Slovenian Idioms
»Tih kot miška« (as silent as a mouse), »priden kot čebela« (as busy as a bee) – sound familiar to you? These are called idioms, idiomi or frazemi in Slovenian. Idioms are phrases that usually consist of more words which…
Valentina
The Most Effective Ways to Learn a Foreign Language
Learning foreign languages can be spontaneous and fun. A lot of effort is often required, but results can be seen in a quite short time. From my point of view the most effective methods of acquiring a new language are:…
Symbols of Slovenian Identity
Slovenia has many national, cultural and ethnic symbols, which give the country a uniqueness and make it more recognisable. I explore several of the most prominent here: Triglav Triglav, with its 2864 metres, is the highest peak in Slovenia. It…
First Names in Slovenia
Personal male and female names in Slovenia are quite easy to distinguish. A simple rule says that female names usually end with an -a and male names with a consonant. Still, there are some exceptions: Nives, Ines, Karmen, Iris, Kim and Karin…
Semivowel ‘ə’ and Words Without Vowels in Slovenian
A semivowel is a vowel which does not have a special letter. Phonetically it is written as ‘ə’, but we never write it. It is pronounced similar to French unstressed ‘e’. A feature in Slovenian is that a semivowel ‘ə’…
Little Charming Towns in Slovenia
Beside well known tourist places such as Bled, Ljubljana, Bohinj and Postojna cave, Slovenia also offers a number of smaller and more charming towns which are not so well promoted, but have a unique beauty. Because they are not full of…
Similarities between Slovenian and other Slavic languages
There are several similarities and differences between Slovenian and other Slavic languages. Slavic languages are part of the Indo-European languages. They are divided in 3 branches: Usually Slavic languages of the same language branch have more similarities, in comparison to…
Slovenian Festivals and Events all Year Round
There are several Slovenian festivals and events which take place every year. Cultural, musical and sport events are top a list. Cultural and musical Slovenian festivals and events Rock Otočec Rock Otočec is a musical 3 day festival which take place…
Slovenian Grammar and Culture: A Quick and Funny Introduction
Slovenian Grammar I gathered together some interesting facts about Slovenian grammar and culture, to bring you closer to this beautiful language. Let’s begin: Slovenian is older than the country of Slovenia, which was created in 1991. The oldest writings in…
Slovenian Emigrants Worldwide
As with almost all countries in the world, Slovenian emigrations occurred in historic times. The causes were diverse, from political, to economical; because of opportunity to earn a better living. I want to explore this topic because Slovenian emigrants are…
Slovenian Minorities in Neighbouring Countries
Slovenian minorities, known as ‘Zamejci’, or foreigners in English, are those who live ‘za mejo’, literally, ‘behind the (national) border’ of the Republic of Slovenia. There is no the exact meaning for them in English, because a word ‘foreigner’ can…
Foreign words influencing the Slovenian language
Denizens are words that came from other languages and are now completely adapted to the Slovenian language. They are pronounced, written and inflected by Slovene literary language rules. Nowadays we bear witness to an mass acquisition of words from foreign…