How to Read Croatian

Okay, kids, now it's time to learn how to sound out words in Croatian!

First, all the vowels only have one sound. That's the easy part.

A = "Ah"
E = short "e"
I = long "e"
O = long "o", but also kind of like an English person saying "Aw"
U = "oo" but not long like in "moon" - more short, like in "toot"

All the consonants sound the same, except:

There is no "Y", "Q", "X", or "W".
J sounds like Y
C always says "ts"
G always sounds hard, like in "goat"
H is said in the throat, like you're getting ready to spit, but softer (like the "ch" in Scottish "loch")
LJ is treated as one letter and sounds like the "lli" in the middle of "million"
NJ is also treated as one letter and sounds just like the Spanish ñ, or the "ni" in "onion"
R is always pronounced like the trilled Spanish R.

Then there are some extra letters:

There are two C's with thingies over them (one looks like a little check-mark and one looks like an accent), and they are both a variation of "ch" (we can't hear the difference). Here they are: Č and Ć. Then there's more:
Š makes a "sh" sound
Ž makes a sound like the "s" in "pleasure"
DŽ says the same thing as the "dg" in "judge"
Đ or đ is the same as the "j" in "jewel"

Also, remember, R's and H's can be their own syllables!

Okay. Ready to start reading some Croatian words?

How about these:

Indijski Čaj (means "Indian Tea")
Čili (a kind of spice)
Jaja (means egg)
Pasta za zube (toothpaste)
Mlijeko (milk)
Suha Smokva (dried fig)
Lavanda (lavender)
Čokolada (chocolate)
Dalmatinski (Dalmatian, as in something from Dalmatia, which is the area we live in)
Nacionalni Specijalitet (national specialty - in food)

That's not so bad, is it? You can do this! Okay, now, the extra credit spelling words:

Hvratska (Croatia)
Trg (square, as in Times Square)
Vrt (garden)
Htjeti (to want)
Razglednica (postcard)
Hrvoje (a boy's name)
...and my personal favorite:
Svježe vrhjne (fresh cream)

But more hard words later. For now, you've graduated from Grade One of Learning to Speak Croatian!