Want to learn Montenegrin? My top tips for learning the official language of Montenegro

What you need to know before you learn Montenegrin

First off though it’s worth pointing out a couple of things about the Montenegrin language.  You may have already noticed that you won’t find Montenegrin in Google Translate.  And you probably won’t find any language books for learning Montenegrin.  So what’s going on there?

Montenegrin was only named as the official language of Montenegro in 2004.  In fact it was only recognised officially as a separate language in 2017.  It used to be called Serbo-Croat.  Now Croatian and Serbian are referred to as separate languages and basically Montenegrin is the same language.

I learnt Serbo-Croat at university, at the time when Yugoslavia was still in existence.  I learnt the Croatian version of it as I lived in Zagreb (now capital of Croatia).  Croatian differs from Serbian in some pronunciations and some specific words.  For example, bread is kruh in Croatian and hleb in Serbian.

Want to learn Montenegrin. But should you learn Croatian or Serbian?

When it comes to Montenegrin, the advice given on the Language Learners forum is to learn Croatian, as you won’t find a language course or book specifically for Montenegrin.  Croatian will give you a “closer approximation of the Montenegrin accent” (according to Chung).  Then you will just need to learn the Serbian version of those specific words that differ from Croatian – as Montenegrin uses the Serbian version.

The Montenegrin language is written in both Latin (like English) and Cyrillic (like Russian) alphabets, but there is a growing tendency to use only the Latin alphabet. Croatian uses the Latin alphabet.

How do you say hello in Montenegrin? (And other useful words)

So here’s some basic words and phrases in Montenegrin to kick start your travels.

Hello- zdravo (zdrah-voh)

Goodbye – doviđenja (do-vee-jenya)

Thank you – hvala (hva-la)

Excuse me – oprostite (o-pro-stee-te) 

Here’s some of these basic words on this short video by Kotor Bay Travel Guide.

Yes – da (da)

No – ne (ne)

Please – molim (mo-leem)

Good morning – dobro jutro (do-bro you-tro)

Good afternoon / day – dobar dan (do-bar dan)

Good evening – dobra večer (do-bro vay-chair)

How much does it cost? – koliko košta? (koh-li-ko kosh-ta)

How are you? – kako ste? (ka-ko stair)

Well, thank you – dobro, hvala (do-bro hva-la)

Pleased to meet you – drago mi je (drag-o mee ye)

What are you called? – Kako se zovete? (ka-ko se zoh-ve-te)

I am called …- Zovem se … (zo-vem se)

A beer, please –pivo molim (pee-vo mo-leem)

Cheers – živjeli (shiv-e-lee)

Water – voda (voh-dah)

Menu – jelovnik (yell-of-neek)

Bill – račun (rah-choon)

Entrance – ulaz (oo-laz)

Exit – izlaz (eez-laz)

What does Montenegrin sound like?

Here’s a short video by Mondo Crna Gora featuring some interviews in Kotor with both tourists and locals so you can hear Montenegrin spoken at normal speed – with some English too.  (As a bonus, the video also shows the square that my apartment is on!)