Learn Hardcore Croatian: Ponekad se osjećam zbunjeno kad čujem kako se drugi ponašaju u novoj zemlji. - Sometimes I feel confused when I hear how others behave in a new country.

In English you usually don’t see a reflexive pronoun here (we say I feel confused, they behave), but in Croatian these verbs are normally used with se.

So:

Ponekad se osjećam zbunjeno…
Literally: Sometimes *myself I-feel confused… → *Sometimes I feel confused…
…kako se drugi ponašaju u novoj zemlji.
Literally: …how *the others themselves behave in a new country. → …how others behave in a new country.*

Both se are required; dropping them would sound wrong or change the meaning.

Why is it osjećam se zbunjeno and not just osjećam zbunjeno?

In Croatian, osjećati without se means to feel something with your senses:

Ne osjećam bol. – I don’t feel pain.
Osjećam hladnoću. – I feel the cold.

When you talk about your inner state (I feel tired, I feel confused), you almost always use osjećati se:

Osjećam se umorno. – I feel tired.
Osjećam se zbunjeno. – I feel confused.

So:

osjećam bol / hladnoću / tugu – I feel something (object)
osjećam se zbunjeno / dobro / loše – I feel (in some way) (no object; description of me)

Osjećam zbunjeno without se is ungrammatical in standard Croatian.

Why is zbunjeno in the neuter form ending in -o?

Zbunjeno comes from the adjective zbunjen (confused). The neuter form zbunjeno is used here in a very common pattern:

osjećam se + neuter form in -o
osjećam se dobro / loše / zbunjeno / sretno / čudno…

This neuter form works like an adverbial/predicative complement to osjećam se – it describes how you feel.

You can also say:

Osjećam se zbunjen. – also correct; here zbunjen is a masculine adjective agreeing with (ja).

But in everyday speech, the neuter -o form (dobro, loše, zbunjeno, čudno, smiješno) after osjećam se is very typical and often sounds the most natural.

Is there any difference between kad and kada?

Meaning-wise in this sentence, kad and kada are the same:

Ponekad se osjećam zbunjeno kad čujem…
Ponekad se osjećam zbunjeno kada čujem…

Both mean when/whenever I hear…

Differences:

kad is shorter, more informal and very frequent in speech.
kada is a bit more formal/neutral, often seen in writing, but also used in speech.

Usually you can switch them freely. People often choose based on rhythm and sound.

Why is it kako se drugi ponašaju and not da se drugi ponašaju?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

…kad čujem kako se drugi ponašaju…
Literally: when I hear *how others behave… – focuses slightly more on the *manner / way they behave.
…kad čujem da se drugi ponašaju…
Literally: when I hear *that others behave… – states the *fact that they behave in some way (you heard information about their behavior).

In practice:

With verbs of perception like čuti (to hear), vidjeti (to see), gledati (to watch), people very commonly use kako:
- Čuo sam kako viču. – I heard them shouting.
- Vidim kako trče. – I see them running.

In your sentence, kako is the most natural choice. Da is grammatically okay but less idiomatic here.

Why is the word order Ponekad se osjećam… and not Ponekad osjećam se…?

The position of se follows a strong rule in Croatian: clitics (short, unstressed words like se, mi, ti, ga, će, sam, je) normally go in the second position in the clause.

In Ponekad se osjećam…:

Ponekad = first stressed word in the clause
se = moves right after it (second position)
osjećam = main verb

Ponekad osjećam se… breaks that second-position rule and sounds wrong or at least very unnatural.

Some other examples:

Ja se bojim. (not Ja bojim se.)
U školi se puno uči. (not U školi puno se uči.)

So the pattern [first stressed word] + se + verb is what you should aim for.

What exactly does drugi mean here, and why is it in that form?

Drugi has two common uses:

ordinal number: second
- drugi dan – the second day
pronoun meaning “other(s)” (as in your sentence)
- drugi = others / other people

In kako se drugi ponašaju, it means how *other people behave*.

Grammar:

The verb in that clause is ponašaju (se) – 3rd person plural.
The subject is drugi, so it must be nominative plural (masculine): drugi.

Some parallel examples:

Drugi misle drugačije. – Others think differently.
Što drugi rade? – What are the others doing?

Why is it u novoj zemlji and not u novu zemlju?

The preposition u can trigger different cases depending on meaning:

Accusative – movement into something
- Idem u novu zemlju. – I’m going to a new country.
Locative – being in something (location, no movement into)
- Živim u novoj zemlji. – I live in a new country.

In your sentence:

…kako se drugi ponašaju u novoj zemlji.
→ It describes where they behave that way (location), not movement into the country.
→ So you use locative case: u novoj zemlji.

Form breakdown:

zemlja – country/land (feminine)
u
- zemlja (location) → u zemlji (locative singular)
novoj agrees with zemlji → novoj zemlji.

Why is simple present (osjećam, čujem, ponašaju) used instead of something like “am feeling / am hearing / are behaving”?

Croatian does not have a separate continuous tense like English (am feeling, am hearing). The simple present covers:

ongoing actions now
general/habitual actions
future in some contexts

Your sentence expresses a repeated/habitual situation:

Sometimes I feel confused when I hear how others behave in a new country.

So Croatian uses simple present for both parts:

Ponekad se osjećam zbunjeno – Sometimes I (am) feel(ing) confused
kad čujem – when(ever) I (am) hear(ing)
kako se drugi ponašaju – how others (are) behave(ing)

English needs the continuous sometimes, but Croatian just uses the simple present + aspect to cover both ideas.

Can the phrase u novoj zemlji be moved elsewhere in the clause, and does the meaning change?

Yes, Croatian word order is quite flexible. You could say, for example:

…kad čujem kako se drugi u novoj zemlji ponašaju.
…kad čujem kako se u novoj zemlji drugi ponašaju.

All of these still mean when I hear how others behave in a new country.

Differences:

The basic meaning does not change.
Word order mainly affects emphasis and rhythm.
- kako se drugi ponašaju u novoj zemlji – neutral; focuses on how others behave (in that context).
- kako se u novoj zemlji drugi ponašaju – can slightly highlight the new country setting.

For a learner, kako se drugi ponašaju u novoj zemlji is the clearest and most straightforward word order.