DAVE's CHALLENGE and the challenges of learning Slovene

Slovene is complicated, as Dave learns in Dave's Challenge. Learning new letters like č and š and ž and words without vowels like ČMRLJ (bumblebee) are only the beginning! In English, once you learn the word for »bumblebee« you can sit back and relax. Well, maybe you have to learn to stick an »s« at the end to make it plural. But in Slovene you haven't even started. Want to make it plural? First you have to determine what kind of plural. That's because Slovene has plural and a very special case known as »dvojina« or »dual case«. So, for example, 2 bumblebees would be »čmrlja« and a big bunch of them would be »čmrlji«. But of course you're still not done learning the world for bumblebee because Slovene also uses noun declension. Are you next to a bee? Do you have a bee? Do you not have a bee? Is there something on the bee? These are all vitally important questions. If you're outside with two bees then you're »z dvema črmljema« but if you're outside with three bees then you're »s tremi čmrlji«. Did we mention that Slovene has 6 noun declensions that are different depending on gender and number?

Luckily, Dave has decided not to despair but to BEE optmisitic and press on with the help of his Slovenian wife Fani! We wish him – and you – the best of luck in taking on this challenge!