Can language bring Albanian and Serbian communities together?

The Albanian words for “Thank you” and “congrats” are the first that Doroteja Antić, a 23-year-old from Novi Sad, Serbia, learned in the language. She has learned much more to communicate easily with her friends from Kosovo. Antić, a communications and media student and human rights activist, keeps an Albanian language dictionary given to her by her friend from Kosovo, filled with many Albanian words. Similarly, she has tried to teach her friend from Kosovo words and expressions in Serbian.

“Now, before meeting my friends from Kosovo, I check the dictionary to refresh my memory of Albanian words,” said Antić.

For Antić, mutual knowledge of languages helps ease tensions between Albanian and Serbian communities. “I believe it also helps us overcome the prejudices we may have towards each other because the easier it is to communicate with people, the more we see them as they are and set aside their ethnicity,” she said.

The vast majority of young Albanians and Serbs do not know each other’s language. A few decades ago, this situation was different, at least for Albanians. Albanian could not be spoken freely, so most citizens of Kosovo had to speak or understand Serbian. It was taught in schools and was the language of public administration.

After the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo, Albanians in Kosovo became reluctant to speak Serbian due to the painful past. Strained political relations between Kosovo and Serbia have made communication between citizens in both states, and within Kosovo itself, more difficult. In this context, addressing the past encounters numerous barriers, even though it’s considered necessary for sustainable peace.

Antić believes that narratives from older generations are passed on to the young, preventing them from having a full picture.

“Young people only have a small part of the story and form their opinions based on that. They don’t understand the whole issue,” she said. She says that while ethnic communities in other countries in the region can understand each other due to their similar languages, learning each other’s language in Kosovo could play an important role in improving relations.

Beyond political frameworks, steps to build trust between the two communities are being taken. In Kosovo, several courses offer instruction in both languages. The online platform VocUp, created by the nongovernmental organization Center for Social Initiatives (CSI) based in North Mitrovica, has been operating for over six years, providing lessons in various formats in Albanian and Serbian. This platform enables different age groups to develop basic conversation skills in both languages. So far, around 2,500 people have taken courses on this platform.

CSI’s director, 49-year-old Veljko Samardžić, said this platform has accomplished what institutions have not. “For more than 30 years, Albanians and Serbs have not learned each other’s languages. Using new technologies and modern methods of language learning, we wanted to give people the opportunity to communicate,” he said.

Samardžić said that participants are always hesitant at first. “‘Why should we learn their language?’ is one such question. ‘Should we learn their language after everything that happened?'” he said, adding that it’s interesting to him that Albanians and Serbs both ask the same questions.

Language exchange, from culture to everyday work

Edis Galushi, a 35-year-old translator of several languages and Albanian and Serbian language course teacher, also instructs on the VocUp platform. He taught several generations of students and works to overcome initial prejudices by sparking the students’ curiosity with unique and lesser-known details of both languages.

“Often, Albanian and Serbian speakers have superficial or incorrect knowledge about the language they are trying to learn, often based on words or prejudices from others who have no personal experience,” he said. “Moreover, the language and culture of both sides have been presented to them in a negative way, mainly through political implications.” He added that they first make an effort to address these gaps. “Then, we notice that each participant in the course wants to deepen this cooperation through direct contact, which leads to collaboration between students of both languages. This is where I see the beauty of it all — in the exchange of each other’s language.”

Galushi attributes the students’ hesitation and prejudices to the political history between the two countries.

“Politics tends to be generalized, overshadowing the beauty of human cooperation, literature, language and culture,” he said. When students discuss complicated topics related to the past in the courses, Galushi focuses on commonalities rather than differences or divisions. From the start of the course, they make it clear that they separate politics from every aspect of the culture they are learning.

“Other people deal with politics, while we focus on expressing the emotions that need to be expressed and guiding people towards mutual understanding,” he said. “We do this through the exploration of the cultures of both languages.” According to him, when addressing how to deal with the past, it’s crucial to know who is promoting it or who is mediating, so the platform carefully selects its teachers.

“I don’t belong to either ethnic group [neither Albanian or Serbian], but I understand the culture and language of both. I see this as a good way to address the issue of dealing with the past and the emotional challenges. It brings us to a common ground where the language, as part of the culture, is promoted,” said Galushi, who is part of the Roma community.

Galushi said that during the courses, students learn about the world of music and film. For example, the history of music in Kosovo is presented through the works of Muharrem Qena, Liliana Qavolli and Nexhmije Pagarusha. The courses also encourage students to visit cultural events held in Kosovo and Serbia. For Kosovo, the courses cover key cultural events such as the Dokufest documentary film festival, performances at the National Theater, the Chopin Piano Fest and any other significant cultural events that happen during the course.

