More word fun!

There are words in the Croatian language that'll trip you up, no matter what. I don't even know what to call these language speedbumps...but they are sure to cause confusion whenever an English-speaking foreigner encounters them:

Smoking:  this is not a verb.  This is a noun.  It has nothing to do with lighting up and taking a puff.  A 'smoking' is the word for a tuxedo jacket.  Yup.  A guy wears a 'smoking' at his wedding.  Nobody can tell me where this word came from...but I am guessing that in lots of old British and American movies, the guys in tuxedos were usually smoking...and then somehow in a roundabout way, it made sense.  Somehow.

Keks:  sounds like cakes.  It refers to cookies (the kind you dunk in coffee, not the kind that live on your computer).  If someone asks you to bring keks to a party and you show up with a cake instead of a platter of cookies...there'll be raised eyebrows.

Torta:  no, it isn't a thin pie-like dessert item.  Torta is the word for cake.  If someone asks you to bring the torta for a birthday party...you'd better be bringing a birthday cake.  Otherwise, there'll be some really raised eyebrows.

Pita:  no, it isn't a type of Greek flat-bread that you fill with falafel and other yummies.  Pita is anything (sweet or salty) that involves a filling being rolled in a phyllo-type dough and then baked (sort of like apple strudel).  If someone asks you to bring pita to a party, and you show up with falafels....there's just going to be complete and utter silence.  And raised eyebrows.

Hulahopke:  okay, a while back, I told everyone how Croatians refer to the '@' sign as the monkey sign (for real).  And I mentioned how it always makes me laugh when I have to say it out loud when giving someone my email address.  Well, this next one is even funnier:  hulahopke is the Croatian word for that piece of ladies hosiery known as nylons or pantyhose.  I know, you are thinking to yourself:  so what, hulahopke, pantyhose, that ain't funny at all.  But wait, hulahopke is a Croatian word taken phonetically from the English word for hula-hoops!  Yup, nylons are known as hula-hoops!  So when you go to the ladies hosiery department and the saleslady asks how she can help you, you've got to tell her that you're looking for some hula-hoops!  And it cracks me up each and every time.  The best part, is that nobody can tell me WHY they are called hula-hoops.  I can only imagine that the motion one has to go through to get the things put on looks a lot like a woman doing the hula, or working a hula-hoop. 

That's all I got today.  I'll have more soon.

Sorry Mrs. L

Sometimes language difficulties are funny.  Sometimes, not so much.  Recently, I had one of those not-so-much events.

First off, a bit of language explanation.  The words for hot and cold in Croatian are:  toplo (hot), hladno (cold).  I don't have trouble remembering toplo because they have these toplo springs here (hot springs) and the word toplo just naturally sticks in my brain as hot/warm.

But hladno is another story.  In my brain, I associate hladno with hot.  No matter what, there it is.  I think it is because in English, we don't have too many words starting with the letter 'h' and hot is one of those words.  Also, whenever you see a water tap in English, they'll have an 'h' for hot, and a 'c' for cold.  So again the 'h' means hot for me.

So, a few weeks ago, my kindly, nicest, friendliest neighbour, Mrs. L, came by for a quick visit and I made us some coffee.  I personally like to drink my espresso with a little extra hot water and I always ask people if they want extra water in their coffee.  Mrs. L said she'd love some, please...but some hladno water.  So, I went off and poured extra boiling water in her coffee.  And she, thinking I had added extra cold water to cool the coffee,  took a huge slurp.  And just about had a heart attack.

I was mortified to my soul.  Poor Mrs. L was very gracious about it, but it was just one of those moments that drives home how very important it is to learn, understand, and be aware of this language in a more fluent way.  I'm getting there (not as fast as I'd like, but I'm going in the right direction). 

I just gotta figure out how to remember that hladno is cold.  Somehow.

Thoughts on the language

I get lots of questions from people asking what the Croatian language is like to learn as a new language.  I tell them that it is a lot like the Energizer Bunny (from the TV commercial for Energizer batteries), the language just keeps going and going and going and going.  IMHO learning to speak Croatian proficiently cannot be measured in number of hours or months or semesters.  Learning to be proficient in Croatian is more like growing an expansive garden.  Some plants will be fruitful almost immediately, some will require coddling, and some plants will take years to mature and bear fruit.  Once the entire garden is well established, then the full bounty can truly be enjoyed.

My language is slowly but surely growing.  No longer tender saplings.  And not yet a fruit-laden orchard.  But something in between.  Filled with energy and great promise.   Always reaching towards the sky.



 

More language learning tools

In my quest to learn the Croatian language, I've slowly collected just about every workbook, text book, CD, dictionary, phrase guide, and grammar guide on the planet. Why do I need so many different books? Well, only one or two are written in English. All the other books are written in Croatian....which presented a problem for me, since I couldn't read the directions, and the waiters at the cafe quickly tired of my pesky requests to "please tell me what this says" while pointing to some phrases in my book.

Everyone I talk to who is trying to learn this language is pretty much in the same boat, and often we compare language learning tools. I thought I'd provide a quick list of the books that also come with CDs which aid immensely when trying to figure out pronunciation. There are particular sounds that are hard for an English-speaker to handle gracefully. Here are some city and town names to illustrate: Hvar (um, let's see, it would sound sort of like hhhh-var), Cricvenica (t-s-rick-ven-itz-ah...and roll the rrrr), Oprtalj (oh, never mind ;-)

I got all these books through a bookstore in Zagreb called Algoritam. You can find them at: www.algoritam.hr. See if there's a location near you, or call the main bookstore and see if they can order any of these for you.

This first one is written in English, and comes with 6 audio CDs, plus a good coursebook. It is called: Spoken World Croatian, A complete course for beginners. By Living Language. Cost was around 290 kunas.


The second one is also in English. Called Beginner's Croatian , Hippocrene Beginner's Series, by Aida Vidan & Robert Niebuhr. It is a workbook with 2 audio CDs. Cost, around 240 kunas.



The third one is a workbook that is written in Croatian....but it has a CD that goes along with it. It is called: Ucimo hrvatski, skolska knjiga, by Vesna Kosovac & Vida Lukic. Can't remember the cost...and it might only be available through www.skolskaknjiga.hr




This last one is kind of special and I highly recommend grabbing a copy. It doesn't have a CD and deals with grammar....but it is a book written in English meant to explain Croatian grammar for English speakers. Now that might sound weird...but trust me, if you are an English speaker trying to learn Croatian grammar, you'll know what I mean. The book is called Croatian Grammar, by Vinko Grubisic. It is supposed to be available at Algoritam. They couldn't get me a copy, so I wrote to the author, who directed me to the The Croatian University Press. You can e-mail them to request a copy of this book at: hrvatska-sveucilisna-naklada@zg.t-com.hr



If anyone knows of any other books/CDs/DVDs...available anywhere on the planet, please let me know..