Learning the Slovene language

by David Robertson ~ 10-Dec-2009

Slovene

I’m not a linguist. I failed my CSE French with a grade E or F, so getting to grips with Slovene was never going to be easy! (Sarah is much better and has a working grasp of both French and German). We have been travelling to Slovenia since 2001 and our Slovene is very basic. We have no excuse! Except, perhaps, that the Slovenes we bump into are usually very good English speakers and make life very easy for us. It is frustrating though when you meet someone, such as the shepherd on the summit of Golica, and you cannot communicate. However, we do try and we sense that our efforts are appreciated.

If you want to practise a few phrases and learn a few words then check our Slovene pronunciation guide and our Slovene for Walkers guide. These two guides are also included in our book.

One excellent online resource that we are happy to recommend is “Slovenian for Travellers“, written by Miran Hladnik and Toussaint Hočevar (Slovene and Slovenian seem to be interchangeable). On their website you can click on words or phases and hear how they should be pronounced. It is very instructive and gives you a head start. Sections include a pronunciation guide, common expressions, language for situations, eating out, where to buy what, personal services and recreational activities. They have CDs for sale as well

If you are looking for a phrase book or want to delve a bit deeper into the Slovene language, then choose a book or two from those below, available at Amazon.co.uk.

Srečno!