Welcome to your first Serbian language lesson! Serbian uses both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. Both are completely phonetic, meaning each letter has a consistent sound. This makes pronunciation relatively straightforward once you learn the sounds. Let's look at the first ten letters in both alphabets and their pronunciations. Pay special attention to unique letters like Č which sounds like 'ch', Ć which is a softer 'ch', and Đ which sounds like the 'j' in 'jump'. The letter R is rolled, similar to Spanish. These consistent sounds will help you pronounce any Serbian word you encounter.
Now let's learn some basic Serbian greetings. The most common formal greeting is 'Dobar dan' which means 'good day' or simply 'hello'. For informal situations, you can use 'Zdravo' or the Italian-borrowed 'Ćao', which works for both hello and goodbye. In the morning, say 'Dobro jutro' for 'good morning', and in the evening, 'Dobro veče' for 'good evening'. When saying goodbye formally, use 'Doviđenja'. Don't forget the essential 'Hvala' for 'thank you' and 'Molim' which can mean both 'please' and 'you're welcome'. When you need to apologize or get someone's attention, say 'Izvinite' in formal situations. Practice these greetings to start building your conversational skills.