Learn Hardcore Croatian: Iako još nisam napredna, osjećam da koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje. - Although I am not advanced yet, I feel that however much I study, every day I move forward.

Iako još nisam napredna, osjećam da… (most natural)
You usually keep iako at the start of its clause. You don’t move it around like English “although” sometimes can.

You can replace iako with premda or mada in many contexts, with very similar meaning:

Premda još nisam napredna, …
Mada još nisam napredna, …

What does još mean in još nisam napredna?

Here još means “yet / still”.

još nisam napredna = I’m not advanced yet / I’m still not advanced.

The nuance:

nisam napredna = I’m not advanced (neutral statement).
još nisam napredna = I’m not advanced yet (it implies you expect to become advanced in the future).

Typical positions:

još nisam napredna (very natural)
nisam još napredna (also possible, just slightly different rhythm/emphasis)

Why is it napredna and not napredan?

Napredan / napredna / napredno is an adjective that agrees with the gender and number of the subject.

napredan – masculine singular
napredna – feminine singular
napredno – neuter singular

Here the subject is ja (“I”). In Croatian, adjectives agree with the speaker’s grammatical gender:

A woman would say: Iako još nisam napredna…
A man would say: Iako još nisam napredan…

So the sentence as given is spoken/written by a female speaker.

Could I say Iako nisam još napredna instead of Iako još nisam napredna?

Yes, you can, and it’s still correct.

Iako još nisam napredna – the default, most neutral.
Iako nisam još napredna – also acceptable, with a slightly different rhythm and a tiny bit more focus on nisam.

Both mean “Although I’m not advanced yet”. For learners, it’s safest to stick to Iako još nisam….

What’s the difference between osjećam da and mislim da here?

Both can translate as “I feel that / I think that”, but they’re not identical:

osjećam da… – literally “I feel that…”, more emotional / intuitive.
mislim da… – “I think that…”, more rational / opinion-based.

In this sentence:

osjećam da koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje. → “I feel that no matter how much I study, I move forward every day.”

You could say:

Mislim da koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje.

That would sound more like an evaluation or conclusion rather than an inner feeling/motivation.

What does koliko god učim mean, and why is učim in the present tense?

Koliko god učim literally is “however much I study” or “no matter how much I study”.

koliko = how much
koliko god = however much / no matter how much
učim = I study / I am studying (present tense)

So:

koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje
≈ however much I study, I move forward every day
≈ no matter how much I study, I move forward every day

Present tense učim is normal here because it’s a general, ongoing situation (like English “when I study, I learn” uses present).

You may also see:

koliko god da učim, … – adding da after koliko god is also common and correct, especially in more careful or formal speech. The meaning is the same.

Is koliko god učim the same as just koliko učim?

No, they’re not the same.

koliko učim = how much I study
(neutral question or embedded question about quantity)
koliko god učim = however much I study / no matter how much I study
(a concessive meaning: even if I study a lot, or a little, the result stays the same)

In this sentence, the idea is “no matter how much I study, I still keep moving forward”, so koliko god is the right choice.

Can I drop da and just say osjećam koliko god učim…?

In this structure, you really want the da:

osjećam da koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje – natural
osjećam koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje – sounds odd and ungrammatical.

Here da introduces the clause that contains the whole koliko god… part:

osjećam [da (koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje)]

So keep da after osjećam in this kind of sentence.

What does idem dalje mean literally and idiomatically?

Literally:

idem = I go / I am going
dalje = further / farther / on

So idem dalje literally is “I go further” or “I keep going”.

Idiomatic meaning here:

idem dalje = I move forward / I keep making progress / I keep going on (in life, learning, etc.)

A more “direct” verb for progress is napredovati:

svaki dan napredujem = I make progress every day.

Both are fine; idem dalje is just more metaphorical.

Why is it svaki dan idem dalje and not idem dalje svaki dan? Is the word order fixed?

Both orders are correct:

svaki dan idem dalje – “Every day I go further.”
→ Slight emphasis on “every day”.
idem dalje svaki dan – “I go further every day.”
→ Slight emphasis on the action “I go further”.

Croatian word order is relatively flexible. Here svaki dan idem dalje is a very natural choice and matches neutral English stress quite well. But you can move svaki dan later in the sentence without changing the basic meaning.

Is the comma after učim necessary: koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje?

Yes, this comma is standard and recommended.

koliko god učim, svaki dan idem dalje

The clause koliko god učim is a subordinate concessive clause (“however much I study”), and svaki dan idem dalje is the main clause. Croatian normally separates such clauses with a comma.

You wouldn’t normally put a comma before koliko god in this sentence; the position shown here is the usual one.

Could I say Iako još nisam napredna, osjećam da svaki dan napredujem instead?

Yes, that’s fully correct and natural:

Iako još nisam napredna, osjećam da svaki dan napredujem.
= Although I’m not advanced yet, I feel that I’m making progress every day.

Differences:

idem dalje – metaphorical “I keep going / moving on”.
napredujem – directly “I progress / I improve”.

Both fit the context; napredujem makes the idea of progress explicit, while idem dalje is a bit more figurative.