Romanian Lessons

Summer is here and what better for someone to spend his vacation in a beautiful country with excellent hospitality? Yes, we are talking about Romania.

Romania is located in the south-eastern part of Europe and its area covers a total of 238.398 klm² making it one of the biggest states in the continent. Its population is estimated in around 20 million people and it’s the 7^th bigger country in Europe. The capital is Bucharest, the ‘’Small Paris’’ as it’s known as well, due to its fine architecture, which would have been represented by even more historic and great buildings and sightseeing if the war and the dictatorship would have never been appeared in this long-suffering country.

Romania has a rich culture ever since the ancient Dacia. As the centuries went by, this culture and civilization were reinforced even more, mostly through the influence that other populations exercised to the country. The most important of them were the Greeks, the Germans and the French and as well, the Slavic and the Hungarian (Maghyar) populations as a result of their contiguity that they have.

In this article we will trouble ourselves with one of the main aspects of civilization, the language.

Useful Romanian words and phrases

It is true that the level of foreign language knowledge in Romania is quite big. Many people can actually speak English, Italian, French and Spanish. This is happening mostly, though, in the big cities. However, it’s a guarantee that the visitor will not totally enjoy this trip if he/she won’t visit the countryside as well. This is the charming and the beauty of Romania. And there it is certain that you will need some phrases in order to communicate with the local for your basic needs or simply to impress them, as they appreciate hearing someone who is foreigner speaking their language.

Let’s start then with some greetings:

Bună dimineața = Good morning

Bună ziua = Good day

Salut = Hello (mostly used when a man is greeting another man and never from a man to a woman, which is unpolite in that case)

Ce faci? = How are you in Romanian language actually means ‘’What are you doing, but it has the meaning of ‘’How are you’’

Ce faceți? = How are you? (for plural and when you want to be polite to the other person)

Afterwards we have the answers and wishes:

Foarte bine = Very good in Romanian language

O zi bună! = Have a good day in Romanian language

La revedere = Good bye (we will see each other again)

And of course we have:

Da = Yes

Nu = No

Și = And

De ce = Why

Ce = What

Cum te cheamă? = What is your name?

Mă cheama / Numele meu este = My name is in Romanian language (both)

Mulțumesc = Thank you

Cu plăcere = Your welcome (with pleasure)

When the evening and the night fall, we use the following expressions:

Bună seară = Good evening

Noapte bună = Good night (by contrast, the difference here is that the noun comes before the adjective).

And finally we will close with some usual words that the visitor is going to need definitely during his visit and of course the numbers:

Apă = Water

Pâine = Bread

Carne = Meat

Sarmale = Cabbage rolls (special recipe mainly during the holiday periods like Christmas and Easter)

Delicios! = Delicious!

Mulțumesc pentru masă = Thank you for the breakfast / lunch / dinner

Masă = Table

Unu: one

Doi: two

Trei: three

Patru: four

Cinci: five

Șase: six

Șapte: seven

Opt: eight

Nouă: nine

Zece: ten

Instead of an epilogue and while everyone will have in their minds to spend their summer vacation in some sandy beaches with turquoise water (who wouldn’t really?), we are making the difference and challenge the reader to visit the magnificent Romania because there, someone can find anything, including beaches!