If you are traveling to Serbia anytime soon, this blog post has every essential detail about the Serbian language that you need to know. From familiar Serbian words to notes on its usage and structure, we got you covered from every corner. Ready to impress the locals? Keep reading and learn to speak Serbian through levels effortlessly within a week.
The Serbian language is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in the regions of Serbia, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Croatia, and Macedonia. It is a part of the Indo-European language family and has almost 10 million native speakers. It has used both the Cyrillic alphabet and the Latin alphabet since the 19th century, making it one of the most comprehensive languages. It also has complex dialects with different and unique pronunciations compared to other languages.
While learning the Serbian language in just a few days seems quite a task, it is not impossible. We are here to give you the best guide through.
Is Learning Serbian Language Hard?
Serbian is a complex language with a unique hint of literature in itself. However, learning Serbian is not entirely impossible or unattainable. No doubt, if you are a native speaker of the English language, the Serbian language will be baffling at first. You have to go through the process of learning entirely new sets of the alphabet to learn Serbian in precisions.
Thus, learning Serbian vocabulary and its basics can be difficult. However, Serbian can seem more manageable for someone familiar with other Slavic languages. But do not let the hardness level decide your caliber. Serbian learners can successfully learn Serbian within a few weeks of hard work with proper steps and guided levels. Let’s not compensate any more time for our procrastination and start our language learning journey.
Learn To Speak Serbian Through Levels
The most effective way to know the Serbian culture and the intensity of the beautiful language is by learning Serbian thoroughly, starting from the very basics. To speak Serbian does not necessarily require you to learn intellectual Serbian words through expensive language courses. Even the basics mastered in a structured way can give you detailed cultural insights and improve your language skills. Thus, It is about time we begin with the language learning process with the three primary levels of Serbian learning.
Level 1: Understanding The Essential Words
Before we go into Serbian grammar and the alphabet, the easy way to go about the language learning methods is to get in touch with the essential words used in daily life. Learning languages always becomes fun when we get into translating one word to another. So, let’s know Serbian through the first level of learning, the basic vocabulary.
Level 2: Learning The Serbian Alphabet
While the words mentioned above will help learn Serbian online quickly for someone who has a trip to attend to, for those willing to practice Serbian with long-term memory methods, understanding the Serbian alphabet is the following prerequisite.
Getting acquainted with a new language through online courses can be tricky if one is unknown of the language’s alphabet. Hence, to speak the Serbian language fluently, we will now lay our hands upon the alphabets of the Serbian grammar and learn Serbian, which is the next level and learning style.
The Serbian language first used the Glagolitic alphabet in the 11th century. However, in the later years of the modern world, the Cyrillic and the Latin alphabet became two major scripts of the Serbian language. While Cyrillic is considered the official script, literate Serbian people simultaneously use the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet.
Cyrillic Alphabet
| Cyrillic Alphabet | English Alphabet | IPA |
| A,a | A | /a/ |
| Б б | B | /b/ |
| Ц ц | C | /ts/ |
| Ч ч | – | /tʃ/ |
| Ћ ћ | – | /tɕ/ |
| Д д | D | /d/ |
| Џ џ | – | /dʒ/ |
| Ђ ђ | – | /dʑ/ |
| E,e | E | /e/ |
| Ф ф | F | /f/ |
| Г г | G | /ɡ/ |
| Х х | H | /x/ |
| И и | I | /i/ |
| J,j | J | /j/ |
| K,k | K | /k/ |
| Л л | L | /l/ |
| Љ љ | – | /ʎ/ |
| M,m | M | /m/ |
| Н н | N | /n/ |
| Њ њ | – | /ɲ/ |
| O,o | O | /o/ |
| П п | P | /p/ |
| – | Q | – |
| Р р | R | /r/ |
| С с | S | /s/ |
| Ш ш | – | /ʃ/ |
| T,t | T | /t/ |
| У у | U | /u/ |
| В в | V | /ʋ/ |
| – | W | – |
| – | X | – |
| – | Y | – |
| З з | Z | /z/ |
| Ж ж | – | /ʒ/ |
Latin Alphabet
| Latin Alphabet | English Alphabet | IPA |
| A,a | A | /a/ |
| B,b | B | /b/ |
| C,c | C | /ts/ |
| Č,č | – | /tʃ/ |
| Ć,ć | – | /tɕ/ |
| D,d | D | /d/ |
| DŽ,dž | – | /dʒ/ |
| Đ,đ | – | /dʑ/ |
| E,e | E | /e/ |
| F,f | F | /f/ |
| G,g | G | /ɡ/ |
| H,h | H | /x/ |
| I,i | I | /i/ |
| J,j | J | /j/ |
| K,k | K | /k/ |
| L,l | L | /l/ |
| LJ,lj | – | /ʎ/ |
| M,m | M | /m/ |
| N,n | N | /n/ |
| NJ,nj | – | /ɲ/ |
| O,o | O | /o/ |
| P,p | P | /p/ |
| – | Q | – |
| R,r | R | /r/ |
| S,s | S | /s/ |
| Š,š | – | /ʃ/ |
| T,t | T | /t/ |
| U,u | U | /u/ |
| V,v | V | /ʋ/ |
| – | W | – |
| – | X | – |
| – | Y | – |
| Z,z | Z | /z/ |
| Ž,ž | – | /ʒ/ |
Level 3: Learning Daily And Relevant Phrases
Now that you know the Serbian language’s basic grammatical concepts and words, it is time to realize the need for daily phrases. Learning daily and relevant sentences used in day-to-day life is necessary to make the Serbian learning process fruitful. It can be pretty tough to grasp the new words of a new language. Thus, using appropriate phrases helps language learners tackle grammatical concepts more constructively.
Also, knowing such phrases will help further narrate your exciting story in Serbian and motivate other learners to move forward. So, let’s get to know some of the phrases in Serbian that will come in handy once you are in a foreign country. Memorize these at your own pace and repeat them aloud to make the learning more practical and fun.
Learn Serbian With The Best App
If Serbian is the first language learning journey of your life, you might find it quite exhausting as a foreign language speaker. It is never easy to learn a new language, even with thorough research, online courses, the best YouTube channels, or a paid version of a language class. But you have to no longer wait for the right resource as Ling is here to provide the best.
The Ling App by Simya Solutions is the best app for learning the Serbian alphabet, new words, vocabulary, and hilarious and refreshing content. Ling provides different language content, from recorded pronunciation videos to engaging images with the best user interface. It is more than a translation tool and nothing less than a perfect conversation partner.
You only have to click on the app and enjoy the free service with the best language teacher. Let go of the search for a Serbian course and learn languages free without losing the comfort of your home.
