Serbian Cyrillic Reader

1) Should I learn Cyrillic and why?

Everyone who’s learning Serbian should be able at least to read, if not to write, Cyrillic. There are various reasons, and I will give you 6:

1. Because the Cyrillic script is a crucial part of Serbian tradition and identity.
2. Because it’s the constitutional script and all official documents are printed in it.
3. Because here in Serbia about half of the texts are printed or written in the Cyrillic script.
4. Because it’s perfect for Serbian, as it actualizes the rule of „one letter for each sound“.
5. Because every child in Serbia can read and write both Latin and Cyrillic script.
6. And because it’s easy to learn.

2) Who is this Serbian Cyrillic course for?

This course is perfect for for A1, A2 and B1 level students of Serbian, who can use it independently to master the Cyrillic script and learn lots of vocabulary and cultural information.

It’s good even for B2 and C level students who still need to practice the Cyrillic script.

It is also useful for total beginners, but together with a regular course of Serbian. If you are a total beginner, I recommend you to start with my Tako Lako Beginner Serbian Course first.

3) What does this Cyrillic course contain?

Please, watch the video Presentation above for more details. To sum it all up, it consists of:

1) Detailed instructions, with video lessons and written notes, about:

– the Serbian Cyrillic script and alphabet,

– word stress and accents,

– and word order,

all available in your free trial.

2) Grammar references and written explanations to clear all your doubts.

3) Vocabulary with vivid images and audio recordings, to help you learn quickly.

4) Stories about Serbia organized in 5 modules with 5 main topics: country, celebrities, nature, cuisine and customs, so you can learn the most important things.

5) The stories are in Serbian Cyrillic, Serbian Latin, English translation, and slow and fast audio recordings, to help you easily master the material.

6) All texts downloadable in pdf and mp3 format, so you can continue learning even offline.

4) Will I learn grammar in this course?

The course uses as little grammar as possible, so it’s adapted to the A1 and A2 level. Everything is said by using only the 4 cases that you’ve learned in the Tako Lako Beginner course: nominative, genitive, accusative and locative. They are expanded to include adjective and pronoun declensions.

With this course you will deepen your knowledge and understanding of the 4 core cases in Serbian. I wrote the texts by carefully picking the constructions and the formulations I’ve used, and I proved that anything can be said by using only these four cases.

The final part of the course (Module 6) is for grammar references. Even though this course is not about learning grammar specifically, it does teach grammar through usage. Throughout the course, there are cross-references that will point out to the parts of the Module 6 to clear your doubts. But you can also read it independently as a grammar book, if that’s what you prefer.

There are no traditional grammar exercises included.

5) How to learn word stress and accents?

You’ll find my detailed explanation inside the course, available in the free trial as well.

Serbian accents are something that is considered difficult to learn and is usually taught at higher levels. But many students, mostly those who’ve learned music or a tonal language, start noticing them from the very beginning. That’s one reason why I’m explaining them here.

The accents are usually what gives away a foreigner, even if he speaks grammatically perfect Serbian. That’s another reason why I want you to start paying attention to the accents this early on.

I want you to know what you can hear and to understand what it is that you’re hearing. You should take my lessons about accents as an explanation of what to expect or what is it that you hear, and not as an instruction of what you must learn.

As an additional part, all texts are accentuated in the PDFs to help you sharpen your ear for the Serbian accents.