Languages · Hrvatski
Video Chat with Croatian Speakers
The simplest way to practice Croatian with native speakers on Omlet is to pick Croatia in the country filter and press Start. You'll be face to face with someone there on a free 1-on-1 video chat, without creating an account, and you can press Next whenever you'd like a new conversation partner.
Croatian (hrvatski) is the official language of Croatia, one of the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and, since 2013, an official language of the European Union. It's written only in the Latin alphabet, with a few extra letters such as č, ć, š, ž and đ, and its spelling is phonetic: read each letter and you've said the word.
Omlet has no language matching and an English-only interface, so you practice by filtering by country or by asking the people you meet. Below are everyday phrases, the words that make Croatian distinctive, and tips for your first chats.
Where people speak Croatian
Croatian (Hrvatski) is an official language in 2 countries and territories. To meet people from one of them, pick it with the country filter.
Useful Croatian phrases for video chat
Short, natural phrases you can use in your first minute on camera. The pronunciation is a simple English-style guide; stressed syllables are in capitals.
| English | Croatian | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Hi! / Bye! (casual) | Bok! | BOHK |
| Good day (formal hello) | Dobar dan! | DOH-bar DAHN |
| How are you? | Kako si? | KAH-koh see |
| What's new? | Što ima? | SHTOH EE-mah |
| My name is … | Zovem se … | ZOH-vem seh |
| Nice to meet you. | Drago mi je. | DRAH-goh mee yeh |
| Where are you from? | Odakle si? | OH-dahk-leh see |
| I'm learning Croatian. | Učim hrvatski. | OO-cheem HRR-vaht-skee |
| Can you speak more slowly? | Možeš li govoriti sporije? | MOH-zhesh lee goh-VOH-ree-tee SPOH-ree-yeh |
| How do you say … in Croatian? | Kako se kaže … na hrvatskom? | KAH-koh seh KAH-zheh … nah HRR-vaht-skom |
| Where do you work? | Gdje radiš? | GDYEH RAH-deesh |
| I don't understand. | Ne razumijem. | neh rah-ZOO-mee-yem |
| Thanks for the chat! | Hvala na razgovoru! | HVAH-lah nah RAHZ-goh-voh-roo |
| Good night! | Laku noć! | LAH-koo NOHCH |
Tips for practicing Croatian on video chat
- Use Bok! for both hello and goodbye with people your age, and switch to Dobar dan with someone older or in a more formal moment.
- Croatian uses the ijekavian pronunciation, so you'll hear lijepo (nice), mlijeko (milk) and vrijeme (time, weather). Learn these forms from the start.
- Expect regional flavor: around Zagreb people often say kaj instead of što (what), and along the coast you'll hear everyday words with Italian roots.
- If you already know some Serbian or Bosnian, you'll be understood, but learn the Croatian words for everyday things like bread, train and coffee (see the table below).
- Coffee is a social ritual in Croatia, and Idemo na kavu? (Shall we go for coffee?) is a common invitation. Asking where your partner likes to have coffee is an easy, friendly topic. For more ways to keep a chat useful, see our language exchange tips.
Everyday words that are typically Croatian
Croatian shares most of its grammar and vocabulary with its neighbors, but its standard has its own words for many everyday things. Learning them helps you sound natural to people from Croatia:
| English | Croatian | Also heard elsewhere in the region |
|---|---|---|
| bread | kruh | hleb / hljeb |
| train | vlak | voz |
| coffee | kava | kafa |
| thousand | tisuća | hiljada |
| week | tjedan | nedelja / sedmica |
| music | glazba | muzika |
| what | što | šta |
Croatian also has its own month names, rooted in nature and farm life rather than Latin. You'll hear them whenever people talk about holidays or birthdays:
- siječanj (January), veljača (February), ožujak (March), travanj (April)
- svibanj (May), lipanj (June), srpanj (July), kolovoz (August)
- rujan (September), listopad (October), studeni (November), prosinac (December)
Ti, Vi and the three dialect groups
Use ti with friends and people your age, and Vi (capitalized in writing) with someone older or in a formal setting. Kako si? is casual; Kako ste? is polite. On a relaxed video chat ti is normal, but if someone greets you with Dobar dan, answering with Vi is a respectful start.
Croatian speech falls into three dialect groups, named after their word for "what": Štokavian (što), the basis of standard Croatian; Kajkavian (kaj), around Zagreb and in the north; and Čakavian (ča), in parts of Istria, the coast and the islands. Everyone you meet will understand standard Croatian, but don't be surprised if their own speech sounds a little different.
Croatian sounds in a nutshell
- c = "ts", č = a hard "ch", ć = a softer "ch".
- š = "sh" and ž = the "s" in "measure"; dž and đ are a harder and a softer "j", as in "jam".
- j = the "y" in "yes", so jako (very) sounds like "YAH-koh".
- lj and nj are single sounds, like the middle of "million" and "canyon".
- r can act as a vowel, as in hrvatski, vrt (garden) and brz (fast).
Don't add a vowel before the r in hrvatski. Say it as "HRR-vaht-skee", letting a short rolled r carry the first syllable.
Ready to swap practice time with someone who wants your language in return? See how language exchange on video chat works on Omlet.
Practice Croatian with the country filter
Omlet's interface is in English only, and it doesn't match people by language or translate anything. There are two easy ways to find Croatian speakers:
- Use the country filter. Press Country, pick a country where Croatian is spoken (for example Bosnia and Herzegovina or Croatia), then press Start.
- Ask whoever you meet. On Worldwide matching, a quick "Do you speak Croatian?" costs nothing to try.
The country filter's first day is free (you add a card to start, and can cancel in Settings before the charge). After that it's $3 one time for that device and browser, with no subscription. It can make matching slower when fewer people from that country are online; if a match takes a while, try another country or switch back to Worldwide.
Say you're practicing Croatian in your first sentence and ask your partner to slow down or correct you. It's a normal request.