Romania is a country with rich history. As we know it today, was first formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state officially gained the name Romania in 1866, ten years before it gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire (1877). The Romanian language that is spoken by approximately 26 million people as a native language, mainly in Romania and Moldova is a Balkan Romance language and it is the one which is closest to the original Latin language. Its difficulty is not so high and with the suitable Romanian language lessons online or with a hire of a Romanian teacher, will be able to communicate with the locals in 6 months to one year. And in two years, he will speak fluently. Through this article, we will provide you a very small part of the Romanian vocabulary by presenting you some very important Romanian people through the centuries as they were voted by Romanians themselves.

Vlad Țepeș

To begin with, we think that there was not a more suitable start if not with, probably the most famous figure of Romania, Vlad Țepeș, most commonly known as Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler due to his cruelty by impaling his enemies. For the Romanians, Vlas is considered a national hero who fought against the Ottomans for all his life. The tales and myths regarding him of being a Vampire, are based to Bram Stoker’s ‘’Dracula’’, a book published in 1897.

suitable = potrivit

probably = probabil

famous = celebru

cruel = crud

enemy = dusman

myth = mit

book = carte

Ștefan cel Mare

Remaining in the same spirit, another important Romanian who lived in the 15th-15th century is the legendary Stephen III of Moldavia or as he is better known, Stephen the Great ( Ștefan cel Mare in Romanian language). He was the ruler of Moldavia and as well a great hero for the Romanians, an excellent millitary general winning many important battles especially against the Ottomans. He was declared a Saint by the Patriarch of Romania.

century = secol

legend = legend

language = limbă

ruler = conducător

hero =  erou

battle = luptă

Mihai Eminescu

Our third in the list is one of the greatest poets, if not the greatest, of Romania and Europe for sure, Mihai Eminescu. He was also a novelist and journalist, as he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul (‘’The Time’’). He was considered by many the godfather of the modern Romanian language.

poet = poet

novelist = romancier

newspaper = ziar

language = limbă

Henri Coandă

Moving to the world of the great inventors, we have here Henri Coandă. He was an aerodynamics pioneer and the builder of an experimental aircraft, which was described as the world’s first jet, which, though was disputed by some but also, was supported by others.

inventor = inventator

pioneer = pionier

support = a sustine

airplane = avion

Nadia Comăneci

From the sports, we have two real legends who take a place in our list: Nadia Comăneci couldn’t miss with her five Olympic gold medals, all of them in individual events. Let’s not forget also the very important and unique fact that she scored a perfect 10 at the age of 14 in the Olympics of 1976.

Gheorghe Hagi

Then we have the legendary Gheorghe Hagi, one of the best football players in the world during the 80s and 90s and undoubtedly the greatest Romanian footballer of all time, who played for teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid. This is something that speaks by itself.

sports = sport

gold medal = medalie de aur

five = cinci

forget = a uita

unique = unic

football player = fotbalist

team = echipă

speak = a vorbi

world = lume

Of course the list is very big and we may come back in a following article with more Romanians whose name is important and they offered something to this country with various ways. And of course, with more Romanian lessons for foreigners!