Kresimir

Kresimir Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Kresimir! Would you like to give us a short self-introduction?

A. Hi everybody
My name is Kresimir. I am from Zagreb, Croatia. I have been living in Seoul for last two years and I work as a private swimming instructor. I really like my job, I like teach people new things. I learn Russian language in my free time because it is very similar to Croatian. I saw few very good Russian teachers on Cafetalk and when I come back to Croatia I am planning to take online lessons. I just don’t know which tutor to choose…

Q. Kris, you’re the first Croatian tutor on Cafetalk! Could you tell us about your country, Croatia?

A. I am proud to be the first Croatian tutor on Cafetalk. Croatia is a beautiful country in the south-east of Europe. It is about 6 times smaller than Japan and has population of 4.3 million. It is known as the country with thousand islands and a beautiful coast. It is one of the richest countries in Europe in terms of biodiversity. We have 8 National parks, 11 Nature parks, 84 Nature monuments. Almost 12 % of Croatian land surface is under some sort of protection. Croatia is also famous for its history and cultural heritage. There are 7 protected sites on UNESCO World Heritage List, like Plitvice Lakes, Dubrovnik old town, Diocletian palace and Medieval Split etc. There are also 13 different customs, crafts and traditions on UNESCO Intangible World Heritage List.

The number of Japanese tourist visited Croatia raises every year. In 2012 around 155.000 Japanese discovered my country. This year Prince Akishino and princess Kiko visited Croatia. It was interesting to see the group of Japanese tourist completely surprised when they saw members of Imperial family walking in Dubrovnik old town.

Q. I’d like to ask about a tourist spot in Croatia that you would like to recommend?

A. As I have already mentioned, there are plenty of sites that you can visit in Croatia, but these are my favorites: Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest National Park in south-east Europe. It is founded on 1949 and from 1979 is on UNESCO World Heritage list. It is famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Scientists have so far listed 1267 different plants out of 109 species that can be found within the area of the national park. 75 plants are endemic which means that they are found only in this area.

The second spot that I would recommend is town of Varazdin. It is situated on the north of Croatia, around 80 km north from Croatian capital, Zagreb. Varazdin is famous for its baroque buildings and Old town fortress which is a beautiful example of medieval defensive buildings. Foreign tourist still haven’t discovered that town. I recommend to visit it by the end of August or beginning of September. At that time it is hold street festival and city center become entertainment zone full of concert stages, entertainment zones, street performers and all kind of artists.

Q. According to your profile, you lived in Seoul, South Korea and worked as a swimming instructor! How’s your life there?

A. I have been living in Seoul for a last two years working as a swimming instructor. I really enjoy life in Seoul and I am learning new things about Korea every day. It is interesting to see cultural differences between Europe and Asia. Korean people work longer hours than people in Europe. Korean children are under very big pressure to succeed in school and enroll the top universities since very early age. Public transport in Seoul is maybe the best in the world. The living costs in Korea are the same as in Croatia, but the Korean salaries are much higher.

Q. What is the characteristic of Croatian language? Are there any similar languages with Croatian?

A. Croatian language is part of South-Slavic language family and it is very similar with other Slavic languages. If you have learned some other Slavic language, like Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovakian, Czech, Serbian or other, it would be very easy to catch basics of Croatian language. Croatian is very different than Japanese language and I really admire the effort of my Japanese students. I learned from one of my Cafetalk student that word “soba” means “noodles” in Japanese, the same word means “room” in Croatian. As much I know that is the only similarity between Croatian and Japanese :-) Learning Japanese language becomes very popular in Croatia, I hope that learning Croatian will become popular in Japan.

Q. I want to hear about your lesson, “Croatian language lessons.” Are there any special methods or features?

A. I have been teaching Croatian for more than three years and I have individual approach to every student. Croatian grammar can be very hard to understand for non-native speakers so I don’t push to much my students until they overcome the basics of the language. When the students reach the point of building simple sentences, then I start to push. :-)

Q. Please leave a message to Cafetalk students!

A. Dear students

Thank you for your interest in learning Croatian. I promise you that you will learn a new language very fast and with lot of fun.

I am also planning to open new courses in which you will be able to learn things about Croatian culture and Croatian cousine. Japanese people like to try different meals so I plan to teach you how to make some of the dishes from my family recipes. :-)

See you on Cafetalk!

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Kresimir

Profile

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