Serbian and English – languages in demand on the Swiss market

Target language: Serbian

Many people living in Switzerland have Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian as their mother tongue. It is difficult to say how many of them speak Serbian specifically, as the three languages are closely related and have many similarities. A significant part of the Serbian-speaking community in Switzerland belongs to the larger group of Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian speakers. Serbian is not an official language in Switzerland, but due to the large Serbian-speaking community in the country, Serbian-language resources and services are available in some areas.

What are the differences between Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian?

Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian belong to the Slavic family of languages and are closely related. Despite their high degree of mutual intelligibility, there are differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, influenced by factors such as regional dialects, historical context and political developments.

Here are some of the main differences:

• Vocabulary: The main differences are in words borrowed from other languages. For example, Serbian and Bosnian contain more Turkish words, while Croatian tends to have German and Italian influences.
• Grammar: There are differences in aspects such as case use and verb conjugation. For example, Serbian has seven cases compared to six in Croatian.
• Writing system: Historically, the three languages used the Cyrillic alphabet, but they differed in their preferred script. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Croatia and Bosnia adopted the Latin alphabet, while Serbia retained the Cyrillic alphabet.
• Pronunciation: Variations in pronunciation, especially of certain consonants and vowels, contribute to the distinctiveness of these languages.

Political and cultural factors have played a role in accentuating the differences between the three languages, especially since the break-up of Yugoslavia. However, the three languages are very similar and can often be mutually understood.

Our translation agency is dedicated to fulfilling your translation orders in accordance with your specific linguistic preferences, including terminology, style and language variants of Serbian, Bosnian or Croatian. We guarantee that your translation requirements will be carried out according to your specifications, taking into account the spelling and unique characteristics of each language variant.

Professional and certified translations English-Serbian and Serbian-English

Since 2012, our Zurich-based translation agency has been successfully working with numerous Swiss and foreign companies and organisations in the field of Serbian-English translations and vice versa.

In these language combinations, we handle a wide range of formats and documents in a variety of subject areas, such as:

Certified translations

Certified translations are usually required for documents to be submitted to the authorities. These documents include various contracts (e.g. sale and purchase agreements, wills, marriage contracts, certificates, diplomas, birth certificates, expert reports, extracts from the commercial register, criminal records, driving licences, marriage certificates, divorce certificates and similar legal documents).

We have been providing certified (sworn) English-Serbian and Serbian-English translations for individuals and organisations for many years. Our sworn translation service also includes an apostille upon request.

We can also provide apostilles upon request. Our certified translation services, together with our personalised customer service, are consistently rated highly by numerous private and institutional clients.

Quality assurance and translation technology

We process all translation assignments and projects in accordance with the recognised industry standards for translation services ( ISO 17100:2015 for translation services ). For short-lived content, such as content produced for internal use only, simplified editing processes may be applied in consultation with you.

We use bespoke translation and terminology software (including machine translation tools) to manage your language data and ensure consistency of content. This enables us to handle a wide range of document formats.

If required, we can put together a team of translators specifically for your project. Our specialist translators and proofreaders are also continually evaluated to ensure the quality of all projects and to optimise processes.

Fast turnaround times and excellent value for money are guaranteed.

Other language services for the target languages Serbian and English

Our translation agency also offers other language services in the language combinations English-Serbian and Serbian-English.