Red eggs, family greetings and the treasured čuvarkuća make Serbian Easter vocabulary inseparable from living tradition.

In the course of the past ten years, there's been a lot of posts about Orthodox Easter. I covered different topics, from the greetings to video stories about it, songs and songs . However, I still haven't written about one of the kids' most favourite tradition: egg tapping or "kucanje jajima".

Let me share with you what Wikipedia says about it:

Egg tapping, or also known as egg fight, egg knocking, egg pacqueing, egg boxing, egg picking, [1] or egg jarping is a traditional Easter game. 

The rule of the game is simple. One holds a hard-boiled egg and taps the egg of another participant with one's own egg intending to break the other's, without breaking one's own. As with any other game, it has been a subject of cheating; eggs with cement, alabaster, and even marble cores have been reported.[2]

To see what it looks like in one local community, I'm sharing a video about Easter egg fight from 2014, along with the listening comprehension quiz. For an easier quiz based video with basic greetings and common Easter phrases, check out my blog on Patreon.



Ћирилични задатак: одслушајте видео и допуните празна места. Резултат је у коментару :)
  1. Милица је добила ово јаје од ________ .
  2. Милица има ________ година.
  3. Милица је ________ у куцању ускршњим јајима.
  4. Ово је ________ такмичење у куцању јаја.
  5. Деца знају да код куће треба да направе ________ турнир.
  6. Данас је било ________деце.
  7. Све је протекло у ________ духу.


 ***********

Latinični zadatak: odslušajte video i dopunite prazna mesta. Rezultat je u komentaru :)
  2. Milica je dobila ovo jaje od ________ . 
  3. Milica ima ________ godina. 
  4. Milica je ________ u kucanju uskršnjim jajima.
  5. Ovo je ________ takmičenje u kucanju jaja.
  6. Deca znaju da kod kuće treba da naprave ________ turnir.
  7. Danas je bilo ________dece.
  8. Sve je proteklo u ________ duhu.
No idea what happened to comments option on my blog :( The answers are as follows:
  1. bake
  2. 8
  3. pobednica
  4. 4
  5. mini turnir
  6. 86
  7. sportskom

From Easter vocabulary to Easter conversation

Recognising the answer in Get Ready for Easter is only the first stage. The goal is to recall it quickly, pronounce it clearly and adjust it for a different person, place or time. Use the new examples as stepping stones.

Practise the greetings against the table

Read down the Latin column, then switch to Cyrillic without returning to English. Choose two examples, turn one into a question and make the other negative. Say both versions naturally. For this post, keep your final version connected with the situation in Get Ready for Easter.

Language focus: language inside Serbian culture

Cultural vocabulary is easiest to remember through actions, objects and greetings connected with the occasion. Keep the Serbian terms where an English substitute would erase an important custom or distinction. In this particular lesson, use that principle to interpret the examples connected with Get Ready for Easter.

Compare the greeting and the reply

Latin scriptCyrillic scriptEnglish
Za Uskrs se farbaju jaja.За Ускрс се фарбају јаја.Eggs are dyed for Easter.
Crveno jaje se čuva kao čuvarkuća.Црвено јаје се чува као чуваркућа.A red egg is kept as the household guardian egg.
Porodica se okuplja za praznik.Породица се окупља за празник.The family gathers for the holiday.
Kažemo: Hristos vaskrse!Кажемо: Христос васкрсе!We say: Christ is risen!
Odgovaramo: Vaistinu vaskrse!Одговарамо: Ваистину васкрсе!We reply: Truly, He is risen!

Read the Latin and Cyrillic columns as two views of the same Serbian. In this set, protect the diacritics č, ć, š, ž and đ, then move directly from either script to meaning without an English detour. Apply that script strategy to the vocabulary in Get Ready for Easter.

Check your Serbian: Get Ready for Easter

Translate the five prompts into Serbian. Give each answer first in Latin script and then in Cyrillic, preserving the lesson’s target pattern. Keep every answer connected with Get Ready for Easter.

  1. Eggs are dyed for Easter.
  2. A red egg is kept as the household guardian egg.
  3. The family gathers for the holiday.
  4. We say: Christ is risen!
  5. We reply: Truly, He is risen!

Answers for the Easter lesson

  1. Za Uskrs se farbaju jaja.
    За Ускрс се фарбају јаја.
  2. Crveno jaje se čuva kao čuvarkuća.
    Црвено јаје се чува као чуваркућа.
  3. Porodica se okuplja za praznik.
    Породица се окупља за празник.
  4. Kažemo: Hristos vaskrse!
    Кажемо: Христос васкрсе!
  5. Odgovaramo: Vaistinu vaskrse!
    Одговарамо: Ваистину васкрсе!