Learn Hardcore Croatian: Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan. - I want to study Croatian even more every day.

želim (from željeti) is a bit softer and more neutral. It can mean I want or I wish and is very natural in sentences about goals or desires:
- Želim učiti hrvatski. – I want to study Croatian.
hoću (from htjeti) is more direct and sometimes sounds stronger or more demanding, depending on tone:
- Hoću učiti hrvatski. – I want to study Croatian. (Can sound more insistent.)

In your sentence, Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan, želim fits well because you’re talking about a personal wish or goal, not demanding something from someone else.

Why is it želim učiti and not želim učim?

In Croatian, verbs like željeti (to want), morati (to have to), trebati (to need) are followed by the infinitive, not by another conjugated verb.

Correct: Želim učiti hrvatski. – I want to study Croatian.
Incorrect: Želim učim hrvatski. – I want I study Croatian. (ungrammatical)

If you really want to use a conjugated verb after želim, you need a “da” clause:

Želim da učim hrvatski svaki dan. – I want (that) I study Croatian every day.

But for this kind of sentence, želim + infinitive (želim učiti) is more common and natural.

What does još više add to the meaning compared to just više?

više = more
- Želim više učiti hrvatski. – I want to study Croatian more.
još više = even more / even further / more than before
- Želim još više učiti hrvatski. – I want to study Croatian even more.

So još here strengthens više:

It suggests you are already studying Croatian, but you want to increase it further.
Without još, it’s just “more”; with još više, it emphasizes an extra step, an increase on top of what you do now.

Could this also mean “I still want to study Croatian more every day”? Doesn’t još also mean “still”?

Yes, još on its own can mean “still” or “more/another”, but here the structure is different.

još
- adjective/adverb like više → usually “even more”
  - još više = even more
još before the main verb can mean “still”:
- Još učim hrvatski. – I’m still studying Croatian.

In Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan:

još is attached to više, not directly to učiti.
So the natural translation is “I want to study Croatian even more every day”, not “I still want…”.

To say “I still want…”, you’d put još before želim:

Još želim učiti hrvatski. – I still want to study Croatian.

Why is učiti used here and not naučiti? What’s the difference?

Croatian distinguishes aspect: ongoing/process vs completed result.

učiti – imperfective: to study / to be learning (process, ongoing activity)
naučiti – perfective: to learn / to master (finish learning, reach a result)

Your sentence:

Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan.
- Focus is on the ongoing activity of studying each day.

If you said:

Želim naučiti hrvatski. – I want to learn (to have learned/master) Croatian.
- Focus is on reaching the end result (being able to speak/know it), not on the daily process.

So učiti fits perfectly with svaki dan (every day), since that clearly describes a repeated, ongoing activity.

Why is it just hrvatski and not hrvatski jezik?

In Croatian, language names are often expressed just with the adjective form, without adding jezik (language):

hrvatski (jezik) – Croatian (language)
engleski (jezik) – English
njemački (jezik) – German

So:

Učim hrvatski. = I’m learning Croatian.
Učim hrvatski jezik. – also correct, but a bit longer and slightly more formal/specific.

In everyday speech, hrvatski alone is totally normal and very common.

What case is hrvatski in, and why does it look like the basic form?

hrvatski here is in the accusative singular masculine.

Why does it look the same as the basic (nominative) form?

For masculine inanimate nouns/adjectives, nominative = accusative:
- Nominative: hrvatski (Croatian)
- Accusative (inanimate): hrvatski

We know it’s accusative because:

It’s the object of učiti: to study what? → hrvatski.

If it were masculine animate, the form would change:

Nominative: mladi učitelj – the young teacher
Accusative: mladog učitelja – (I see) the young teacher

Languages are treated as inanimate, so you get učiti hrvatski (same form as the nominative).

Could I say Želim učiti hrvatski još više svaki dan instead? Is the word order free?

You can say Želim učiti hrvatski još više svaki dan, but the most natural word order for a neutral sentence is the one you have:

Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan.

Word order in Croatian is relatively flexible, but changes can affect:

What is emphasized
How smooth or natural it sounds

Some possibilities, with rough emphasis:

Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan.
- Fairly neutral; a bit of emphasis on “even more”.
Želim učiti hrvatski još više svaki dan.
- Slightly more emphasis on učiti hrvatski, then “even more” is added.
Još više želim učiti hrvatski svaki dan.
- Emphasizes that your desire itself has increased (“I want it even more”).
Hrvatski želim još više učiti svaki dan.
- Emphasizes Croatian in contrast to something else.

Your original version is very natural and typical.

Why is there no “I” in the Croatian sentence? Where is the subject?

Croatian is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Želim = I want (1st person singular)
Subject ja is understood from the verb ending -im.

You can say:

Ja želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan.

This adds a bit of emphasis on “I”:

I (as opposed to someone else) want to study Croatian even more every day.

But in neutral statements, the short version without ja is preferred.

What does svaki dan literally mean, and why is that form used?

svaki dan literally means “every day”:

svaki – every/each (masculine singular)
dan – day (masculine singular)

Grammatically, this is an accusative time expression:

Many expressions of time appear in the accusative to mean “on X, during X, every X”.
Here, svaki (accusative) and dan (accusative) look the same as nominative, so you don’t see a form change.

You can also say:

svakog dana – genitive, also “every day”.
- Slight nuance: some speakers feel svakog dana can emphasize the ongoing, continuous nature a bit more, but in practice they’re often interchangeable.

Both:

Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan.
Želim još više učiti hrvatski svakog dana.

are correct and natural.

Is there any difference between svaki dan and svakog dana in this sentence?

Both are correct and widely used:

svaki dan – accusative phrase, “every day”
svakog dana – genitive phrase, also “every day”

Nuances (very subtle, and often not felt strongly):

svaki dan can sound a bit more counting each day separately (each individual day).
svakog dana can sound a bit more like a continuous habit over time.

In everyday speech, most people treat them as near synonyms. Your choice here doesn’t change the basic meaning.

How would the tense/aspect of the whole sentence be understood? It looks like present, but talks about the future.

The structure is:

Želim – present tense: I want
učiti – infinitive: to study

Together, they express a present desire that naturally points to the future (and ongoing habit):

Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan.
- Right now, I have the desire
- That desire is about what I will (continue to) do every day.

This is the same idea as in English:

“I want to study Croatian even more every day.” (present want
- infinitive, but clearly about future/ongoing action)

You do not say:

Želim ću učiti… – that would be wrong; Croatian doesn’t stack želim with a future auxiliary like that.

Is želim polite enough, or should I say something like “I would like” in Croatian?

In your sentence (stating a personal goal), želim is perfectly fine and natural.

However, in polite requests, Croatians often prefer softer forms, similar to English “I would like” / “I would want”:

Htio bih učiti hrvatski svaki dan.
- Literally: I would want to study Croatian every day.
- Very soft/polite; masculine speaker.
Htjela bih učiti hrvatski svaki dan.
- Feminine speaker.

But for talking about your own wish or goal (not asking someone for something), Želim još više učiti hrvatski svaki dan is completely appropriate and not impolite at all.