Written by Devon Rancourt, CSEEES 2nd-year M.A. student

Last summer I took intensive Serbian language classes in Belgrade, Serbia through the American Councils Balkan Language Initiative (BLI) Program with the help of a FLAS fellowship and a Title VIII fellowship. I spent the first year of my master’s studies at Ohio State learning Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS), and since I came into the program at the beginner level, I wanted to make as much language progress as possible during my graduate studies. So, I decided that studying abroad in a place where BCS is spoken would help me become more proficient in the language and experience the culture(s) to which it is connected. Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian are mutually intelligible with one another, and I specifically study the Serbian variant of the language, so I chose to travel to Belgrade through the BLI program.

On weekday afternoons I attended individual Serbian language classes at the Equilibrio Obrazovni Sistem language school. Because I was the only student in the class, this was an amazing opportunity to practice speaking Serbian freely, learn at my own pace, and modify the topics covered in class according to my interests. My main objectives for the summer were to build my communicative skills in Serbian and connect with the local culture. My classes were integral to developing my conversational skills because I came into the program with foundational grammar and vocabulary but hadn’t had hours of sustained conversation practice before. One of the topics I most enjoyed learning about was Serbian idioms, for example, nemoj da mešaš babe i žabe (don’t mix up grandmothers and frogs). This expression is a Serbian equivalent for comparing apples and oranges.

In terms of cultural exchange and informal speaking practice, the most valuable experiences of the summer were the host family placement and weekly language partner meetings, which were both arranged by American Councils. During short-term stays abroad it isn’t always easy to build meaningful relationships with local people, so I was looking forward to meeting my host family and conversation partners. I enjoyed drinking coffee in the morning with my host, who was a retired Serbian language and literature teacher, and listening to her stories or asking her about Serbian recipes. I also practiced the language while working on puzzles with my host’s daughter. One of my first vocabulary words of the summer was slagalica (puzzle). With my conversation partners I most often went to one of Belgrade’s many cafes, parks, or museums. I’ve stayed in contact with one of my wonderful language partners since the program ended. 

After classes I also had the opportunity to explore Belgrade with my fellow program participants (there were three of us), language partners, and host family members. The ongoing protests in Serbia were a constant presence in the background of my experience in Belgrade. At times roads were blocked, public transportation routes changed, signs, stickers and graffiti referencing the protests and the current political situation were all over the city, and a large protest took place during the program on June 28. Finally, I also visited other Serbian cities this summer, including Novi Sad, Valjevo, and Novi Pazar. One of the most memorable excursions from the program was a day trip in the Valjevo region with my conversation partner and her friends and colleagues. We visited the Lelić and Ćelije monasteries and went for a hike along the Gradac river. Overall I had a wonderful summer and I look forward to visiting Serbia again in the future!