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Quick facts about Slovenian

Speakers

About 2.5 million people speak Slovene (2010 figure), mainly in Slovenia.¹

Did you know?

Slovene keeps a dual number alongside singular and plural: "we two" is midva (or medve for two women), "you two" is vidva, and the verb has its own dual ending, as in greva (we two go).²

The main challenge

Six noun cases combined with three numbers (singular, dual and plural), so each noun has many forms to learn.¹

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_language
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_grammar

About the Slovenian language

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_language
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_grammar
3. https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/languages_en

Slovenian reading proficiency benchmarks (CEFR & Center za slovenščino)

The Slovene exam names are the four levels of the University of Ljubljana’s Slovene language exams, matched by the CEFR range each one states (the basic level covers A2–B1, the level of excellence C1–C2). Treat the column as approximate, not an official equivalence of reading levels.

Reference corpora

The main frequency source for written Slovene is the Gigafida reference corpus.¹

• Gigafida 2.2: A corpus of written standard Slovene from the University of Ljubljana’s Centre for Language Resources and Technologies (CJVT): about 1.16 billion words in some 798,000 texts.¹
• Standard language: Slovene is known for unusual dialect diversity, with counts ranging from seven dialect groups to as many as 50 dialects. Stichos writes Slovene readers in the standard literary language (zborna slovenščina) at every level and avoids dialect words, slang and colloquialisms.²
• Forms of address: Friends, children and peers are addressed with ti; unfamiliar adults and professional contacts with the formal vikanje.

1. https://viri.cjvt.si/gigafida/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_dialects

Readability design principles

Readability formulas were built for English, and their use on Slovene has been tested directly.¹

• Škvorc et al. (2019): Tadej Škvorc, Simon Krek, Senja Pollak, Špela Arhar Holdt and Marko Robnik-Šikonja adapted ten established readability formulas and eight further criteria to Slovene. They tested them on children’s magazines, general magazines, newspapers, technical magazines and parliamentary transcripts, and proposed a Slovene word list for the word-list-based measures.¹
• Stichos: Stichos sets difficulty with level-by-level grammar rules and sentence-length limits rather than a single readability score.

1. https://ojs.inz.si/pnz/article/view/323

Script & grammar scaffolding

• Tenses and moods: A0 uses only the present tense (sedanjik) in singular forms. A1 adds the future (prihodnjik, bom plus the l-participle) while the past tense (preteklik) waits until A2. The present conditional (pogojnik, bi plus the l-participle) opens at B1 and the past conditional at B2.
• The dual: The dual (dvojina), as in midva bova videla (“the two of us will see”), is left out at A0 and A1. Basic dual nominative forms arrive at A2 and the full dual paradigm across the cases at B1.
• Imperatives: At A0 commands appear only inside fixed formulas such as Izvoli and Izvolite. A1 allows five informal ones: poglej, pridi, vzemi, počakaj and sedi.
• Clitics: Unstressed words such as the auxiliary forms of biti, the reflexive se and short pronouns cluster in second position, right after the first stressed word or phrase of the clause.

Related academic & framework resources

• Slovene Language Exams (Center za slovenščino kot drugi in tuji jezik): The four exam levels of the University of Ljubljana’s Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language, with sample tests and their CEFR ranges.
• Gigafida 2.2: Search interface for the corpus of written standard Slovene, run by CJVT at the University of Ljubljana.
• Fran (ZRC SAZU): Dictionary portal of the Fran Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language, including SSKJ and Slovenski pravopis.
• Napovedovanje kompleksnosti slovenskih besedil z uporabo mer berljivosti: Škvorc, Krek, Pollak, Arhar Holdt and Robnik-Šikonja, Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino 59(1), 2019, on readability measures for Slovene.
• Slovene dialects (Wikipedia): An overview of Slovene dialect groups and the differing counts of them.

Frequently asked questions

What writing system does Slovenian use?

Latin script, adapted from Ljudevit Gaj’s alphabet: the basic Latin letters plus č, š and ž, without q, w, x and y.

Is Stichos suitable for complete beginners with zero prior knowledge (A0)?

Yes. A0 is a primary focus, designed for readers with no prior knowledge. A1 then adds basic everyday vocabulary and simple connected clauses as your foundation grows.

Are Stichos levels the same as CEFR levels?

Not exactly. Stichos levels use the familiar CEFR names, from A0 to B2, and are modelled on the CEFR (the Common European Framework of Reference), so a Stichos B1 is meant to feel close to a B1 in your course book. They aren't an official CEFR rating, and different books and exams draw the lines in slightly different places. A0 is Stichos's own addition, just below the framework's first level.

Are the stories written by AI, and how accurate are they?

Yes. Stories are generated by AI and then checked by further automated steps against the grammar and vocabulary rules for your level. That catches most problems, but it isn't a human editor, so an occasional unnatural phrase or slip can get through. Treat Stichos as practice material, and check anything you're unsure of with a teacher or a reference.

Can I read stories with explanations in my native language?

Yes. Stichos allows you to pair any target language with any native support language. You can read a Croatian story with French glosses, or a German story with Spanish explanations.

How does word lookup work while reading?

Tap or click any word for its meaning in that sentence, explained in your own language. In the full version, you can save any word to your Vocab Bank for later review.

Is the preview free, and what happens to my email?

Yes. The preview is free and needs no account. If you join the Reading List, we use your email to send your 3 free sample stories (PDF, after you confirm your address) and to let you know when we fully open. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle it.

Do stories include audio or narration?

Story narration isn't part of the preview. At launch, the Premium Audio add-on reads every story aloud in a natural-sounding AI voice, in 39 of our 40 languages (Esperanto doesn't have audio support yet).