Ali govorite Slovensko?
[Do you speak Slovene?]

Kelly Kolton

A friend once e-mailed me, in Slovene, no less and said; “If you think that you will learn the Slovene language without any trouble, you are very wrong.”

That is very true.

Slovene is a hard language for an English speaker with only two years of French studies in high school to learn. Usually, people say that when you know French, it is easy to learn Spanish or Latin. But learning Slovene is a whole new ballgame.

There are about 50 differnt dialects of the Slovene language spoken in Slovenia, a country about the size of New Jersey. While I was in Slovenia over spring break, I tried to learn new words and phrases from our host students. This was rather difficult for me, but words of encouragement that my pronunciation was good motivated me. It also makes things fun when you learn swear words in a different language!

Since I have returned to Peoria, I have started using a Slovene-English dictionary, internet resources and the help of friends online to aid me learning Slovene. I don’t understand (“Ne razumem”) how I have started picking it up this quickly, especially because my two years of studying French were like pulling teeth. Maybe I was too immature in high school or too bored with learn-this-word-to-mean-that-word to see the real value in studying a foreign language.

Traveling to Slovenia and seeing the real-world application of the language made learning it something more important and useful. Also, it has been an interesting experience to e-mail in Slovene with my friends from Ljubljana as well as make new friends on the internet who enjoy teaching Slovene to an American through an instant messaging program. Every new word I learn, I write it down in a notebook. Then I study while I surf Web sites or chat with friends online. Here are a few words and phrases I have learned, with a little help from friends:

Kelly Kolton is the Graphics Editor of the Bradley Scout. She is a graphics design and multimedia double major. Ona je zelo utrujena [She is very tired]. Direct questions, comments, or sleep to kkolton@bradley.edu.