Language Tips!

There's no getting away from it, Croatian - like any language from the Balkan/Eastern European region - is going to be pretty tough to master for the average tourist. It's probably fair to say you won't have grasped enough to be talking politics with the natives any time soon! As seems to be the case in most former Communist countries, young people show an unflinching determination to catch up with their western European counterparts with their grasp of foreign languages - and, as such, you’ll probably get by just fine with your ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’ in the majority of places.

However, you never know where a few words of the native lingo will get you, whether it be the ace in the hole, as you bargain with the old lady selling handmade ties, or the golden words to unlock your Croatian beauty’s heart… It's never a bad idea to learn a few words or phrases and we at Zagreb Life are on hand to help.

Luckily for your good selves, the Croatian language is completely phonetic – that is to say words are pronounced exactly as they are written. That’s the easy part. The more difficult part comes with the 8 characters you won’t find in the English Language and how they should be pronounced. Don’t worry, we’ve done out best to provide you with all the vocab essentials as well as well as a quick introduction on how to pronounce these alien characters. Here comes the bonus round...

č is pronounced as ch in chocolate
ć is pronounced as ć in Višnjić
dž is pronounced as j in Jack
đ is pronounced as j in Jesus
lj is pronounced in a way you'll never learn
nj is pronounced....see above
š is pronounced as sh in shaman
ž is pronounced as su in leisure

a few words...