Do you speak Serbian?
Well, I think so.
Shall we continue in Serbian?
Let's give it a try...
We can, my god, okay.
I was in your country during summer, so "skapah".
"Skapah!" Hahahaha!
I thought today would be a nice day,
but the day is really "šugav" and it sucks ???
What?!
When I got on italki, I was like, wow, it's Lucy Liu man...
So, for those of you who have been following me, know that I'm back in Australia for the summer
and to celebrate Christmas and New Years with my family and friends in Australia.
This will be the first video on my channel in a very long time,
which I have filmed in English.
This is how I actually sound
Now, since landing here in Australia,
I've been speaking very little Serbian
aside from some interviews, podcasts and classes that I've had online.
So I thought, why don't I buy some classes on italki
to refresh my memory of Serbian, buy some classes and...
surprise some teachers...
So let's get into it...
It is a little bit risky to choose teachers from Serbia
because there is a higher chance that they will recognise me from my channel.
So, what we are going to is to find Serbian teachers from the outside of Serbia.
So, what I did was create a totally new profile
with a new e-mail address
a profile picture where you can't really see my face
and reduce my level of Serbian to beginner
when you sign up for italki
you can actually get 3 trial classes
which you can use to find a teacher that works for you
So, I booked some trial classes from Bosnia and Montenegro,
and from Croatia, let's see what we get.
This is a totally different style to any sort of video that I've made on this channel
so, look, I don't know how it's going to go...
I don't know what will happen
we're going to find that out together today...
Here goes nothing...
Hi!
Hello!
Hello! Hello!
How are you?
Great. How are you?
I'm good... Do you speak Serbian?
Do you speak Serbian?
Um... I guess so? I don't know...
Bravo, bravo, bravo... Do we continue in Serbian?
Umm... why not? Let's give it a go...
Ok... wow, we can, oh my God...
What is your name?
And where do you live now?
Okay, good. My name is Liz Duong.
What country are you in?
In Australia, in Melbourne
Oh, in Australia. So, a little further from our continent, right?
Yes, just a little. I think it is exactly 15,000.
15? Uuuuu.
It's 30 degrees and it's the afternoon
How do you know our language?
Why are you learning the Serbian language?
Where did you learn Serbian?
And how much time do you have?
I had three loves.
Okay, three loves. How did you meet these loves?
And this first one was the Diaspora here,
I met the other one when I was in Belgrade,
and then the third, also from Belgrade, but a true Belgrader.
And when these loves failed,
then I decided to stay
And now, I am free.
I don't want any more men
Do I choose those from Serbia or not?
I won't go with the Serbs anymore.
And.
Yes really.
Especially a citizen of Belgrade.
I can believe, I totally understand you...
Montenegrins are much better.
You communicate very well, that, given that really,
what do I know, those kind of languages ​​are very much...
Random.
Some say... Yes.
For learning.
For learning, yes, yes, yes.
Three years is a very short time.
I've worked on italki for
about six months, five, six.
But no one has spoken better Serbian than you.
Really?
Haha thank you very much!
How love motivates you... eh?
Every time I ask people why are you learning Serbian?
they either have a family, so they absorbing their origins.
Yes Yes.
Or they are really big enthusiasts
of...
Just weirdos.
I mean, what I saw.
From America, Italy...
Not Italy, Poland, America.
Currently in Bar
Every second person is Russian.
How are you?
I am great.
I am from Montenegro.
I was in your country
Were? Where?
Everywhere.
What's up girl?!
Sit down there
Do not worry.
Yes, yes!
Don't worry, don't worry.
Sit there, sit there
I love Montenegro.
I was in Nikšić for a month.
Wow.
Yes, I know that it's random
but I really enjoyed it there.
Of all the cities of Nikšić?
Yes, Danilovgrad
For the Donkey Ball.
Aha!
It was incredible!
Literally, the best farm ever.
And then and Žabljak
I love to plan myself...
No... hiking...
I love hiking
And that, I like to plan.
You like to plan... hahahaha...
I like the way you talk.
Very fast, you think fast.
You think fast.
Well, I have to because you talk so fast.
Ahh yes hahaha...
Podgorica, of course.
And then the sea
The first time I came to your country
I never heard the ijekavian dialect
That's why I got really confused.
But I got over it after a month.
