Serbian
Serbian — Indo-European family, about 9–12 million speakers, depending on how you count (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: two equal alphabets: Vukovica (Cyrillic) and Gajevica (Latin). This site has 4047 words and 30 letters with audio.
Where to start
First words
Every conversation starts with them — and so does the first impression: one greeting in the local language and you stop being a stranger within a second.
- здравоzdravohelloWorks for meeting people and parting alike, like Italian ciao. With strangers lead with dobar dan instead.
- добар данdobar dangood afternoonThe neutral, polite greeting. With someone you do not know, open with this rather than zdravo.
- добро јутроdobro jutrogood morningThe letter j is the English "y" sound, so jutro sounds like "you-tro". Morning hours only; after that switch to dobar dan.
- добро вечеdobro večegood eveningc-with-a-circle (č) is a firm "ch" as in "church", while c-with-an-acute (ć) is softer, closer to "ty". The two letters look alike and sound distinct.
- хвалаhvalathank youYou will say it a hundred times a day. The replies are molim or nema na cemu — both are taught right here in this unit.
- молимmolimplease (for requests)Literally "I ask". One word with three jobs: "please" in a request, "you are welcome" in reply to hvala, and "pardon?" when you did not hear.
- довиђењаdoviđenjagoodbyeLiterally "until seeing". The letter d-with-stroke (đ) is a soft "dj" — like the "d" of "during" said with a buzz, close to the "j" of British "juice".
- ћаоćaobyeBorrowed from Italian ciao and just as informal. The letter c is a softer "ch" than in "church" — tongue closer to the teeth.
How it sounds
Five words spoken aloud: click the speaker and pick the translation. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.
- What is this word?
It is здраво (zdravo) — hello.
- What is this word?
It is не (ne) — no.
- What is this word?
It is одлично (odlično) — excellent.
- What is this word?
It is они (oni) — they.
- What is this word?
It is хвала (hvala) — thank you.
About the language
| Native name | Српски · srpski |
| Official in | Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro |
| Also spoken in | Croatia, North Macedonia, Austria and Germany |
| How many speakers | about 9–12 million speakers, depending on how you count (estimate, Ethnologue) |
| Family | Indo-European family, Slavic group |
| Writing | two equal alphabets: Vukovica (Cyrillic) and Gajevica (Latin) |
| Writing direction | left to right |
Hard: cases that do not match English prepositions, and “false friends” at every step.
Easy: spelled the way it sounds, loanwords you already know.
What Russian speakers most often take it up for: moving to Belgrade and Novi Sad, residence permits, work.
How lessons work
A lesson is up to half an hour a day, split into three to five short sessions. A word comes back not on the course's schedule but at the moment you are about to forget it: the interval is computed by an algorithm from your own answers.
- The longer you want to keep a word, the rarer its repetitions should be. To hold it for a week, review every day; to hold it for a year, about once a month.checked many timesCepeda et al., 2008, Psychological Science 19(11) · Over 1,350 participants, tested after delays of up to a year. The best gap is about 20% of the target interval on a horizon of weeks, and 5–10% on a horizon of a year.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Pay someone to study and they study less, not more. Praise and a clear explanation of their mistakes do the opposite — they help.checked many timesDeci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, Psychological Bulletin 125(6) · 128 experiments. Material reward: d = −0.40 for taking part, −0.36 for finishing. Praise and feedback: +0.33.
Frequently asked
Where to start learning Serbian?
With the script: 30 letters are worked through in a week or two, and after that words stop being pictures.
How many people speak it in Serbian?
About 9–12 million speakers, depending on how you count — an estimate from Ethnologue. Nobody runs an exact census of languages, and sources disagree by noticeable amounts.
Is Serbian hard?
Cases that do not match English prepositions, and “false friends” at every step. At the same time, spelled the way it sounds, loanwords you already know.
Where is it spoken in Serbian?
An official language in: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Noticeable communities: Croatia, North Macedonia, Austria and Germany.
Is Serbian in Duolingo?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Duolingo’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Serbian in full: 4047 words, with audio, the script explained, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.