Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Textbook

With the disintegration of Yugoslavia has come a shifting of linguistic boundaries, chiefly along political lines. Out of this complex situation three official languages have emerged: Croatian in Croatia, Serbian in Serbia, and both these languages plus Bosnian in Bosnia-Herzegovina. "Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Textbook" introduces the student to all three. Dialogues and exercises appear in each language, presented side by side for easy comparison; in addition, Serbian is rendered in both its Latin and its Cyrillic spellings. Teachers may choose a single language to use in the classroom, or they may want to familiarize students with all three. The features of the textbook include: all dialogues, exercises, and homework assignments available in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian; classroom exercises designed for both small-group and full-class work, allowing for maximum oral participation; reading selections written by Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian authors especially for this book; vocabulary lists for each individual section and full glossaries at the end of the book; a short animated film, on an accompanying DVD, for use with chapter 15; and brief grammar explanations after each dialogue, with cross-reference to more detailed grammar chapters in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, a Grammar.

Ronelle Alexander is professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of the two-volume Intensive Bulgarian:  A Textbook and Reference Grammar.

Ellen Elias-Bursac is a language teacher and a literary translator. She taught BCS for ten years at the Harvard University Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and now lives in Europe.