Learn Slovenian by taking Courses and interacting with Natives

Living in a foreign country involves not only learning and adapting to the cultural differences, but also facing a foreign language. Speaking at least some Slovene is possible thanks to various opportunities available to everyone interested. There are reasons beyond beautiful landscape that make it worth to use the language in order to connect better and more easily with the country and the people.

The official language used in spoken and written communication in Slovenia is Slovenian. For a foreigner living in Slovenia it is useful to learn at least some basic phrases and words, which are used in daily communication, especially when using public services such as Slovenian railways (Slovenske železnice), Slovenian post (Pošta Slovenije) or some other public services. Namely, the employees in the public sector still rarely speak English, German and other foreign languages well. I have experienced a language barrier with both above mentioned services, once as I was buying a train ticket and on another occasion, when I wanted to get a package, and I have overcome the barrier in both cases by using non-verbal communication.

In Slovenia, there is no rule referring to the whole country that would require workers in the public sector to answer in the same language they are addressed in. There are some areas with Italian and Hungarian minorities, where everyone speaks Slovenian and Italian/ Hungarian and also all public services have to be available in both languages. Older generations know Croatian and Serbian, but English has a rather low status; whereas the opposite is true for the younger generations of Slovenes. The situation is quite different in Latvia, where due to the ethnic population (61.4% Latvians, 26.0% Russians, 3.4% Belarusians) and tourism the whole country follows an unwritten rule that you should talk to a person in the same language they addressed you in if that language is one of the following: Latvian, English or Russian. Therefore, all employees in the public sector have to be fluent in at least these three languages.

Learning a new language always poses a challenge - sometimes big, sometimes a small one. Those who have chosen to study the Slovene language, have numerous options to choose from. Slovene courses are taught in various schools and institutions, and Slovenians are glad to provide help if asked.

One advantage of joining a language course instead of learning on your own is that courses have a well developed structure, which enables for a faster learning process. A fixed time schedule provides motivation to proceed with the language learning instead of doing some other activities.

The largest institution that offers special Slovene courses throughout the year is the Centre for Slovene as a Second/Foreign Language (CSS/FL). Currently it offers 8 developed programs:

§ Slovene at Foreign Universities

§ Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture

Source: LanguagePhrases.com

§              Symposium Obdobja
§              Examination Centre
§              Slovene Language Courses
§              Education
§              Publishing
§              Slovene for children and teenagers

A research of the history of Slovenian language teaching reveals an interesting finding - the teaching of Slovenian language in this centre began already in 1965. Back in the history, the lecturers from the center were visiting other towns to teach the immigrant children. From 1992 onwards, after the independence of Slovenia, CSS/FL began carrying out examinations in Slovenian for different needs (studies, work, etc.).

During the summer, the best offer of the center is definitely the two-week course called the Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture, carried out every July. The program is organized so that the theoretical part takes place in the morning and the evening activities include a variety of interactive activities such as visiting museums, theatre performances, films, trips, etc. and the students are welcome to attend. This approach is great for those who don’t feel comfortable visiting various places in Slovenia or doing some activities alone.

For those who have a residence permit and wish to reunite with their families or for third-country nationals, 60- or 180-hour language courses of Slovene language are available. After finishing the program, a test must be taken to acquire the language certificate. The entire process can be done also in some other institutions outside Ljubljana such as Adult Education Institute Maribor (Andragoški Zavod), IS / Education Center Miklošič and Peoples’ University Koper (Ljudska Univerza). If you want to apply for the exam or participate in the program, you have to register in the administrative unit that has issued the permanent or temporary residence.

A more flexible way of learning Slovene is with the help of native Slovenians, whom you can offer learning your own native language in return. An informal atmosphere gives you the opportunity to learn a variety of different pieces of information in your spare time and in real-life rather than classroom situations. It is especially useful if a person works, studies or does some other activities as he/she doesn’t have to adapt to a fixed course time. This way it is possible to learn based on a mutual agreement. Taking into account that the spoken language tends to differ from more standardized language books, it is more valuable to get in touch with the spoken language in the daily communication. As the language changes rapidly, the easier accessible sources can sometimes be outdated.

Of course, learning Slovenian is an individual experience for each person. People generally learn languages in different manners and time periods. For example, in Latvia, quite a few Chinese have mastered the Latvian language to the B2 level on their own in just couple of months after arriving to the country, starting with the use of available written materials, later using and observing the everyday life or taking courses. Furthermore, they have learned this rather complex language fluently and can speak almost without an accent. However, there are people who live in a foreign country all their lives and don’t speak the official language. Perhaps it’s best to view this by understanding that people are different and we are good in different things. Some people are good at technical things, some in finance or business, whereas language learning is another thing and can be quite challenging for some people.

For those who have already had some contact with other Slavic languages (Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Rusyn, Czech, Slovak, Lechitic, Pomeranian, Kashubian, Polish, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Church Slavonic, Serbo-Croatian) it is easier to learn Slovenian, because languages from the same language group have common characteristics, and they even share some words.

Since there are numerous possibilities available for learning Slovenian language, anyone can learn at least some Slovenian phrases any way he/she prefers. Learning the language offers additional opportunities to explore the country, including villages off the beaten track where older generation definitively have interesting things to show but may not be able to explain and present them well in any other language but their mother tongue, Slovenian.