Learning Serbian Writing: 3 + 1 Best Ways

8 min readNov 10, 2021

Original blog post: https://ling-app.com/sr/serbian-writing/

Learning Serbian writing? Have you ever tried to write new words, phrases, or sentences using a different alphabet or letters? If yes, how was it? You might agree with me that at first, you need notes of reference to write it correctly. Yes, of course, jotting down is different from just simply learning it because to able to write takes action for you to apply all that you have learned from the start.

In this matter, we can agree at some point that putting your learning into action is quite not easy since it requires you to invest more time in practicing even up to the most of listening to music, watching movies, or even trying to write simple vocabulary using their alphabet.

In this blog post, I will help you know some common yet effective ways on how to practice writing Serbian using their scripts. But first things first, you have to bear in mind that Serbian is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and Macedonia by about 9–10 million people. It is official in Serbia and is the official language of the Serbs. Serbian is also a highly inflected language, which essentially means that words change form to create different meanings. Serbian generally follows an SVO(Subject-Verb-Object) sentence structure.

Below are samples of an SVO Structure:

But of course, having the skills to be able to write and speak a new language will give you an advantage. Like it eliminates the language barrier if only if properly used in the right place and right time. In addition to that, Serbian have two official scripts or also known as the Serbian alphabet, which they use in jotting down the Cyrillic Alphabet and the Latin Alphabet.

Cyrillic Alphabet was devised in 1814 by the Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić, in which it was adapted so that each of the 30 letters — including five vowel phonemes and 25 consonants — correspond to a single sound. In addition, its spelling is phonemic, so words are written as they should be spoken.

While Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj designed Latin Alphabet in 1830, there have 8 unique letters that were added to it in order to compensate for the missing phonemes that already existed in Vuk Karadžić’s scripts. If you want to see those letters, please click the links above corresponding to the 2 Serbian alphabets link.

To continue, you do not have to either live or visit Serbia and experience at the same time the Serbian culture for you to learn Serbian and be able to write either the Cyrillic or Latin script though it is one of the surest ways in which you can learn more about their beautiful language.

But if you do not have enough time to stay or spend money on your staycation in Serbia, all it takes is just your smartphone, and the learning process for their language will start immediately. So what are you waiting for? Learn the Serbian language today!

Learning to write new languages involves our senses and other external factors, which are necessary for us to develop the skills we are targeting. Here I will teach you the 3 common ways for you to be able to write and improve your acquired skills in writing and also in speaking Serbian words, phrases and sentences.

According to studies, some of the best ways on improving your skills in both writing and speaking is that you have to keep hearing the new language, speak the language most of the time up to the most of chatting with the native speakers, and reading Serbian phrasebook or other resources which are written down in their language.

Now, what is the plus one (+1), the free language app? In this case, all those 3 mentions above can be experienced in the app, which can be downloaded. Let us start discussing and then try some activities related to the 3 best ways of improving your target skills to make the learning process fun.

Hearing Always The New Language

The sense of hearing plays a vital role in the learning accumulation process. It shows that even when you close your eyes, the moment you can hear the sound, it will be interpreted by the brain automatically. Though not directly through enhancing skills in writing and communicating but it still has a connection to both of these.

Let us say, for example, the moment you will listen to a piece of certain music or sound for a long period or in a repetitive manner. The retention rate will be higher. Later on, since those unique sounds of each word you can hear in the music are already retained in your head, you can eventually pronounce it without even looking at the words or phrases. In this matter, it will result in the high and fast development of the target skills and gain more knowledge.

That is why in conclusion to this, it is recommended that you keep on listening to any Serbian language music, Serbian speaking TV shows, and movies. On that wise, these activities will become one of your positive reinforcement to write and speak Serbian quickly.

Often Speak The Serbian Language In Everyday Life

By simply talking and making a conversation with other people, we can guarantee that our skills in communicating with them using a certain language will be more enhanced. For example, when we are a youngster, we cannot complete or even make the proper pronunciation of some phrases or words in our dialect.

However, as we continue to use it every day and converse with other people, it will directly lead us to practice the proper pronunciation of all those words at the same time we gain knowledge on how to write that new vocabulary. It is because by simply trying to make conversation, we create those sounds in which we can put it into writings based on its associated symbols and IPA.

With this manner, the more you are a good communicator of the Serbian language, the more you will become a good writer for their language. So do not just listen to it but also try the basics of communication.

In addition, if you can actually look for some native speakers to be able to speak to, then it would be great. Conforming or speaking with a native speaker will give you more advantages since they will be able to give a kind review on your Serbian pronunciation, the composition of Serbian grammar and teach you an additional and appropriate Serbian vocabulary.

In conclusion, to become more fluent in writing and speaking their language, you have to use it most of the time in talking to Serbs or maybe ask assistance from your friends and have fun learning together with other languages, especially Serbian.

Learning Serbian Writing: Read More

According to Stephen King, “If you want to be good in writing, you must read a lot and write a lot.” Having this, we can say that the more we enhance our vocabulary through reading will result in becoming good writers. Likewise, it is applicable to learning or practicing writing the Serbian language through reading books that are written down in their native dialect. Either of both scripts will help us become more experts in writing their language.

How is reading books written in their language enhance our skills in writing their language?

You will practice more the way you articulate the corresponding alphabet in all common phrases.
You will become familiar with the symbols of the alphabet.
Be more familiar with each word you encounter.
You will learn the basics of how they construct a sentence.
It enables you to find the translation of new words and enrich your vocabulary.

The final thought for this part, reading books or having them as your backup in learning to write the Serbian language, will surely be not a waste of time.

The Plus One

Like what we have discussed in the previous paragraphs, all of those will help you learn how to write the Serbian language. However, there is another way that is considered efficient and effective in learning to write other languages. It is through a learning app that is available online.

Serbian language app is one of the best ways to learn how to write the language itself directly. Most of the app contains varieties of well-integrated pedagogical strategy which can help you easily enhance your targeted skills in no time and less money than the previous reinforcements mentioned.

One of the examples for this language tutorial app is powered by Simya Solutions, the name of the app is Ling App. This ling app offers a fun learning experience because it integrates interactive learning techniques in most of its articles, such as mini-games and quizzes, to help you master a new language quickly. For more info about Simya Solutions and other language learning apps, they offered to feel free to click here and look for the perfect app that suits you.

Here at Ling App, all articles are either written by professionals or native speakers. Having them will assure you that all their articles are concise and user-friendly. Moreover, it features more than 60 foreign languages that you can avail yourself of for free and start your language learning.

Try This Out!

Since one of the main objectives of this blog is for you to enhance your skills in writing the language of Serbs. I will introduce you to some of the activities that you will be doing in your place.

I. Activity for hearing — Please click the links below.

Cyrillic Alphabets

Latin Alphabets

II. Activity for Speaking — Please practice all the following words or phrases below. It is written in Serbian and how to pronounce it.