In addition to cultural exchange, language knowledge is becoming increasingly important for journalists due to political developments between Kosovo and Serbia.

Whenever there is a crisis and heightened tensions in the Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo, Adelinë Ahmeti, 28, a journalist at Kallxo.com, reports from the ground. Until recently, she needed to bring along a colleague who spoke Serbian to interview members of the public or politicians. Last year, she attended a Serbian language course.

“To make it easier to work and communicate with members of the public and officials, I decided to take the course to learn new words and get used to speaking. Even if I don’t manage to speak Serbian fluently, I can at least understand what is being said during protests or conferences,” said Ahmeti.

Partly due to language barriers, the Albanian and Serbian communities in Kosovo rely on completely different sources of information. Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians live in separate informational spaces. Kosovo Serbs receive news primarily from Serbian-language media, which often align with pro-Serbian government editorial policies. K2.0 has done several investigations on how this divide can make members of the public vulnerable to misinformation and encourage hate speech.

A 2023 report published by BIRN Serbia and Internews Kosovo found that most media reports in Kosovo and Serbia about relations between the countries are based on limited resources. “Mainstream media fail to let all sides be heard. Sources are limited, the majority of them are high-level officials promoting their own agendas. Potentials for cooperation are also rarely visible through reporting. Direct quotes of Albanian in Serbian media and vice versa are rarely heard,” the report states.

Galushi has noticed that journalists are particularly open to learning each other’s languages. Galushi highlights that the Serbian government’s media’s use of language, which is considered problematic in Kosovo, is also discussed in courses. For example, Serbian media outlets often refer to Kosovo and its institutions as “so-called Kosovo.” He said that this is discussed in order to address and avoid politically charged tendencies.

Despite the potential of language exchange to improve relations between the two communities, some realities remain difficult to address. A young woman from Gračanica decided to take an Albanian language course since she lives and works in Kosovo, where she was born. However, she chose not to reveal her identity for fear of facing prejudice from her community in Gračanica.

“It is sad that I communicate with Albanian friends and colleagues in English, rather than in Albanian or Serbian. For this reason, my colleagues have enrolled in a Serbian language course,” she said. “My wish is for my children to learn Albanian as well.”

She believes that learning each other’s language is essential for improving communication between communities, as society remains very divided with significant hostility, especially between Albanians and Serbs. According to her, the mindset of people in Kosovo is similar across communities. “By understanding each other’s languages, we can connect more deeply and realize that an Albanian from Klina is not different from a Serb in Gračanica,” she said.

Studying Serbian at the University of Prishtina

In Kosovo, the Office of the Language Commissioner (OLC), which operates within the Office of the Prime Minister, is responsible for upholding and implementing the language rights of all citizens. The OLC ensures that the constitutional and legal obligations regarding language rights are respected, it works to protect, promote, preserve and implement these rights. Beyond these legal obligations, OLC supports initiatives to offer Albanian and Serbian language courses for the two communities.

Safete Graiçevci, a coordinator at OLC, mentioned that when discussions about developing Albanian and Serbian language courses first began a few years ago, there was skepticism about how many young people show interest. However, despite the initial doubts, interest in learning these languages has been growing among both communities. As a result, the OLC has collaborated with donors and civil society to offer relevant courses, including VocUp.

Graiçevci said that knowing the Serbian language has enabled her to tell her Serb colleagues what the Albanian community experienced during the war in Kosovo. She also referenced the opportunities young people have to study in the Balkan studies department at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Prishtina.

According to its website, The Balkan Studies Program, which was founded in 2021, was established with the aim of improving interlinguistic and intercultural communication in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. The program aims to train competent students and professionals in linguistics and translation in the official languages ​​of Kosovo, as well as other Balkan languages such as Croatian, Bosnian and Macedonian. It also prepares professionals for cross-cultural teaching of local languages ​​in their future careers.

The Balkan Studies program also participates in the International Seminar on Albanian Language, Literature and Culture, which is held in Prishtina every summer. This seminar brings together around 100 students from around the world to learn Albanian over two weeks. Each year, students from Serbia also take part in these courses.

Antić noted that over the years, civil society in Kosovo and Serbia has created various exchange programs that have enabled young people to communicate directly with each other and rather than relying on external influence or stereotypes.

“Thanks to the direct contact, these prejudices were eliminated after a few days and friendships were created that continue to this day. I have been to Kosovo, my friends come to Belgrade,” she said. “Only through direct interactions between young people from both sides can we improve the situation over a few years or decades.”

This publication was produced with the support of forumZFD. The contents are the sole responsibility of Kosovo 2.0 and do not necessarily reflect the views of forumZFD.