Miscellaneous items #018
Picking up place names by ear
In another post (Vocabulary #007 Names of towns: A grammatical nightmare), I have talked about the complexity of learning Croatian place names: Do they behave as nouns, or adjectives? Masculine, feminine, or neuter? Singular or plural?
And in yet another post (Grammar #011 Declension of place names), I’ve talked about how place names are declined in Croatian (ie, change the form of the name according to its role in sentences). Challenging!
And in yet another post (Grammar #011 Declension of place names), I’ve talked about how place names are declined in Croatian (ie, change the form of the name according to its role in sentences). Challenging!
Well, it’s one thing to understand how Croatians decline place names, and to think through what the correct versions are.
But in my experience, it is a huge challenge for us non-native speakers to distinguish place names when listening to somebody else’s conversation or speech. Simply because often the names don’t sound like the nominative version shown on the map.
But in my experience, it is a huge challenge for us non-native speakers to distinguish place names when listening to somebody else’s conversation or speech. Simply because often the names don’t sound like the nominative version shown on the map.
For example, imagine that your Croatian cousin leaves you a phone message, in Croatian, to tell you about her travels. Listen to a recording of her call, below. Can you identify all nine cities or towns that she refers to?
Just click on the box to listen in. (The wording is misleading. The audio file will not download into your computer directory. You will just access the file from the cloud.)
I often get into a brain spin quite early, and from then on, there is no catching up.
The point of this post is just to re-assure you in case you have similar experiences. There is no substitute for lots of listening practice until the rhythm of the (modified) Croatian names becomes familiar.
And maybe you've experienced similar things with people's names when listening to speech in Croatian? Especially when you don't know of the person whose (declined) name is mentioned, and you don't know if that was a word, or a place name, or a person's name.
In case you are wondering, here is a transcript of my cousin’s message ......
The point of this post is just to re-assure you in case you have similar experiences. There is no substitute for lots of listening practice until the rhythm of the (modified) Croatian names becomes familiar.
And maybe you've experienced similar things with people's names when listening to speech in Croatian? Especially when you don't know of the person whose (declined) name is mentioned, and you don't know if that was a word, or a place name, or a person's name.
In case you are wondering, here is a transcript of my cousin’s message ......
Dobar dan, Bob
Mi smo sada u Veloj Luci. Uskoro ćemo ići prema Jelsi, i onda prema Makarskoj.
Sutra ćemo biti u Vodicama, i preksutra u Sisku. U subotu ćemo biti u hotelu u centru Slavonskog Broda.
Petar je sada u Rijeci, i sutra će biti u Zadru. Ići će u Pisu preksutra.
Mi smo sada u Veloj Luci. Uskoro ćemo ići prema Jelsi, i onda prema Makarskoj.
Sutra ćemo biti u Vodicama, i preksutra u Sisku. U subotu ćemo biti u hotelu u centru Slavonskog Broda.
Petar je sada u Rijeci, i sutra će biti u Zadru. Ići će u Pisu preksutra.
And its translation into English ….
Good day, Bob
We are now in Vela Luka. Soon we will go toward Jelsa, and then toward Makarska.
Tomorrow we will be in Vodice, and the day after tomorrow in Sisak. On Saturday, we will be in a hotel in the centre of Slavonski Brod.
Petar is now in Rijeka, and tomorrow he will be in Zadar. The day after tomorrow, he will go to Pisa.
Good day, Bob
We are now in Vela Luka. Soon we will go toward Jelsa, and then toward Makarska.
Tomorrow we will be in Vodice, and the day after tomorrow in Sisak. On Saturday, we will be in a hotel in the centre of Slavonski Brod.
Petar is now in Rijeka, and tomorrow he will be in Zadar. The day after tomorrow, he will go to Pisa.
If you would like to replay my phone message a few times for some practice, feel free.
Želite li mali ispit? Slusajte …….
And a native Croatian speaker would say that much faster than I did!
Just in case, here is a transcript:
Mi smo u Jelsi. Hoćete li vi doći u Jelsu? Idem kući sutra s Marijom i Ivanom koji žive u Imotskom. Boravit ćemo na putu u Tučepima. Utorkom idemo trajektom na Korčulu s Hvara.
Karlo živi u Karlovcu, ali u subotu će biti u Velikoj Gorici. U nedjelju je bila prometna nesreća u smjeru Zagreba između Karlovca i Jastrebarskog.
Mačji kašalj?
Mi smo u Jelsi. Hoćete li vi doći u Jelsu? Idem kući sutra s Marijom i Ivanom koji žive u Imotskom. Boravit ćemo na putu u Tučepima. Utorkom idemo trajektom na Korčulu s Hvara.
Karlo živi u Karlovcu, ali u subotu će biti u Velikoj Gorici. U nedjelju je bila prometna nesreća u smjeru Zagreba između Karlovca i Jastrebarskog.
Mačji kašalj?
I'm sure that part of my problem in this respect is not just the failure to instantly recognise a declined name, but as soon as I need to consider what I heard, my brain struggles to keep up with what comes after that. There is a post about this: Learning Croatian #018 My brain becomes full!
Getting around
You can browse or search this website in the following ways:
You can browse or search this website in the following ways:
- Use the drop-down menus from the buttons at the top of each page to browse page titles.
- Click to go to the website ROAD MAP (also from the drop-down menu under the NAVIGATION button).
- Click to go to the ALPHABETICAL INDEX. (also from the drop-down menu under the NAVIGATION button).
- Enter a word or phrase in the Search box at the top of each page.
AHA! Learning Croatian with Bob
Correspondence: bobby.bucat@gmail.com
Correspondence: bobby.bucat@gmail.com