Henry J. Brajkovic
Lesson One
: Phonetics
Before teaching about the poems, a good idea would be to learn how to read phonetically the Serbian names that appear in the poems. The writing of the Serbo-Croatian language is based on a simple idea: “write as you speak.” Basically, each letter of the alphabet has one sound. For example:
a is always = ah as in far
-
e “ “ = eh ” ” let
-
i ” ” = ee” ” meek
-
u ” ” = oo ” ” push
-
o ” ” = o ” ” for
There is
no
combining of the sound “oo” with the “o” as in English: “Oh” or “owe”.
The consonants also are pronounced only in one way. They do
not
stand for two different sounds. For example:
g is always as in
go
-
j ” ” ” ”
y
ellow
-
c ” ” ” ” the “ts” in ca
ts
-
c ” ” ” ”
ch
at
-
c ” ” ” ” na
tu
re
-
s ” ” ” ”
sh
ip
-
r ” ” pronounced as the Scots say it.
-
dz (dj)” ” ” ”
j
ug
To help out the students the teacher could write on the blackboard the following transliterations: (underlined syllable is stressed)
Marko
|
=
Mah-r
ko
|
Kralyevich
|
=
Krah-l
yeh-vich
|
Andreyash
|
=
Ah-n
-dree-
yah-sh
|
vila
|
|
=
ve
e-lah
|
Milosh
|
=
Mee
-lo-sh
|
Miroch
|
=
Mee
-ro-ch
|
Ravioyla
|
=
Rah
-vee-
oy
-lah
|
Porech
|
=
Po
-reh-ch
|
Bregovo
|
=
Breh
-govo
|
Vidin
|
|
=
Vee
-deen
|
Yug
|
|
= Yoog
|
Yugovich
|
=
Yoo
-go-vich
|
Bogdan
|
= Bawg-dah-n (means “Godgiven”)
|
Kossovo
|
=
Koss
-o-vo (as in “caw”)
|
Damian
|
=
Dam
-yahn
|
Timok
|
=
Tee
-muck
|
Note
: I have changed some of the spellings of the above names from the original to help English-speaking readers pronounce them as correctly as possible.
Lesson Two
: Geography lesson
Map #1
The Balkans
—Northern Greece and Yugoslavia
The teacher can use a wall map of Europe and point out the Balkan peninsula. (The word “balkan” is of Turkish origin and means “mountain.”) The teacher can hand out copies of the following blank map of The Balkans-Northern Greece and Yugoslavia to the students. The students will fill in the following items in their appropriate locations:
-
(1) Northern Greece
-
(2) Albania
-
(3) Bulgaria
-
(4) Yugoslavia, divided into:
-
____
(a) Macedonia
-
____
(b) Serbia
-
____
(c) Montenegro (means “Black Hills”)
-
____
(d) Bosnia
-
____
(e) Hercegovina (
Hair
-tse-go-
vee
nah)
-
____
(f) Croatia
-
____
(g) Dalmatia
-
____
(f) Slovenia
-
(5) Adriatic Sea
-
(6) Italy
-
(7) Romania (Rumania)
-
(8) Hungary
-
(9) Austria
The teacher may select, add, or omit items from the above list.
Lesson Three
: Geographical Orientation
Map #2—The Arrival of the Ottoman Turks into the Byzantine Empire
Map #3—Northern Serbia and Northern Bulgaria
The teacher could make copies of the following blank maps and hand them out to the students at the beginning of the lesson. The teacher should direct the students to fill in the following items on their maps.
Map #2
—The Arrival of the Ottoman Turks into The Byzantine Empire
1. Athens
|
|
12. Adriatic Sea
|
2. Castoria
|
|
13. Ionian Sea
|
3. Mt. Athos
|
|
14. Sea of Marmora
|
4. Vardar River
|
15. Dardanelles
|
5. Marica River
|
16. Black Sea
|
6. Kossovo Plain
|
17. Asia Minor
|
7. Peloponnesus
|
18. Bosporus Strait
|
8. Northern Greece
|
19. Mt. Olympus
|
9. Macedonia
|
20. Thessaloniki
|
10. Istanbul
|
|
21. Delphi
|
11. Aegean Sea
|
22. Prilep (Prince Marko’s capital)
|
|
|
|
|
23. Epirus
|
Map #3
—Northern Serbia and Northern Bulgaria
1. Northern Serbia
|
5. Mt. Miroch
|
2. Rumania
|
|
6. Timok River
|
3. Bulgaria
|
|
7. Bregovo
|
4. Danube River
|
8. Vidin
|
The teacher can select, add, or omit any of the above items.
I have supplied maps that are filled in with the locations and corresponding numbers to facilitate the teaching of these lessons, since some of the items cannot be found in standard atlases.
Map #3 was included to elucidate the action in the ballad “Prince Marko and the Vila”.
I have also added an illustration of the one-string instrument “gusla“ (sometimes called “gusle”) to help the teacher explain or show the students what it looks like. This type of instrument was hand-made. Some of them were carved with exquisite decorations.
(figure available in print form)
Bow
(figure available in print form)
Gusla
MAP #1—The Balkans—Northern Greece and Yugoslavia
(figure available in print form)
MAP #1—The Balkans—Northern Greece and Yugoslavia
(figure available in print form)
MAP #2—The Arrival of the Ottoman Turks into the Byzantine Empire
(figure available in print form)
MAP #2—The Arrival of the Ottoman Turks into the Byzantine Empire
(figure available in print form)
MAP #3—Northern Serbia and Northern Bulgaria
(figure available in print form)
(figure available in print form)