The Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) language courses cover four of the seven primary languages spoken in these countries: Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian. The remaining three languages are Albanian, spoken in Kosova; Macedonian, spoken in North Macedonia; and Slovenian, spoken in Slovenia. Courses in our department examine the cultures of all of these regions.

Before the break-up of Yugoslavia, BCS was typically known as Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian. When the new countries formed, the language came to be known as Croatian in Croatia, Serbian in Serbia, Montenegrin in Montenegro, and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This language is written in two alphabets, Latin and Cyrillic. Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian is spoken by 19 million people worldwide, including many U.S. immigrants. Significant diasporic communities can be found in Chicago, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and elsewhere.

Despite the different regional language names, native speakers of any of the four languages have no linguistic difficulty understanding the other three. The grammatical and lexical differences between them are fewer than between British and American standards of English. This is why we teach all of these languages together in a single classroom at IUB, regularly offering up to 4 years of the BCS language.

If you have some knowledge of BCS or have taken language courses elsewhere, we offer a brief exam to place you at the appropriate level.