The presentation of the digital edition of the Croatian Heritage Foundation’s and the University of Zagreb’s monograph brought together experts in Croatian as a second and foreign language and highlighted almost half a century of work of the University School of Croatian Language and Culture.
The digital edition of the Povjestice monograph of the University School of Croatian Language and Culture, published by the Croatian Heritage Foundation and the University of Zagreb, was presented at this year’s Expert and Scientific Conference for Teachers of Croatian as a Second and Foreign Language (SIH), on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
The book, presented by Ines Carović, Ph.D., associate professor from the Department of Phonetics at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, is one of the long-time lecturers at the University School.
“It is rare that a book speaks equally convincingly about language and about people. The authors Marija Bošnjak and Lada Kanajet Šimić did not merely write a chronology of events. They did not compile a list of programs, teachers and generations of participants. They managed to do something much more demanding – to tell the story of how a community was created over almost half a century, a community that connected homeland and diaspora Croatia, a community that connected languages and cultures and a community that connected people,” explained Prof. Carović at the beginning of the review.
– Ines Carović, Ph.D.: “It is rare that a book speaks equally convincingly about language and about people.”
The monograph “Povjestice” provides a comprehensive overview of the origin, development and activities of the University School of Croatian Language and Culture, from its beginnings in 1980 to the 2025/2026 academic year. Its publication marks 45 years since the first Summer School of Croatian Language in Croatia, launched in 1980 jointly with the University of Kansas (USA) by the Croatian Heritage Foundation, 35 years since the University of Zagreb took over the academic language program and 15 years since the beginning of the HiT-1 Croatian Online Course.
The digital edition of the monograph Povjestice is available on the Croatian Heritage Foundation’s website: Povjestice_HMI_DIGITAL.pdf
“As we read its six thematic units, we follow the development of the School from its beginnings, through institutional development, curricula, international cooperation and scientific projects, to the personal testimonies of teachers and students. These two layers – documentary and personal – constantly intertweave,” emphasized Carović, Ph.D., adding that, as a phoneticist and someone who is academically engaged in Croatian as a second and foreign language, it was especially interesting for her to read this monograph for another reason, which is that it very convincingly shows that the University School was not only a place where the Croatian language was taught, but also a place where the field of Croatian as a second and foreign language emerged.
Ines Carović and Lada Kanajet Šimić
Every year, the SIH conference is organized by Croaticum – Center for Croatian as a Second and Foreign Language at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb and the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia, while this year’s eighteenth consecutive edition was held on July 3 and 4, 2026. The conference arose from the need to create a space where language teachers can exchange experiences and knowledge, get to know each other and network, develop professional cooperation and jointly improve competencies for teaching the Croatian language and culture to non-native speakers.
SIH 2026 Program https://sites.google.com/view/sih-croaticum/program/raspored
Text and photo: CHF
