Take a look at the Cyrillic( Ćirilica) and Latin (Latinica) scripts which we have and repeat the letters one by one. For the sake of easy learning and translation to English, I use the Latin alphabet, but you can always print both on one page and keep it handy. If you have a colour printer, you can use this link to print it on one A4 page.
There is one more explanation, where you can clearly hear and see the letters of both alphabets Link 1.:
For more videos check out my YouTube channel SerbianLessons!
Serbian gives you two alphabets, but only one sound system. Pairing the letters from the beginning turns what looks like extra work into a useful shortcut: once you know the sound, you can recognise it in either script.
One sound, two ways to write it
Latinica and ćirilica are both used in Serbian. The most helpful principle is “one letter, one sound”. Pay special attention to Č, Ć, DŽ, Đ, LJ, NJ, Š and Ž. They are not decorative variations: each represents its own sound. Read slowly first, then join the sounds without inserting an extra vowel between consonants.
Five words that unlock both alphabets
| Latinica | Ćirilica | English |
|---|---|---|
| škola | школа | school |
| ljubav | љубав | love |
| đak | ђак | pupil |
| čaj | чај | tea |
| njiva | њива | field |
A pencil-and-voice alphabet minute
Copy each pair once. Circle the letter that differs most from English, then say the word while pointing to every letter. On the second reading, cover the Latin column and use only Cyrillic.
Decode the five signs
- Write школа in Latin script.
- Write ljubav in Cyrillic.
- Which Serbian letter appears in đak?
- Join L + J into the correct Serbian Latin letter pair.
- Write the Cyrillic pair that represents NJ.
The alphabet key
- škola
- љубав
- Đ
- LJ
- Њ