3. Growing Up Croatian –
Background Information
• My mother’s side of the family is from Croatia, a country in
Europe.
• As a child, my maternal grandmother, or “Baba” as I called her
in Croatian, lived with my family.
• Croatian was Baba’s dominant language – she barely knew any
English. Therefore, she and my mother would only speak to
each other in Croatian.
• Each day (and after school once we were old enough to
attend), Baba would watch my brother and I while my mother
father were at work. During those times, she would teach me
how to speak Croatian, among other things.
• When I was 9 years old, my Baba sadly passed away. By the
time of her passing, I was essentially fluent in the Croatian
language.
4. Croatian Culture
• Unfortunately, after my grandmother’s passing, my mother stopped
speaking Croatian. Eventually, I too, lost the language.
• However, I did notice that, when taking foreign languages in school
(especially Spanish), I picked up these languages exceptionally
quickly. Although I am unsure of whether or not I can fully attribute
my language learning skills to my grandmother, I like to think that
she is the reason I chose to enter the language education field.
• Fortunately, my extended family on my mother’s side still exudes
Croatian pride. During each holiday or special occasion, when the
family gets together, we celebrate our culture by enjoying traditional
Croatian food and music.
5. The Grb
• To continue, my family has a bit of property in Nin,
Croatia – the city in which my maternal grandparents
were born.
• Although I, myself, have been unable to visit Croatia,
my mother has made a few trips to visit family over
the past couple of years.
• After one of her brief visits, my mother brought my
brother and I our very first authentic artifact from her
home country – the Croatian grb on a silver necklace.
The Croatian grb is representative of the Croatian flag,
whose national colors are red, white, and blue.
• To this day, both my brother and I (as well as many of
our cousins) wear the Croatian grb around our necks.
This necklace reminds me not only of my family’s
culture, but of my Baba as well, who had been a truly
significant part of my life.