I have a question.
Because I heard that in Dalmatia
you're speak the ikevian dialect, right?
Do you speak that dialect?
Yes Yes.
I'm speaking Croatian because of you.
Aha.
So, I don't talk like that.
I can change it now, just to see how...
And.
I thought that
that today will be a nice day.
But the day is really "šugav"
that and...
and it sucks ???
uhh what?! Hahaha...
Or the weather is completely imberlano.
It is real Dalmatian slang.
Imberlano means
somewhat loco, crazy.
In Dalmatian, lipo, bilo, mliko.
We say girl in Dalmatia.
This girl is really pretty.
I'm so glad I bought this class.
When you get tired of all this,
then you say one day, and now I will learn Dalmatian.
Well, it's a new language.
A new dialect.
I was with you during the Summer
So, "skapah"
"skapah"! Hahahaha!
Especially over there in Podgorica.
I died.
I have never been to a hotter city.
Just because of the concrete.
I don't know how you survive.
Unfortunately. Well, I'm going to the sea.
I go to the sea!
And we have one word.
In Dalmatia it is called "đir"
And that word can mean a lot of things.
It comes from the Italian word giro.
Andiamo a fare un giro
Like, let's go for a walk.
But people shortened that giro to "đir"
And then that "đir" became a lot...
Wider.
I don't know, let's go "đir"
Let's go "đir"
And then let's go "đir"
So, the Dalmatian is easy
Just say "đir", every third word, "đir"
Yes, yes, if I don't know what to say, I say "đir"
I don't know what to say, what to say jeer.
I said that you want to visit Mostar, is that right?
I received an invitation from Sarajevo to film something in your country
And then while I'm there, why not.
Like Mostar, it is not that far, neither is Trebinje.
You're currently in Melbourne for a while, right?
Yes, yes, only for celebrations and for Christmas, etc...
And where are you going next?
Oh, back, of course.
You live in Belgrade, right?
Yes, I'm planning to come to your country again
to Kolašin
For a winter story.
The first snow fell the other day, so you are ok.
And, super.
I saw the first snow in my life in Belgrade.
Seriously?
Yes, never.
Wait, there is no snow in Vietnam? I mean in Australia.
There is no chance in Vietnam, in Australia we have it in the mountains.
I was also fascinated, because it never fell so much in Dalmatia.
I would run, then I would throw myself in the snow, then I would be a fool.
People look at me like who is this lunatic
What about him, you know. Maybe he drank a lot and so on.
And it was great for me.
I've seen Montenegro in every season except for winter
Now you will see, I hope in February, but...
This is not a classic winter
Yes, everywhere in Europe is very strange at the moment.
But okay, it will pass. It's great for me, I don't like winter.
Yeah, me too, that's why I'm in Australia
And where are you originally from? I see you are somewhere for Asia or...
Mom and Dad are from Vietnam, but my birthplace is in Australia.
So, I speak Serbian better than Vietnamese
Did you have unpleasant experiences in Serbia with your origin, with racism or something?
Rarely. Rarely because I'm a girl and I speak your language.
Sometimes I have problems that people think I'm Chinese.
That's why we see with Chinese people we say "nihao".
It doesn't bother me anymore because I'm used to it and I know it's from a bad intention.
No matter where they are from in Asian, Chinese.
I guess they tell you a lot, but you're very beautiful. You have beautiful skin, beautiful hair, wow.
When I got on italki, I was like, wow, Lucy Lui, man.
That is the greatest complement.
Can you believe that Lucy Lui is currently 60 years old? What kind of dragon woman?
Yes, I think it is something like that. Wait, sorry, 54.
They say I look like Božo Vrećo. Do you know who Božo Vrećo is?
Yes, I see, yes!
Did you do any modeling?
A little, but not really. I'm a YouTuber.
That's great!
I can see the video, sound, it gave me the impression that this is someone who works in public business
What is your content?
The channel is called Liz Learns Serbian.
I started my channel three years ago, during corona, when I started to learn Serbian.
And at the beginning, I wanted to practice my Serbian and share some interesting things that I learned about your language.
One video on my channel is called 10 reasons why Serbian is better than English.
But it is honestly a beautiful language, it makes sense, it has logic and there are not so many exceptions, like there is in
for example, in English, which is an absolute mess.
