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Have you ever avoided speaking up in a meeting cause you didn’t feel confident about your Serbian? An awful feeling, right? Or maybe you just needed to remember basic business Serbian phrases for introducing yourself and your job position, but instead you just froze and then switched to English.
We know you’ve got enough on your plate with adapting to a new life and work in Serbia. You might’ve mastered Serbian survival phrases so far. However, we also want you prepared for survival at work. So, here’s a comprehensive overview of business Serbian phrases to boost your confidence and help to keep business conversations going.
Let’s walk you through the following situations step by step:
Resist the urge to take a shortcut (which isn’t indeed) and use online translators for telling someone who you are and what you do for a living. There’s no need. Use this template before you’re ready for more advanced Serbian phrases:
Ja sam (ime). Zaposlen (m.)/Zaposlena sam (f.) u (ime kompanije). Radim tamo kao (pozicija). Po struci sam (zanimanje).
I am (name). I work in (the name of the company). I work there as a/an (job position). I am (profession).
Not that hard? Let’s make it even easier. Check out these sentences explained in greater detail in this video.
Don’t forget to also ask the person you talk to about themselves:
We’ll start with some basic vocabulary here. If you want to talk about your work in Serbia, you’ll need this as a starter.
Radim u kancelariji. Ovo je moj radni sto. Tu se nalaze monitor, tastatura i miš, a pored radnog stola je štampač. Ima mnogo zaposlenih u ovoj kompaniji. Plata je baš dobra.
I work in an office. This is my work desk. There are a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, while next to the desk there’s a printer. There are a lot of employees in this company. The salary is pretty good.
When you’re talking in greater detail about your workplace (radno mesto), these company and office terms will help you.
On to the main, more advanced main meal now.
When you are negotiating and discussing proposals, use these Serbian phrases to sound like a Serb:
Giving presentations in front of an audience is challenging, but not as much when you know these business Serbian phrases:
If you work in IT industry in Serbia, you must’ve heard at least some of these:
The marketing and advertising industries in Serbia are bristling with English words, but are they enough? Check these:
Don’t go anywhere, the main meal has just started. When you work in Serbia, the chances are you’ll end up in a business meeting with your colleagues (kolege) in a meeting room (sala za sastanke).
When you are informing someone about a business meeting, say something along these lines:
Imamo sastanak sa klijentima sutra u 12 časova. Predstavićemo naš novi projekat.
We have a meeting with clients tomorrow at 12 pm. We’re going to present our new project.
Once the meeting is about to start, spice it up with these:
We know that you often prefer not to be found by any email, but emails are an inevitable part of the business world. This side dish might be tricky to digest at first, but when you master the template, it’ll be easy-peasy to write formal emails in Serbian.
Poštovani,
Želim da vas obavestim o sastanku koji će se održati u petak.
Bio bih vam zahvalan ako biste potvrdili prijem ovog imejla.
U prilogu vam šaljem plan sastanka.
Radujem se vašem odgovoru.
Srdačan pozdrav,
(Ime)
Dear Mr/Mrs,
I would like to inform you about the meeting that is taking place on Friday.
I would be grateful if you could confirm receipt of this email.
I’m sending the agenda attached.
I’m looking forward to your reply.
Kind regards,
(Name)
Of course, this isn’t the only way to write a formal email in Serbian. Check out other Serbian phrases you can use in your written business communication here.
Congratulations on choosing Serbia for your digital nomad adventure! Wait, you haven’t chosen it yet? In that case, check why you should be a digital nomad in Serbia.
Consider yourself lucky, because we know the essential Serbian phrases you need to settle in:
These Serbian phrases might come in handy at bars/restaurants and/or in coworking spaces, wherever you prefer to work.
You’ve left some space for dessert, haven’t you? Since you’re already in Serbia, at one point you’ll need to open a bank account, transfer money, or withdraw it. Here are the most frequent Serbian phrases you can use in those situations:
If you work in Serbia, consider that a perfect opportunity to practice your Serbian. And don’t be afraid to speak. What’s to worst thing that could happen? Nothing, you might make a mistake, which can only help your learning process. We hope you’ll have a chance to use these business Serbian phrases at your job. If you feel this isn’t enough for you, and want to learn more, we’ve got a lesson about applying for jobs in Serbia and job interviews in our Pre-Intermediate course. Contact us for more info. Happy learning!
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