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“Ivana is an extremely competent language instructor who clearly knows her topic. Her instruction helped make Serbo-Croatian learning intelligible, which is quite a feat. Furthermore, she was accommodating and brought great energy to the process. I highly recommend her to anyone who is interested in learning Serbo-Croatian”. Ben A.
“I started taking weekly BCS lessons from Ivana about 7 months ago and cannot explain how grateful I am for her! Words truly do not do her justice. She is incredibly intelligent when it comes to language and culture, but she is also highly effective at actually teaching it. Each lesson is diverse and she makes sure to tailor her teaching based on what works best for me and what I am hoping to get out of each lesson. I love how she finds so many ways to explain the grammar patterns and etymology of words that come up in our conversations. Because of this, you can actually understand and connect to the language, as opposed to simply memorizing words and phrases. Ivana is also a genuinely kind and thoughtful person in general. She challenges me to do my best with each lesson, but I have never felt too pressured as she is always very encouraging. She has gotten me to a level where I can actually speak it conversationally with my Bosnian boyfriend and now we only text and speak in Bosnian 3 days out of every week! This to me has made my lessons with Ivana priceless. She has every skill and characteristic that you could hope for in a language tutor and I would highly recommend her to anyone”. Fiana L.
“Ivana is a fantastic teacher whose patience and thorough knowledge of the grammar and structure of Serbo-Croatian meet to encourage and educate her students. Though her understandings of the underpinnings of this very complex language are deep, she manages to keep the atmosphere light and easy. Ivana met me at my ability and needs and accommodated these specifics in our classes. I had a high level of understanding before taking classes with Ivana, as this language is my mother tongue, but I had very poor grammar and was not comfortable speaking, always worried I was getting everything wrong and, notably, I could not write at all. Ivana helped me greatly to combat my very low self-esteem and, in my view, this is an essential part of any language instruction: helping to build not only understanding of linguistic structure in a student but also actual confidence to proceed with speaking those newly learned structures aloud. Her focus on both written and spoken language helped bring me to a functional written level and highly improved spoken level that I am currently putting to great use living in Belgrade. I long doubted that I could reach this level, but thanks to Ivana's keen interest in her students and their improvement as well as her highly motivated, tenacious, and persistent personality, here I am”. Aurora P.
“Ivana has been giving me one-on-one Croatian language instruction for one year. For context, I'm not studying Croatian has a hobby, for fun, to expand my mind or, for the love of languages; I'm doing it because I'm marrying a Croatian and need to be able to understand and communicate is social and family situations. And now, thanks to Ivana's patience, persistence, enthusiasm, encouragement, teaching skill, and infectious joy of cultures and languages - I can! Bless her”. Suzanne P.
“I could not more highly recommend Ivana as a Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian language instructor. For more than six months, she has created a structured program taking me from zero literacy of the language to fully conversational. The style of her teaching has led to faster progress than I ever could have imagined and the speed of my comprehension has been a welcomed surprise. Ivana brings such enthusiasm to her classes that they are truly a joy to be in. She is a pleasure to work with and I am so happy to have the opportunity to be her student!” Sarah N.
“As I prepared for my first trip to Croatia, my language lessons with Ivana were very helpful in learning Croatian and being able to communicate once I got there. The biggest compliment I can pay Ivana is that she made the language come alive by using humor, patience and examples of how the language can be used in everyday life. There was nothing more satisfying than hearing Ivana say “dobro!” after I said something correctly. Ivana comes with my highest recommendation!” Melton S.
“Ivana is everything you want in a language coach: friendly and low-pressure but still motivating. Her classes were never boring. I am extremely frugal and her rates were a no-brainer. There aren't a lot of Serbo-Croatian teachers around to begin with, so to be able to work with someone of Ivana's caliber is a gift indeed!” Bethany K.
“Ivana is a patient and kind teacher who make learning a language fun. She is quite intelligent and knowledgeable, and she thinks of good exercises to get me engaged in practicing. I would definitely recommend her as a teacher if you want to try to learn a new language, especially since Serbo-Croatian is much more difficult than Latin languages, and you really need a native speaker to help you understand context and usage better”. Carolyn S.
“Ivana was my Serbian tutor prior to my first trip to Belgrade. I have never been good at learning other languages, but I think she made all of the subject matter easy to understand, and I enjoyed studying and going to our sessions. My fiancé and his family were all very impressed by just how much I knew in the short amount of time that I had been studying. I would recommend Ivana to anyone wanting to learn Serbian. She's incredibly smart and skilled.” Cassie C.
"Learning Serbo-Croatian can be very challenging for English speakers, but Ivana made my personal classes interesting, educational and, most importantly, very fun. In addition to using textbook instruction, Ivana was able to help me learn Croatian using real-life examples, such as ordering food at a restaurant, traveling, or having a simple conversation. I have nothing but praise for Ivana and highly recommend her!" Mark Z.