Then I started to travel a little more.
An Australian woman of Vietnamese origin who lives in Belgrade, speaks Serbian and travels around the Balkans.
I'm not really into that, I'm a bit, well, I won't say old-fashioned, but let's say I'm not in this...
in this "đir"
You learned.
Yes Yes.
You're smart. I have always said that Asians are the smartest people.
It's so cool to hear that you from Australia are creating content about Serbs and the Balkans.
I currently make content. Do you mind that I'm filming.
Am I in the content?!
Hey people, what's up?! Wait, what's up YouTube?!
You could have told me to look a little better.
Now that you told me I'm in the video and you don't know what to say, I'm nervous.
I was filming all the time.
Aw, aw. Hit, hit, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, I don't mind.
The bun, but at least it's a good bun. Bun, top, top.
It's a bun, that's obvious. That's it, that's the most important
Do you think that everything was worth it, that everything is like that for a reason?
Do you think everything is how it needs to be?
Well, it's not easy to move to a new country, a new continent.
Another culture, other people.
Absolutely, another language. That was the hardest for me.
But it took me, okay, realistically two and a half years.
I mean, I like it, you did it, that's it.
My life in Serbia is absolutely perfect.
Well now, I miss it.
I mean, in general, everyone in the Balkans wants to leave
But you, from Australia, in Serbia and Montenegro.
Well, I'm happy.
You are living your dream, so to speak.
Absolutely, absolutely.
I am literally living my dream life.
My girlfriend, she is French, from France.
She is also a professor on italki
Then she said to me, why don't you try?
Yea why not?
I said, come on, I'm not for that.
I am a worker, I have to be out in the air.
You know, it's not, it's not my thing.
But then when I cooled down a bit, then I thought a bit, then I read a bit.
Then I said to myself, you are so stupid.
Try it, I'll go see.
At the end of the day, I love my language, culture, all of that.
And I know that I can teach someone, convey something to them.
italki gave me the opportunity to work as a single mother.
So, I am completely, completely single, completely.
This is great when a person works online.
You know that yourself, because it's interesting.
It's fun.
I'm working on italki to save money for travelling
That's my goal
So, I live, I can pay for the apartment, the bills, great.
But I would like to, eventually, to get a job in programming
Yes.
And you know what, Liz, when you come to Mostar, you can contact me.
I am, you mean, an archaeologist and art connoisseur.
I deal with Mostar, so when you come to Mostar, feel free to contact me.
I will take you on a tour of Mostar and explain everything to you.
To be the best tour in your life in Mostar.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'm really glad that we met.
Also, also, Liz.
Here, I wish you luck in filming and editing.
And to be an even more popular YouTuber in the Balkans.
And I wish you even more students
because of the video.
Yes, it will be for sure
It will be for sure, my dearest Liz.
Thank you very much for the extra half hour.
It meant a lot to me.
I was really glad.
And I was glad if I helped, if I gave you some good advice.
If I didn't, don't blame me.
No, great.
You were great.
Nice to meet you. I wish you luck.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you very much for everything.
That's right, see you again.
For those who know, I've actually been using italki at the beginning of my Serbian language adventures
And used it as a platform to practice my Serbian,
every single day whilst I was living overseas
So when italki contacted me to sponsor my channel.
And help me produce more content for my viewers.
I said yes.
YES, I will do that!
Because, I not only do I really actually believe in italki as a platform to learn a new language.
I've also been a user of the platform for very many years
And you can see it in my profile.
When you look at how many classes I've had
at the very beginning of my journey
You can find Serbian teachers from all over the Balkans.
Especially now that I've been doing a lot more travelling
To learn how to understand different accents, different dialects.
Even different regions in Serbia speak differently
So, thank you once again to italki for sponsoring this video
And for sponsoring future videos on this channel.
For those who learning any language
I would highly recommend italki
As a platform to be able to do that
As you can see, it's very wonderful
it is very easy to connect with teachers from all over the world
Or if you would like to become a teacher on italki
That's even more fun.
We, as foreigners, would be very grateful to you as well
I've left the link for italki below in the description
check it out, sign up and learn a new language!
Speak Serbian so that the whole world understands you.
Or, speak Serbian so that the whole world understands you.
I will return to Belgrade soon.
See you. Bye!