Achievement & Equality Team

Information on Serbiaand the Serbian language

God of justice: Thou who saved us

When in deepest bondage cast

Hear Thy Serbian children’s voices

Be our help as in the past

With Thy mighty hand sustain us

Still our rugged pathway trace

National Anthem of Serbia

SERBIA AT A GLANCE

Location – Central Balkan Peninsula, in south-eastern Europe

Neighbours – Montenegro, BosniaHerzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo

Size – 29,922 square miles

Population–7,381,579 (95th)

Life Expectancy – Male / Female 71/76

Capital city – Belgrade

Potted History

As a powerful medieval kingdom, the Serbian empire occupied most of the Balkans, before being occupied by the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarians. Once part of Yugoslavia until its embittered break-up in 1991, Serbia became a sovereign republic in 2006 when Montenegro voted to secede. In 2008 Kosovo became independent after pressure from ethnic Albanians.

Political pressure points

A new constitution was agreed in 2006, to replace that of the Milosevic era. The current president is Boris Tadic, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party and in May 2008 voted in a leftist coalition. Politics remain fractured between EU advocates and nationalists. Some desire the restoration of the monarchy to make Serbia a constitutional monarchy.

Population mix

Serbs 82.9%, Hungarians 3.9%, Bosnian 1.8%, Roma 1.4%, Croats 0.9%, Montenegrins 0.9%

Religious makeup

Orthodox Christian 78%, Muslim 5%, Catholic 4%, Protestant 1%

Main languages

Serbian

National icons

Mihailo Ðuric (philosopher), Milorad Pavic (writer), Matija Beckovic (poet), Novak Djokovic, Nenad Zimonjic (tennis players), Nemanja Vidic, Dejan Stankovic (footballers), Milorad Cavic (swimmer)

Website

The Nottinghamshire Context

Due to the recent unrest in Serbia, families have been arriving in Nottinghamshire to flee persecution. The majority of these families claim asylum and face uncertain times while they are here. There will be a number of agencies involved with these families and schools are encouraged to attend the multi-agency meetings.

There are a small but significant number of young people who come to the UK without their parents. This again can impact on their lives due to a limited level of English language, separation from family members and friends and the traumatic experiences they may have witnessed.

Education in Serbia and Montenegro

  • In Serbia and Montenegro education is free and compulsory at primary level, which lasts from ages 7 to 15.
  • Most schools teach in Serbian. There is also teaching in minority languages including Hungarian and Albanian.
  • Secondary schooling lasts three to four years and includes technical and vocational schools (sredjna skola), which are the most popular, and gimnazia which offer a broad academic education to prepare students for university.
  • Students in sredjna skola choose a skilled trade or field of study, ranging from electronics to medicine.
  • At gimnazia, students are required to study philosophy, art, Latin and biology in addition to their electives.
  • Roma children have poor access to education and many receive little or no education beyond primary level.
  • In Kosovo, school is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 15 and the vast majority of children under 15 attend school.
  • There are schools that operate in Serbian, Bosnian and Turkish as well as Albanian languages.
  • Secondary education lasts for four years, until 19, with opportunities for specialisation.
  • Before 1990 Kosovan students sat the Yugoslav matura examination, now being replaced by an equivalent Kosovan examination.

Information about the Serbian Language

Serbian (српски), Croatian (Hrvatski) and Bosnian (Bosanski) are closely related Southern Slavonic languages formerly known collectively as Serbian. They have about 18.5 million speakers, particularly in Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro. There are also speakers in many other countries, including Albania, Australia, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, Russia (Europe), Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey and the UK.

The division between Croats and Serbs originates in the 11th century, when both groups converted to Christianity. The Serbs aligned themselves with Constantinople and the Eastern Orthodox church and adopted the Cyrillic alphabet though also used the Latin alphabet, while the Croats favoured the Roman Catholic church and the Glagolitic alphabet. The Latin alphabet was gradually adopted by the Croats, though they continued to use Glagolitic for religious writings until the 19th century. After the Turkish conquest of Serbia and Bosnia, Islam spread to parts of Bosnia and the Arabic script was sometimes used.

Serbian contains many loan words from Greek and Turkish and continues to borrow new words from various languages. Croatian contains many words of Latin and German origin but many new Croatian words are created by combining and adapting existing ones.