“Ivana is an excellent language teacher. For several months, she taught me Serbian and I was consistently impressed with her dedication and patience. Ivana continually seeks feedback from her students so she can better understand their approach to learning a new language and tailor her lesson plans. Ivana has a very thorough understanding of the Serbo-Croatian language as well as differing accents and varying vocabulary that are used in the Balkans. She is an excellent teacher and I highly recommend her to anyone who is interested in learning Serbian”. Amanda K.
“Ivana Zecevic is a great instructor of the Serbian language, who works well with students and shows flexibility when the course needs to be adjusted to the students' progress”. Alexander D.
“Ivana is a terrific instructor. Attempting to learn a new foreign language at 30+ was an extraordinarily challenging feat, but her guidance, genuine interest in my development, and, most importantly, patience made it a gratifying (and fun!) experience”. Peter J.
“I hired Ivana to teach Serbian language courses both individually and in groups for Cactus Language School. Ivana is a highly personable, friendly and engaging Serbian Teacher with many out-of-the-box ideas in the classroom. She will do whatever it takes in order to involve the students and makes them the main focus of her language lessons. She will get you speaking Serbian right from the very first lesson! Ivana is punctual, organized, and pro-active. She is extremely passionate about Serbian and language teaching.” Kimberly N. Accommodation SS Coordinator at Geos Language Plus
“Ivana Zecevic is a great instructor of the Serbian language, who works well with students and shows flexibility when the course needs to be adjusted to the students' progress.” Cactus Language School Anonymous student’s feedback
"I have been studying Serbo-Croatian since the spring of 2018. I have appreciated Ms Zecevic’ simple and straightforward teaching method, which helped me gain a basic understanding of the structure and grammar of the language very quickly, allowing me already to follow simple conversations. Having learnt other foreign languages in the past (French and Spanish), I was impressed by her ability to explain sometimes complicated linguistic concepts in simple terms and to relate them to the English language. Her energetic style, enthusiasm and speed help her students get through the most difficult stretches of grammar. Ms Zecevic also relates her teaching to the culture and societies of the Western Balkans, which makes the learning experience interesting and enjoyable." Adebayo B.
“My friend and I took ten private BCS lessons with Ivana, and we couldn't have been happier with the experience. Ivana is a wonderful teacher, and tailors all lessons to the unique goals and proficiency levels of her students. In addition to teaching, she has worked for some major language instruction companies, so she is quite familiar with best practices when it comes to pedagogy. Ivana also has a wonderful disposition and personality for teaching; she is relaxed and has a great sense of humor, but also knows when to gently push students to achieve their maximum potential. My wife is from Mostar, BiH, and I wanted to gain a bit of conversational fluency to interact with her family members, and my friend just loves learning languages. Ivana's lessons were great for both of us. I would highly recommend Ivana's services to anyone looking to study BCS (from total beginners to people with Balkan heritage looking to brush up on vocabulary, grammar, speaking, or reading/writing)”. David S.
“As a researcher, I consider myself one who seeks the best source of information. This standard was no different when seeking an instructor. Ivana Zecevic is a highly knowledgeable, thorough and patient language tutor. With a short frame goal to achieve Level 1 proficiency in Serbian one month before my travels, Ivana was able to assess my abilities and modify her speed and teaching style accordingly. As a professor, she is motivating and accommodating, but she is not afraid to provide a challenge. Upon returning from trip to Serbian, I have every intention of continuing my studies with Ivana. There is no one better to learn Serbo-Croation from in New York City". Andrea K.
As the assistant principal of the Mathematical High School I have had the pleasure to cooperate very closely with Ivana Zecevic. professor of the Serbian Language and Literature, during the last year. My daily duties include supervising and monitoring of the educational process and the lecturing achievements of the teaching stuff, mainly the young and less experienced ones. Soon after joining the School, Ivana was readily accepted by her colleagues and built up her professional identity and showed strong and broad competence in the subject she teaches. While working with students she immediately gasped their needs fully and was patient in communication with their parents. She is eagerly willing to improve professionally, to accept and apply new ideas and suggestions in her teaching". Jasmina Stosic Assistant Principal in The Mathematical High School
As the head of the Serbian language teachers “association in the Mathematical High School, I have had the exceptional pleasure to coordinate and monitor the educational and pedagogical work of my colleague professor Ivana Zecevic. Her creativity, broad knowledge and excellent communication with both the students and the colleagues allow me to assess lvana’s work and working abilities as highly superior. Besides the daily school activities, Ivana engaged herself in numerous extracurricular activities such as preparing the students for the competitions in Serbian language and literature on the school and city levels. Since she has wide experience in working with media, especially television, she made use of it in staging the school performances for New year and School Day, Ivana fulfilled all her teaching duties with strong sense of responsibility and professionalism". Mirjana Micic Professor of the Serbian language and literature
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