The phone rings at three in the morning, and you know before you even answer. In Croatia the funeral will be in two or three days, and you're on the other side of the world.
This episode of Ćakula Café talks about something rarely said out loud: the funeral watched through a phone a relative holds up at the cemetery, the days around the funeral that turn out to be what you miss most of all, and the grave that someone else tends before Svi Sveti.
In the second half of the episode, you get the sentences many people find themselves missing when it's time to write to the family: moja sućut, pokoj mu duši, laka mu zemlja, mislim na vas.
Slower, clearer Croatian for A2 learners — a look at Croatian funeral customs and Croatian condolences phrases for heritage speakers and diaspora Croatians who've had to grieve from far away.
Key vocabulary:
sprovod (SPROH-vod) funeral
groblje (GROB-lyeh) cemetery
grob (GROB) grave; the one somebody else is tending
svijeća (SVYEH-cha) candle; it counts wherever you light it
sućut (SOO-choot) condolence. Moja sućut is the sentence you have been missing
pokojnik (poh-KOY-neek) the deceased. Pokojnica for a woman
duša (DOO-sha) soul. Pokoj mu duši, peace to his soul
ispratiti (ees-PRA-tee-tee) to see someone off, and also to attend their funeral
javiti se (YA-vee-tee seh) to get in touch, to answer the phone
Svi Sveti (svee SVEH-tee) All Saints, 1 November, when the whole country smells of candles
How to use this episode: Listen on Spotify with subtitles on. Find your key words. Look those up. Not every word. Just the key ones. Then listen again. Each time you will understand a little more.
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