I want to enroll in a course in Serbian
A call to a language school: signing up for a Serbian course in Serbian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Добар дан, зовем у вези са курсом српског. Могу ли да упишем курс од јесени?» — Good afternoon, I'm calling about the Serbian course. Can I sign up starting in the fall? Every line can be played right on the page. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a call to a language school: signing up for a serbian course. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- Добар дан, зовем у вези са курсом српског. Могу ли да упишем курс од јесени?Dobar dan, zovem u vezi sa kursom srpskog. Mogu li da upišem kurs od jeseni?Good afternoon, I'm calling about the Serbian course. Can I sign up starting in the fall?
- Можете. Који вам је ниво језика?Možete. Koji vam je nivo jezika?You can. What's your language level?
- Још сам почетник. Разумем кад неко говори споро, али не говорим течно.Još sam početnik. Razumem kad neko govori sporo, ali ne govorim tečno.I'm still a beginner. I understand slow speech, but I don't speak fluently.
- Онда идете у почетну групу. Први час је бесплатно, да видите како радимо.Onda idete u početnu grupu. Prvi čas je besplatno, da vidite kako radimo.Then the beginner group is for you. The first lesson is free, so you can see how we work.
- Одлично. Колико часова недељно има група?Odlično. Koliko časova nedeljno ima grupa?Great. How many lessons a week does the group have?
- Два, средом и петком предвече. Ако пропустите час, добијате белешке.Dva, sredom i petkom predveče. Ako propustite čas, dobijate beleške.Two, on Wednesdays and Fridays toward the evening. If you miss a lesson, you get the notes.
- А има ли онлајн курс? Понекад путујем службено.A ima li onlajn kurs? Ponekad putujem službeno.And is there an online course? I sometimes travel for work.
- Има, али вам за изговор препоручујем групу уживо. Напредак се брже види.Ima, ali vam za izgovor preporučujem grupu uživo. Napredak se brže vidi.There is, but for pronunciation I recommend the in-person group. Progress shows faster.
Lines one by one
| Serbian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Добар дан, зовем у вези са курсом српског. Могу ли да упишем курс од јесени? | Dobar dan, zovem u vezi sa kursom srpskog. Mogu li da upišem kurs od jeseni? | Good afternoon, I'm calling about the Serbian course. Can I sign up starting in the fall? |
| Можете. Који вам је ниво језика? | Možete. Koji vam je nivo jezika? | You can. What's your language level? |
| Још сам почетник. Разумем кад неко говори споро, али не говорим течно. | Još sam početnik. Razumem kad neko govori sporo, ali ne govorim tečno. | I'm still a beginner. I understand slow speech, but I don't speak fluently. |
| Онда идете у почетну групу. Први час је бесплатно, да видите како радимо. | Onda idete u početnu grupu. Prvi čas je besplatno, da vidite kako radimo. | Then the beginner group is for you. The first lesson is free, so you can see how we work. |
| Одлично. Колико часова недељно има група? | Odlično. Koliko časova nedeljno ima grupa? | Great. How many lessons a week does the group have? |
| Два, средом и петком предвече. Ако пропустите час, добијате белешке. | Dva, sredom i petkom predveče. Ako propustite čas, dobijate beleške. | Two, on Wednesdays and Fridays toward the evening. If you miss a lesson, you get the notes. |
| А има ли онлајн курс? Понекад путујем службено. | A ima li onlajn kurs? Ponekad putujem službeno. | And is there an online course? I sometimes travel for work. |
| Има, али вам за изговор препоручујем групу уживо. Напредак се брже види. | Ima, ali vam za izgovor preporučujem grupu uživo. Napredak se brže vidi. | There is, but for pronunciation I recommend the in-person group. Progress shows faster. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Serbian in this situation?
“Добар дан, зовем у вези са курсом српског. Могу ли да упишем курс од јесени?” (Dobar dan, zovem u vezi sa kursom srpskog. Mogu li da upišem kurs od jeseni?) — Good afternoon, I'm calling about the Serbian course. Can I sign up starting in the fall?. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.