Let the picture carry half the meaning

Cartoons make unknown Serbian easier because faces, movement and sound effects explain the situation. First follow the action; then connect repeated words with it.

A character may exaggerate pronunciation, emotion or speed. Copy short useful lines, but notice which expressions belong to comic performance rather than calm everyday speech.

Five cartoon moments worth replaying

LatinicaЋирилицаEnglish
Mali junak krišom otvara zaključana vrata.Мали јунак кришом отвара закључана врата.The little hero secretly opens the locked door.
Ljuti kralj glasno doziva svoje stražare.Љути краљ гласно дозива своје стражаре.The angry king loudly calls his guards.
Mačka skače kroz prozor i ruši saksiju.Мачка скаче кроз прозор и руши саксију.The cat jumps through the window and knocks over a flowerpot.
Prijatelji smišljaju plan pre nego što padne mrak.Пријатељи смишљају план пре него што падне мрак.The friends devise a plan before night falls.
Na kraju se svi smeju istoj nespretnoj šali.На крају се сви смеју истој неспретној шали.In the end, everyone laughs at the same clumsy joke.

Mute, predict, then listen

Watch twenty seconds without sound and predict three Serbian verbs. Restore the sound and replace your guesses only when the action proves them wrong.

  1. Translate junak.
  2. Complete: Mačka ______ kroz prozor. (skočiti)
  3. Write prijatelji in Cyrillic.
  4. Make angry king plural.
  5. Describe one visible action.

The characters reveal their lines

  1. hero
  2. skače
  3. пријатељи
  4. ljuti kraljevi / љути краљеви
  5. Answers vary.

Choose one scene tomorrow and retell it from memory; the missing details will show which words need another viewing.
Marina Petrović