Turning childhood church memories into daily Croatian conversations

Weekend roots in a Croatian village

Alexandra’s relationship with Croatian began long before she could articulate why it mattered. Growing up in Vienna during the week, her family were typical weekend commuters of that era, travelling to Burgenland where her father’s Burgenland Croatian community kept traditions alive. Her mother came from a German-speaking village, so Croatian wasn’t the household language – but it was everywhere else that mattered.

Those weekend church services left the strongest impression. “The language seemed almost insurmountable in church – it was so formal, so complex,” Alexandra recalls. Yet there was something magnetic about those Croatian masses, the tamburica groups, the village bands that would play at local celebrations. She absorbed the culture intensively, even if she couldn’t yet participate through language.

Building a life while dreaming of fluency

Now living in Lower Austria and working in Vienna as a social worker, Alexandra helps people who can no longer pursue their careers due to health reasons. It’s meaningful work that requires empathy and communication skills – qualities that have served her well in her language learning journey too. Her two sons, aged 20 and 17, are nearly independent, giving her something she hasn’t had in decades: time for herself.

Her husband is also a Burgenland Croat, which created another layer of motivation. They’d discussed raising their sons bilingually, with her husband as the Croatian speaker, but it never quite materialised the way they’d hoped. “It’s not too late though,” Alexandra reflects. “They still have the opportunity to learn.” That optimism characterises her entire approach to language learning – there’s always time to begin again.

Daily breakthroughs through radio and reading

Since committing to serious Croatian study, Alexandra experiences what she calls “key moments” almost daily. She’s discovered Burgenland Croatian radio programmes that broadcast once a day, featuring news and various topics. There’s a weekly Burgenland Croatian newspaper she reads religiously, and podcasts have become her constant companions during walks – one of her favourite ways to unwind.

These media encounters create cascading moments of recognition. A word she’s read in the newspaper appears in a radio broadcast, then comes up in her Thursday class with Let’s Learn Croatian. “The more intensively you engage with it, the more the language opens up,” she explains. “You think, ‘Ah yes, exactly, that’s it.’ And the more you engage with it, these moments happen almost daily.”

The transformation from passive understanding to active engagement has surprised even her. Writing comes more easily than speaking – she and her husband now communicate exclusively in Croatian via WhatsApp, which gives her time to think through her responses. Their daily conversations increasingly happen in Croatian too, though when emotions run high or topics become particularly important, they naturally slip back into German.

Embracing mistakes and celebrating progress

Learning Croatian alongside people from various countries, each with their own reasons for studying the language, has enriched Alexandra’s classroom experience. Their shared goal of speaking Croatian fluently creates a supportive environment where mistakes aren’t failures but stepping stones. The teacher’s clear, slow delivery makes everything comprehensible and removes the intimidation factor.

One surprise has been discovering how many German words have found their way into Croatian – “Schnitzel” and “Maschinen” among them. These linguistic bridges make the language feel less foreign and more like a natural extension of her Austrian identity. The challenge lies in Croatian’s prefix system, where changing a prefix can completely alter a word’s meaning, turning intended messages into unintended comedy.

Connection across generations and borders

When Alexandra now speaks Croatian with her husband’s parents during their occasional visits to the Burgenland village, it feels simultaneously strange and natural. Years of speaking German with them suddenly shifted, but they’ve responded positively – after all, Croatian has always been their home language. These conversations represent something deeper than language practice; they’re cultural bridge-building between generations.

Her advice for new Croatian learners reflects her pragmatic approach: take a proper course to master grammar and the seven cases, use all available digital resources, and most importantly, speak despite the mistakes. “You have to allow yourself to make mistakes,” she says. “That’s often the most difficult hurdle – speaking and accepting that you’ll make mistakes.”

For Alexandra, learning Croatian isn’t about perfect grammar or flawless pronunciation – it’s about finally participating fully in a culture that shaped her childhood and continues to enrich her adult life. Every radio programme, every WhatsApp message in Croatian, every conversation with her in-laws represents not just language progress, but the fulfillment of a lifelong dream that began in those weekend church services years ago.