Learn Hardcore Croatian: Učiti hrvatski svaki dan je dobro iskustvo, pogotovo kad vidiš svoj napredak. - Studying Croatian every day is a good experience, especially when you see your own progress.

In Croatian, using the infinitive at the beginning of a sentence is a very common way to express a general activity as a subject, similar to English “To learn Croatian / Learning Croatian…”.

Učiti hrvatski svaki dan je dobro iskustvo.
= Learning Croatian every day is a good experience.

You could also say:

Učenje hrvatskog svaki dan je dobro iskustvo.

Differences:

Učiti hrvatski – sounds more verbal and dynamic, focusing on the action of learning.
Učenje hrvatskog – uses the noun učenje (learning), feels a bit more formal or abstract, like “the process of learning Croatian”.

Both are grammatically correct; the original version is more natural and conversational.

Why is the word order “Učiti hrvatski svaki dan je dobro iskustvo” and not “Je učiti hrvatski svaki dan dobro iskustvo”?

Croatian usually prefers Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) word order, especially in neutral sentences.

Here:

Učiti hrvatski svaki dan = subject (the activity)
je = verb “is”
dobro iskustvo = predicate (what it is)

So:

Učiti hrvatski svaki dan je dobro iskustvo.
= Learning Croatian every day is a good experience.

Putting “je” first (“Je učiti hrvatski…”) would sound very unnatural in standard Croatian. Verbs typically don’t go first in simple statements unless there’s a special emphasis or inversion.

Why is it “dobro iskustvo” and not “*dobar iskustvo”?

Because adjectives must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify.

iskustvo (experience) is neuter singular.
The adjective dobar in its base (dictionary) form is masculine singular.
For neuter singular, dobar → dobro.

So you must say:

dobro iskustvo (neuter adj. + neuter noun)

Examples:

dobar dan (masculine: dan)
dobra knjiga (feminine: knjiga)
dobro iskustvo (neuter: iskustvo)

Why is it just “hrvatski” and not “hrvatski jezik”?

In Croatian, it’s very common to drop the word “jezik” (language) when it’s obvious you are talking about a language.

Učiti hrvatski
literally: to learn Croatian (language)
understood as: to learn Croatian (as a language)

You can also say:

Učiti hrvatski jezik svaki dan je dobro iskustvo.

That’s correct but sounds a bit heavier or more formal. In everyday speech, “učiti hrvatski” is completely natural and preferred.

What’s the difference between “svaki dan” and “svakog dana”? Could I say “Učiti hrvatski svakog dana”?

Both svaki dan and svakog dana are correct and very common.

svaki dan – literally every day (nominative)
svakog dana – literally of every day (genitive)

Meaning in practice:

Učiti hrvatski svaki dan
Učiti hrvatski svakog dana

In this sentence, they mean the same: habitual, repeated action every day.
“svakog dana” can sound a bit more literary or slightly more emphatic, but the difference is small.

What exactly does “pogotovo” mean here, and could I use “posebno” instead?

pogotovo means “especially / in particular / above all”.

In this sentence:

pogotovo kad vidiš svoj napredak
= especially when you see your progress

You can often replace it with:

posebno kad vidiš svoj napredak

Differences:

pogotovo – very common in speech and writing, “especially” with a bit of emphasis.
posebno – “especially / particularly / in a special way”; stylistically very similar here.

In this sentence, both are natural; pogotovo may feel slightly more colloquial.

Why is it “kad” and not “kada”? Are they different?

kad and kada mean the same thing: “when”.

kad – shorter, more colloquial, extremely common in speech.
kada – full form, a bit more formal or careful, often used in writing, but also in speech.

You can say:

pogotovo kad vidiš svoj napredak
pogotovo kada vidiš svoj napredak

Both are correct; here kad just sounds slightly more relaxed and conversational.

Why is there no “ti” before “vidiš”? Why isn’t it “kad ti vidiš svoj napredak”?

Croatian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (ja, ti, on, etc.) are usually omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

vidiš = you see (2nd person singular)
The ending ‑š tells us it’s “you (singular)”.

So:

kad vidiš svoj napredak
literally: when see‑you your progress
understood as: when you see your progress

You can say “kad ti vidiš svoj napredak”, but:

It adds emphasis on “you”, like when *you (as opposed to someone else) see your progress*.
In neutral sentences, Croatians simply drop the pronoun.

Why is it “svoj napredak” and not “tvoj napredak” or “moj napredak”?

svoj is a reflexive possessive pronoun meaning “one’s own”.

It is used when the possessor is the same as the subject of the clause.

Here:

Subject: (ti) – implied “you”
Possession: svoj napredak – “your own progress”

So:

kad vidiš svoj napredak
= when you see your own progress

If we changed the subject, svoj would still refer to that subject:

Kad on vidi svoj napredak. – When he sees his (own) progress.
Kad mi vidimo svoj napredak. – When we see our (own) progress.

You could say “tvoj napredak” instead, and it would still be understood as “your progress”, but:

svoj is more idiomatic and preferred when the subject and possessor are the same.
Using svoj avoids ambiguity and is considered good style.

Why is the verb “učiti” (imperfective) used and not “naučiti” (perfective)?

Croatian has aspect: imperfective vs. perfective.

učiti – imperfective: to be learning, to study (process, duration, repetition)
naučiti – perfective: to learn, to have learned (completed result)

In this sentence we’re talking about an ongoing, habitual process:

Učiti hrvatski svaki dan
= To study Croatian every day (a repeated activity)

Using naučiti here would sound wrong:

✗ Naučiti hrvatski svaki dan je dobro iskustvo.
This suggests a single completed act “to have learned Croatian every day”, which doesn’t fit.

So učiti is the correct choice to express a continuous / habitual action.

Why is there a comma before “pogotovo” in “..., pogotovo kad vidiš svoj napredak”?

The comma separates:

the main clause: Učiti hrvatski svaki dan je dobro iskustvo
from an additional, emphasizing phrase: pogotovo kad vidiš svoj napredak

This second part is like an added comment: “especially when you see your progress.”

In Croatian:

Such parenthetical or adding expressions (pogotovo, naročito, osobito, itd.) are normally set off by a comma from the rest of the sentence.
So the comma here is standard and expected.

Without the comma, it wouldn’t be wrong in casual writing, but it would be less clear and not in line with standard punctuation rules.