Words and Phrases

English / Serbian
Welcome / Dobrodošli!
Hello / Zdravo
How are you? / Kako si? - inf
Kako ste? Kako ste vi? - frm
I'm fine, thanks. And you? / Dobro sam, hvala. A ti? – inf
Dobro sam, hvala. A kako ste? - frm
What's your name? / Kako se zoveš? – inf
Kako se zovete? - frm
My name is ... / Zovem se ...
Where are you from? / Odakle si?
I'm from ... / Ja sam iz ...
Pleased to meet you / Drago mi je
Good morning / Dobro jutro
Good afternoon / Dobar dan
Good evening / Dobro veče
Good night / Laku noć
Goodbye / Doviđenja
Good luck / Srećno
Cheers/Good health! / Živio! Živeli!
Bon appetit / Prijatno
Bon voyage / Srećan put!
I don't understand / Ne razumijem
Please speak more slowly / Možeš li pričati sporije?
Please write it down / Molim Vas možete li mi to napisati?
Do you speak Serbian?
/ Govoriš li srpski? inf
Govorite li srpski? frm
Yes, a little / Da, (nešto) malo govorim srpski)
Excuse me / Izvinite! Oprostite!
How much is this? / Koliko ovo košta?
Sorry / Žao mi je Oprostite
Thank you
/ Hvala, Hvala lepo,
Hvala vam,
Response / Molim
How do you say ... in Serbian? / Kako se kaže na srpskom...
Yes / Da
No / Ne
I understand / Razumem
I don't understand / Ne razumem
Do you speak English? / Govorite li engleski
I speak a little Serbian / Govorim malo srpski jezik
Do you speak English? / Govorite li Engleski?
I speak (little) Serbian / Govorim (malo) Srpski jezik
How old are you? / Koliko imaš godina?
I am ….years old / Ja imam….godina
Headteacher / Direktor
Teacher / Učitelj
School / Škola
Class / Razred
Lunch time / Veliki odmor
Holiday / Odmor
Read / Čitati
Write / Pisati
Listen / Slušati
Books / Knjige
Pen / Olovka
Pencil / Drvena Olovka
Diary / Dnevnik
Timetable / Raspored
Is there anything worrying you / Dali te nešto brine
Yes there is / Da brine me
No there is not / Ne ništa
Monday / Ponedeljak
Tuesday / Utorak
Wednesday / Sreda
Thursday / Četvrtak
Friday / Petak
Saturday / Subota
Sunday / Nedelja
zero / nula
one / jedan
two / dva
three / tri
four / Četiri
five / pet
six / Šest
seven / sedam
eight / osam
nine / devet
ten / deset

Serbian sample text

Cвa људскa бићa рaђajу сe слoбoднa и jeднaкa у дoстojaнству и прaвимa. Oнa су oбдaрeнa рaзумoм и свeшћу и трeбa jeдни прeмa другимa дa пoступajу у духу брaтствa.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Useful guidance is available from:

New Arrivals Excellence Programme Guidance

(2007) Ref 00650 – 2007BKT- EN

This resource is for primary and secondary schools and contains guidance on admission and developing classroom practice.

A language in common: assessing English as an additional language

QCA (2000) (QCA/00/584).

This document sets out steps used in assessment of EAL, linked to English National Curriculum levels. It provides guidance and exemplifications.

Aiming High: guidance on supporting the education of asylum seeking and refugee children (DfES 0287 – 2004)

This guidance helps explain the value of an inclusive ethos and curriculum to all pupils.

Aiming High: meeting the needs of newly arrived learners of EAL

(DfES 1381 -2005)

Information on working with newly arrived isolated EAL pupils in settings that have little or no access to EAL support.

Excellence and enjoyment: learning and teaching for bilingual children in the primary years (DfES 0013 – 2006PCK- EN)

Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and engagement in English:teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language (DfES 0609 – 2002)

Publications/Catalogues are available from:

MUNDI Tel: 0115 8546418

Mundi

Global Education Centre

Foxhall Lodge

Foxhall Road

Nottingham

NG7 6LH

(under construction/Aug 2010)

Mundi loan resources to schools in Nottinghamshire free for up to half a term

e-mail:

GRANT AND CUTLERTel: 0207734 2012

55-57 Great Marlborough Street,
London'
England
W1F 7AY

Web:

A one-stop shop for foreign language resources including language-learning material, reference books, technical dictionaries, literature, history, politics etc.

MILET PUBLISHING Tel: 0207603 5477
6 North End Parade
London W14 0SJ
England

Web:

Milet publishers a wide range of bilingual picture dictionaries, including board books for use in early years settings.

TRENTHAM BOOKS LTD Tel: 01782 745567

Westview House,734 London Road,
Stoke on Trent,
UKST4 5NP Web:

Trentham publishes 'a wide range of titles plus seven professional journals, mainly in the field of education and social policy.

MANTRA LINGUA Tel: 0208 44 55 123

Global House

303 Ballards Lane

London
N12 8NP
UK

Web:

Mantra Lingua creative learning resources Audio CDs, Big Books, e-books, fun tales, folk tales, friezes, games, language learning, packs posters, story props, toys videos and so on.

Classroom Resources are available from:

The following website translates words, phrases and short paragraphs from English to Serbian available at

DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety images that can be used for creating pupils own subject-specific dictionaries.

Activities for ESL Students can be adapted for EAL pupils in primary and secondary schools. Has bilingual quizzes in large number of languages, available at;

Omniglot writing systems and languages of the world available at

EMA Online resource base for teachers has been developed by Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester LAs with funding from the DfES, available at

Racist bullying, Advice designed for schools to dip in and out as appropriate for them and offers discussion topics and activities to stimulate debate and spark activity involving everyone in the school community, available at;

Teachernet states that a successful home–school relationship can be a key element in making a school stronger and more effective. In particular, it can make a real difference to groups of underachieving pupils and their families, available at;

Interactive video clips showing children teaching their home languages. Not available in all languages but constantly being updated.

Nottinghamshire Achievement & Equality Team