Кашика, виљушка, нож.
Иде брзи воз.
У возу се возе: кашика, виљушка, нож.

Kašika, viljuška, nož.
Ide brzi voz.
U vozu se voze: kašika, viljuška, nož.


A spoon, a fork and a knife board a fast train. The tiny scene is playful, but your tongue is doing serious work as it moves between š, lj and ž.

Let the train carry three Serbian sounds

For š and ž, keep the tongue slightly farther back than for English s and z. The sound lj is one unit, written Љ in Cyrillic; avoid separating it into a strong L followed by an independent Y. Exaggerate slowly, then return to normal speech.

Five stations for the tongue

LatinicaĆirilicaEnglish
Šolja je na stolu.Шоља је на столу.The cup is on the table.
Ljiljana voli ljutu papriku.Љиљана воли љуту паприку.Ljiljana likes hot peppers.
Žuti voz stiže u Užice.Жути воз стиже у Ужице.The yellow train is arriving in Užice.
Viljuška klizi pored tanjira.Виљушка клизи поред тањира.The fork slides beside the plate.
Miloš želi šolju čaja.Милош жели шољу чаја.Miloš wants a cup of tea.

Slow carriage, fast carriage

Say each sentence as if the train were moving very slowly. Repeat at normal speed without losing the target sound. Record the first and third sentences, then compare whether š and ž remain distinct.

Signal the correct sound

  1. Which Latin letters represent Љ?
  2. Write žuti in Cyrillic.
  3. Complete: vi__uška.
  4. Which sound begins šolja?
  5. Read aloud three times: Ljiljana želi šolju.

The pronunciation conductor’s notes

  1. LJ
  2. жути
  3. lj
  4. š
  5. The final item is oral; keep LJ joined and distinguish Ž from Š.