Romanian Language

Romanian (limba română) is the official language of Romania.
The name Romania, and its derivatives, come from the Latin word 'Romanus' (citizen of Rome),
a legacy of the Roman Empire who took control of ancient Dacia (today Romania) in 106 A.D.
Romanian retains a significant number of features of old Latin and also contains words taken from the surrounding Slavic languages, as well as from French, German, Greek and Turkish.
The genesis of Romanian literature, with its rich tapestry woven through the ages, can be traced back to the country’s folklore, oral traditions, and early writings, which collectively laid the foundation for a unique literary voice.

Romanian is actually easier for English speakers to understand than it is assumed. If you've studied other Romance language, such as Italian, Spanish, French or Portuguese, you may feel at home sooner than you think.
Romanian is a phonetic language, so words are pronounced as they are spelled.

A foreigner trying to learn or speak Romanian can expect positive reactions from native speakers.
Most Romanian will certainly appreciate the fact that you are making an effort to speak their language.

Other languages used in Romania

English has quickly overtaken French as the country's second language, especially with the young people. Communicating in English in large towns in cities should not be a problem.

French and German can also be useful.
In the past, Romania had a sizable German minority population;
nowadays the number of native German speakers is declining
but German is still used by communities in southern Transylvania and in Banat (Western Romania).

Hungarian is widely used in Covasna and Harghita counties, in Eastern Transylvania.
15% to 35% of the population of some larger cities in Central and Western Romania (Târgu-Mureş, Oradea, Cluj-Napoca, Satu-Mare) speaks Hungarian.

Other Romance languages (especially Spanish and Italian) are also studied by most people in schools
and are therefore spoken with a pretty good level of fluency.

Pronunciation Guide

The Romanian alphabet has 31 letters, similar to the ones in the English alphabet,
with the exception of five special letters called 'diacritics':
ă (like the 'a' in English word 'musical'),
ș (pronounced as 'sh'),
ț (pronounced 'ts'),
â and î (have the same reading, without an English equivalent).

Certain letters (and letter combinations) are pronounced differently than they are in English.

Useful Words / Phrases

A quick and fun way to learn Romanian is to volunteer as an international student.