How to Learn the Serbian Language through Storytelling
Serbian language can be tricky. When you look at it from a distance, it may seem like it’s all verb conjugations and noun declensions. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather, this mindset is the sign that you have the basics in the language but struggle to make progress in expressing yourself. You may need to spice things up with a different learning approach.
Learning languages through storytelling is a natural and fun way to boost your skills. It’s what makes you go from “I can understand this,” to “I can express my opinion about it” in Serbian in only a few short weeks of practice.
What is Storytelling?
Storytelling refers to a cultural and social activity of sharing stories. It’s a powerful means of communication present in every culture around the world. Storytelling has an important cultural, educational, moral, and entertainment function. Implementing storytelling into any language learning process makes all the difference between monotonous grammar rule learning and becoming skilled in expressing yourself in that language.
One of the goals of storytelling in language learning is to put you in a creative mode. You become the creator of short stories, your own opinions, movie scenarios, and just about any type of content where you get to practice your language skills.
You can read more about the benefits of storytelling in language learning by reading our Eight Benefits of Learning Languages with Storytelling blog post.
Here’s how you can use the storytelling method to boost your Serbian skills and finally be able to speak like a local.
How Learning Serbian through Storytelling Works ?
The Serbian language is far more than grammar rules and out-of-context vocab words. It’s an integral part of an entire nation’s identity, way of thinking, and traditions.
Serbia is a country with a thousand-year-old history, rich cultural heritage, delicious cuisine, and world-renowned scientists and athletes. Whichever interest you have, you can find a related topic to talk about in Serbian and practice different language skills at the same time.
Below, we share practical examples of how one storytelling language class can look like depending on different topics.
1. Cuisine
If you’ve been in Serbia for a while, you’re probably familiar with its mouth-watering cuisine. And who doesn’t enjoy a savory meal every once in a while?
In the storytelling language learning class, the cuisine can be a super useful topic. Here’s how you can practice your four skills:
- Listening: Watch a YouTube video of popular Serbian recipe-makers who make traditional Serbian dishes.
- Reading: Read a recipe of your favorite Serbian dish, read texts about Serbian hospitality traditions.
- Writing: Create your own version of a popular Serbian recipe.
- Speaking: Make a short video presenting how that recipe is made.
2. Cinematography
Let’s say you are into movies and cinematography. In a storytelling class, you can practice all four language skills:
- Listening: Listen to a podcast or documentary about Serbian filmmakers (Kusturica most notably).
- Reading: Read a text about different movie plots (Black Cat, White Cat, Underground, Life is a Miracle, etc.).
- Writing: Create a movie script to practice your creative writing skills.
- Speaking: Make a movie scenario inspired by Kusturica’s films and present it in class.
As you can see, a Serbian language storytelling class unleashes your creative side. It makes you fully immersed in the Serbian language and culture. And when you’re truly immersed, you actually feel like you’re a part of the culture. As a result, your brain gets rewired to acquire the language faster and easier. Quite a different effect compared to traditional grammar-rule-and-vocab classes, isn’t it?
Who Is the Storytelling Method for?
Serbian culture is packed with fun topics and project ideas you can work on in a storytelling class. But can all Serbian learners benefit from a course like this?
The storytelling method is most effective for learners who already have the basics of the Serbian language.
You know you’d do great in a storytelling course if you can do these things in Serbian:
- Read the Cyrillic alphabet.
- Introduce yourself in more than five sentences.
- Read a simple story in the present tense and understand its context.
Many storytelling courses, like the ones offered by Art and Languages, have beginner-friendly material suitable for A1-level learners.
Ultimately, the variety and complexity of topics discussed in a storytelling class makes this method suitable for learners of all levels – beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
Ready to Learn Serbian through Storytelling?
The best thing you can do to spice up your Serbian is to explore the storytelling method. It will help you become more confident, allow you to better express your thoughts, and speed up the language acquisition process.
If this sounds like something you’d like to try but have no idea where to start, we’ve got you covered.
Art and Languages is the first online school in the region that offers Serbian language courses using the storytelling method. Check out how our program works by visiting this page or book a free trial class here.
