden, življenje vrača na stare tire. V petek, 31. oktobra smo v Sloveniji praznovali dan reformacije. Ta praznik obeležuje dobo, ki nam je dalo prvo knjigo. To je bilo leta 1550, ko sta izšli prvi tiskani knjigi v slovenščini: "Katekizem" in "Abecednik" Primoža Trubarja.

V soboto, 1. novembra pa je bil dan spomina na mrtve. Ta dan obiščemo grobove pokojnih sorodnikov in prijateljev, prižgemo sveče in položimo cvetje.

Oba praznika sta v Sloveniji dela prosta dneva. Poleg tega je 31. oktobra pri nas tudi dan varčevanja.

Ob teh praznikih imajo učenci in dijaki svoje prve -- jesenske -- počitnice: prost teden, ki ga seveda vsi komaj čakajo .

Lep pozdrav iz Slovenije,
Saša.


Thursday, 6 November 2003


Hello everyone,

in Slovenia life is back to normal after a short holiday period last week. On Friday, 31 October, we celebrated Reformation Day. This holiday reminds us of the time which saw the first printed book in Slovene. It was in 1550 and the first two books were Catechismus and Abecedarium by Primož Trubar.

Saturday, 1 November, was Remembrance Day. On this day we visit the graves of our deceased relatives and friends to light candles and bring flowers.

Both are public holidays in Slovenia. 31 October is also known as Day of Saving.

In the week around these holidays pupils and students are free from school; it's the first -- autumn -- break in a school year and everyone looks forward to it .

Best wishes to all of you,
Sasha.

[Sasha]

Četrtek, 6. november 2003


Zdravo vsem,

v Sloveniji se po kratkih praznikih, ki smo jih imeli prejšnji teden, življenje vrača na stare tire. V petek, 31. oktobra smo v Sloveniji praznovali dan reformacije. Ta praznik obeležuje dobo, ki nam je dalo prvo knjigo. To je bilo leta 1550, ko sta izšli prvi tiskani knjigi v slovenščini: "Katekizem" in "Abecednik" Primoža Trubarja.

V soboto, 1. novembra pa je bil dan spomina na mrtve. Ta dan obiščemo grobove pokojnih sorodnikov in prijateljev, prižgemo sveče in položimo cvetje.

Oba praznika sta v Sloveniji dela prosta dneva. Poleg tega je 31. oktobra pri nas tudi dan varčevanja.

Ob teh praznikih imajo učenci in dijaki svoje prve -- jesenske -- počitnice: prost teden, ki ga seveda vsi komaj čakajo .

Lep pozdrav iz Slovenije,
Saša.


Thursday, 6 November 2003


Hello everyone,

in Slovenia life is going back to normal after a short holiday period last week. On Friday, 31 October, we celebrated Reformation Day. This holiday reminds us of the time which saw the first printed book in Slovene. It was in 1550 and the first two books were Catechismus and Abecedarium by Primož Trubar.

Saturday, 1 November, was Remembrance Day. On this day we visit the graves of our deceased relatives and friends to light candles and bring flowers.

Both are public holidays in Slovenia. 31 October is also known as Day of Saving.

In the week around these holidays pupils and students are free from school; it's the first -- autumn -- break in a school year and everyone looks forward to it .

Best wishes to all of you,
Sasha.