My friend keeps arguing with me about how to pronounce Željka since I’m not native, what is the right way? I think I sayit just like her

My friend keeps arguing with me about how to pronounce Željka since I’m not native, what is the right way? I think I sayit just like her from croatia

10 comments

  1. First one.

    EDIT: Difference is in “Ž” and “LJ”, second voice pronounce it like small kid – “Ž” have to be “stronger” (more different from “Z”) and “LJ” have to be “LJ”, not “L” (last part I can’t explain, sorry).

  3. you pronounce L instead of LJ and there is a big difference between Lj and L, try to pronounce lj like your friend

  4. To me it sounds like you’re saying something between “želka” and “želika”. “želika” would be a 3-syllable word že-li-ka pronounced in the way that you are saying it. But željka is pronounced Želj-ka. Your friend said it correct, but to someone who never heard letter lj, it is hard to hear from what she sent you. Keep in mind, “želj” is very hard to say by itself, it doesn’t sound good and doesn’t flow well, so splitting the word in two parts might not be the best option.

    When you say letter L, you put only the tip of your tongue to the top of your mouth. When saying letter lj, you should put most of your tongue to the top of the mouth and keep it a bit wider than when saying L.

  5. The beauty of Croatian language, to put it simple, is that every letter phonetically always sounds the same. Start with learning how to pronounce the letters individually and then just combine them. Note: LJ has its own individual sound as a single letter, even though it’s composed of 2 letters.

  7. Female is correct u can hear a letter LJ… ŽeLJka.
    Man is Želka (missing letter J).
    But we will understand both.

  9. You are saying L instead of LJ.

    Try saying an “L” sound but position your mouth like for a “Y” sound. It should come out like a “LJ”. Because when you say a normal L your tongue touches the top of the back of your teath, right at the gums but when you say LJ it touches the roof of your mouth.

    Hope this helps:)

Leave a Reply