Two alphabets, both official
Montenegro uses Latin and Cyrillic side by side. Road signs are usually both. A restaurant menu is usually Latin. A government building is usually Cyrillic. Nobody finds this confusing because everyone reads both from childhood.
For a visitor, Latin covers almost everything you need. It is still worth being able to recognise a few Cyrillic letters — ПОШТА is post office, АПОТЕКА is pharmacy, ПОЛИЦИЈА is police.
Montenegrin adds two letters the neighbouring standards do not have: ś and ź. You will see them occasionally and they are a live political argument rather than a practical obstacle.
Where English works
| Where | English |
|---|---|
| Kotor, Budva, Tivat, Herceg Novi | Everywhere, fluently |
| Podgorica | Widely, in anything tourist-facing |
| Žabljak, Kolašin | In hotels and agencies, patchily elsewhere |
| Villages inland and in the north | Rarely, and mostly from younger people |
| Older people anywhere | Often German or Russian rather than English |
Fifteen words worth having
| Roughly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dobar dan | Good day | DOH-bar dan |
| Hvala | Thank you | HVAH-la |
| Molim | Please / you're welcome | MOH-leem |
| Izvinite | Excuse me / sorry | eez-VEE-nee-teh |
| Da / Ne | Yes / No | da / neh |
| Koliko košta? | How much is it? | KOH-lee-ko KOSH-ta |
| Račun, molim | The bill, please | RA-choon |
| Voda | Water | VOH-da |
| Pivo / Vino | Beer / Wine | PEE-vo / VEE-no |
| Gdje je…? | Where is…? | g-DYEH yeh |
| Ne razumijem | I don't understand | neh ra-ZOO-mee-yem |
| Govorite li engleski? | Do you speak English? | go-VO-ree-teh lee EN-gles-kee |
| Dobro | Good / fine | DOH-bro |
| Ništa | Nothing / never mind | NEESH-ta |
| Živjeli! | Cheers! | ZHEEV-yeh-lee |
Two words you will hear constantly
Polako — slowly, take it easy, no rush. It is said about everything and it is close to a national philosophy. If a waiter says it, he means the food will come when it comes.
Može — literally "it can", used as yes, sure, fine, go ahead. It answers most questions.
The ijekavian thing
Montenegro speaks the ijekavian variant: *mlijeko* rather than *mleko*, *rijeka* rather than *reka*. If you learned any Serbian from Belgrade material, you will notice. Nobody will correct you and everybody will notice.
Trying is worth it
Nobody expects a visitor to speak the language and the reaction to attempting it is disproportionately warm. *Dobar dan* on entering a shop and *hvala* on leaving covers ninety per cent of the social requirement and changes how the rest of the exchange goes.
