Slovene for Foreigners

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Slovene is one of the oldest Slavic languages in the world.​​​ Although there is a rather small number of speakers,​ with almost all of them living​​ in Slovenia, there are many dialects which are categorised into 7 regional groups. In addition to singular and plural, Slovene also has forms for expressing the dual number in nouns and verbs. Dual is used when referring to precisely two persons, objects or concepts, identified by the noun or pronoun. No wonder Slovenia has LOVE in its name! ​

I feel SLOVEnia logo 

While all of this may sound complex, the ​Slovene language is beautiful and funny. It uses ​basic Latin alphabet with added letters Č, Š, Ž​, with the letter "Č" being pronounced as /ch/ in cherry 🍒, "Š" as /sh/ in bushbush-576453.svg and "Ž" as /ʒ/ in television 📺. Another interesting fact obout Slovene is that it does not have any serious curse words. When Slovenians use traditional curse words, it sounds sillier than it does offensive. Among the most popular traditional curses in the Slovene language are:


​“Tristo kosmatih medvedov"
(Three hundred hairy bears)
Picture of a bear
​"Naj te koklja brcne!
(A hen should kick you!)
Picture of a hen
​"Krščen matiček! "
(Baptised Matthew!)
Picture of a prophet

When you become our student, it would be very practical, if not obligatory, to get familiar with Slovene. No worries! We have gathered some useful links for you where you can find online courses and learning material. As the first step, you can attend an ​online course for beginners that is organised by the UM. 


The Slovene language course organised by the Univerity of Maribor​

We kindly invite you to join the Slovene language course organised by the UM International Relations ​Office. Course is held in the e-learning environment Moodle. 


​ON-LINE


​BEGINNER LEVEL

​​

​​FREE



The course is free of charge for students of the University of Maribor. If you have any questions, please contact: erasmus@um.si.


 Slovene learning online

Check out Sloven​e Learning Online - a freely accessible online course in Slovene for for​eigners, developed at the Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language in cooperation with the company DigiEd. The course is for all who wish to learn Slovene on their own in a simple, playful and effective way.


​Slovene langu​age proficiency as an admission requirement

Some s​tudy programmes require the Slovene language certificate as an admission requirement. Candidates are required to submit the proof of Slovene language proficiency at a certain level by the time specified in the admission requirements which are part of the call for enrolment:

The certificate can be obtained from:


​For all CEFR levels​​

University of Ljubljana
Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language 

Kongresni trg 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia 

Phone: +386 1 24 18 647 

E-mail: izpitni.center@ff.uni-lj.si

Websitecente​​​rslo.si

​For CEFR levels A2, B1, B2 and C2

​❕ Only for candidates enrolling in the study programmes of the University of Maribor.

​Faculty of Arts of the University of Maribor
Student Affairs Office
Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia 
E-mail: ciril.kolar@um.si

Websiteff.u​​m.si

​For CEFR levels A1 and A2


​Andragoški zavod Maribor

Ljudska univerza (Maribor Adult Education Centre)

Maistrova 5, 2000 Maribor

Slovenia Phone: +386 2 23 41 111

E-mail: info@azm-lu.si

Website: azm-lu.si​​





Zadnja sprememba: 2. 03. 2023 20:09