Volim burek
Lesson goals
Vocabulary
- Name burek, sirnica, zeljanica, hljeb, and jogurt
- Use volim and ne volim for likes and dislikes
- Say gladan or gladna, ukusno, and dobar tek
Grammar
- Use Volim with a food word to say what you like
- Use Ne volim for a polite dislike
- Reuse present-tense patterns from earlier lessons.
Culture
- In Bosnia and Herzegovina, burek means meat, and cheese pie is sirnica
- See Livno highland cheese beyond the café street
Watch the companion video
Watch when you can, then come back for words, dialogue, and practice on this page.
How to speak Bosnian (YouTube). Companion video for Lesson 8
Burek is meat, and Livno sends cheese
On a Bosnian street, burek means a meat pita. If you want cheese, you ask for sirnica. If you want spinach or greens, you ask for zeljanica. Emir takes Ana to a buregdžinica and then shows her a postcard from Livno in western Bosnia. The card shows highland pastures that are famous for Livanjski sir. The café can stay their home base, but today’s food map also points west to Livno cheese country. Ana practices saying what she loves before her first bite turns into a flaky little disaster.
Lesson vocabulary
Tap a word to hear it. Use Loop and slower speed when you want to shadow.
Grammar
Volim + object
Volim means I love or I like. Put the food right after it. Say Volim burek. Say Volim kahvu. For many feminine food nouns ending in -a, the spoken object often ends in -u instead. Say Volim sirnicu. Say Volim zeljanicu. Learn the pairs as phrases for now, and worry about the full case table later.
- Volim burek.: I love burek.
- Volim sirnicu.: I love cheese pita.
- Volim kahvu.: I love coffee.
Ne volim
Add ne before volim to say you do not like something. Say Ne volim luk. Say Ne volim čaj. Keep it soft and clear. You can still be polite while you turn down a filling.
- Ne volim luk.: I do not like onion.
- Ne volim čaj.: I do not like tea.
Gladan / gladna
Match the adjective to who is speaking. Emir says Ja sam gladan. Ana says Ja sam gladna. Then order food and finish with Dobar tek!
- Ja sam gladan.: I am hungry. (m.)
- Ja sam gladna.: I am hungry. (f.)
- Dobar tek!: Enjoy your meal!
Say again
Warm up with four lines you already know.
- Ja sam Ana.: I am Ana.
- Gdje je Sarajevo?: Where is Sarajevo?
- Jednu kahvu, molim.: One coffee, please.
- Hvala!: Thank you!
Lesson A. Food words on the tray
Start with the classics on the tray. Burek is the meat pastry. Sirnica is the cheese pita. Zeljanica is the greens pita. Pita is the general word for a phyllo pie. Add hljeb, jogurt, meso, sir, voće, and povrće next. Say each word twice. Spell bread as hljeb, with lj, the way Bosnian usually writes it. Emir points at the tray and refuses the tourist trap sentence burek sa sirom. In Bosnian that fight is real. Burek comes with meat.
- Burek is meat. Sirnica is cheese. Zeljanica is greens.
- Type hljeb with lj rather than a soft English h-leb guess
Match the food
Match each Bosnian food word to English.
Lesson B. Volim / ne volim at the counter
Build your counter phrases as full sentences. Say Volim burek. Say Volim sirnicu. Say Ne volim luk. Ana says Ja sam gladna. Emir says Ja sam gladan. Finish with Ukusno! And Dobar tek! Ana tries a too-hot bite, drops flakes on Mrvica, and still finishes the sentence. Food disasters are allowed. Silent pointing is not the goal.
- Keep Volim, Ne volim, and Dobar tek ready to use
- Use gladna if you are Ana. Use gladan if you are Emir.
Burek katastrofa
A busy buregdžinica near Amira’s. Steam, trays, Mrvica lurking for crumbs.
Play the full scene once. Then tap a line to hear it. On some lines you can record yourself for a short Speak Check.
Speak Check listens to your recording and sends back short tips.
Speak Check listens to your recording and sends back short tips.
Speak Check listens to your recording and sends back short tips.
Practice
Your keyboard may not have č ć š ž đ. Tap the accent buttons under each box to insert them.
Write I love burek.
Hint: Volim…
Write I love sirnica (object form with -u).
Hint: Volim sirnicu
Write I do not like onion (luk).
Hint: Ne volim…
Write I am hungry (feminine, like Ana).
Hint: Ja sam…
Write I am hungry (masculine, like Emir).
Hint: Ja sam…
Write the Bosnian spelling for bread.
Hint: hl-
Write Enjoy your meal!
Hint: Two words
Write tasty / delicious.
Hint: u…
Fun facts
No cheese in the word burek
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, burek means a meat pita. Tourists often ask for burek sa sirom and reveal that they learned a different regional habit. Locals treat cheese pie as sirnica instead. If you want to sound local in this lesson, keep burek for meat and sirnica for cheese.
Livanjski sir
Livno is known for highland cheese, not just mountain views. Livanjski sir comes from western Bosnia pastures with a long dairy tradition. Emir’s postcard uses that fame to pull Ana’s food map outside one city street. When you learn food words today, remember that dairy pride across Bosnia and Herzegovina has regional addresses.
Jogurt is a partner
Warm burek often arrives with jogurt on purpose. The cool yogurt balances the hot pastry and slows the first bite. People treat the pair as a small everyday ritual rather than a random side. If you order burek, expect jogurt to feel like part of the meal.
Mrvica tax
Any flaky pita near Mrvica becomes a shared meal. Crumbs fall, the cat arrives, and ownership of the snack gets renegotiated immediately. Ana learns food words while losing pastry in real time. In this course, feeding the café cat is unofficial vocabulary practice.
Čuj Bosnu. Dino Merlin sings Burek
A famous pop anthem stacks Bosnian food words. Listen for burek, pita, and the kitchen pride in the chorus.
Song · Dino Merlin · Bosnian kitchen / pop · focus ~45-90 seconds
Watch & listen
Dino Merlin official video on YouTube (YouTube Terms of Service (embed))
Listen for food words like burek or pita in the chorus energy.
Press play on the video above. After you have listened, show the gist question.
Bosnia today
Local food culture, imported staples
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s food culture is local, but many grocery staples still come from abroad. After the war, fragmented farmland and weak agricultural investment slowed the recovery of domestic production. Bakeries and shops often stock flour, oil, dairy, and other basics from imports even while street pita culture thrives. Loving burek is part of daily life, and that daily life still depends on a supply chain that is only partly grown at home.
Wikipedia. Agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Practice game
True or false. Food rules
Mark each sentence true or false for Bosnian usage in this lesson.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, burek means a meat pita.
Sirnica is a cheese pita.
Volim means I do not like.
Ana says Ja sam gladna.
Quick review
A few words from this lesson, plus ones you missed before. Flip the card, then mark how it went.
Card 1 / 5
More resources
- How to speak Bosnian (YouTube). Companion video for Lesson 8
- Next. Lesson 9. U prodavnici. Shopping phrases with Emir
- Book 1 curriculum. See all lessons
Lesson quiz
Or open the full-page quiz: Lesson 8 quiz
Lesson 8 section quiz
1. What does burek mean in Bosnia and Herzegovina in this lesson?
2. How do you say I love burek?
3. Which word is the cheese pita?
4. Ana is hungry. What does she say?
5. What does Ne volim luk mean?
6. Livno is famous in this lesson’s postcard for…
7. Emir says burek is…
8. What phrase means Enjoy your meal?
9. In Dino Merlin’s Burek, food names show up as…
