You can think of language as being composed of LEGO blocks. Imagine you're building a skyscraper, for instance. Since you have the advantage of working with toys instead of real steel, one strategy would be to build each floor individually and then stick them all together. It turns out you can do the same thing in language learning.  Before you ever get into a situation in which you have to speak Romanian "in the wild," you can piece together a lot of different patterns and chunks and learn them individually. Here enters Romanian word order and a host of other crucial Romanian grammar elements.  When it's time to speak or write, you can then draw on these stored memories to quickly and efficiently speak correct Romanian without... Show more

The number-one piece of advice most people have for those considering a trip to Romania is to learn some of the language. Check that one off the list. You're already interested in Romanian, we know that. But here's our number-one piece of advice for learning Romanian for travel: Learn about the time in Romanian. Learning some numbers in Romanian, and the dates, is a great accomplishment, but they only get you so far. Time covers all kinds of situations at once: bus schedules, airport departures, check-in times...everything you're likely to do as a tourist! This article won't stop there, either. This is your one-stop solution to learning everything you need to know about time in Romanian, from stopping someone on the street... Show more

Being outside in Romania is great—except when you’re lost. Wouldn’t it be great if you could ask somebody for help? Or even just ask where the McDonald’s is? That, of course, is the obvious benefit of knowing how to talk about directions in Romanian. (Not the McDonald’s part, the not-getting-lost part.) Did you know, though, that mastering directions in Romanian can level-up your whole command of the language? Think about it: you’ve got new vocabulary, new sentence patterns, and even new conversation starters, just from one topic. How much do you know already about directions in Romanian? Table of Contents Basic Cultural Notes and Phrases Learn the Romanian Compass Points City Vocabulary and Reference Points ... Show more

If you’ve got no nouns, you’ve got problems. Circumlocution is an important skill, but when it comes down to it, it’s really hard to do with certain things. Try describing your head or your manager without knowing those words, and you’ll see just what a challenge you’ve jumped into. This article is here to help. No fluff, just vocab—one hundred of the Romanian nouns you need most. Read through this article just one time and see how much you can pick up! Table of Contents Time The Body The Family Working Life School Days At the Restaurant Food and Drink Mealtimes Transportation Technology Around the Home Conclusion 1. Time If you haven’t learned the right... Show more

If you know any Romanians, then you might have asked them to teach you a couple of Romanian words in the past. Most people jump straight to the curse words, which are always good for a laugh. But there's another class of words that can have a much better effect. Those are Romanian compliments. A foreigner who knows how to speak a little Romanian is not a rarity anymore. But someone who knows how to speak Romanian well is hard to come across. How about someone who can pay natural, beautiful compliments in Romanian? Nearly impossible to find. However, that can be you. All you have to do is read this article. Because you can't just rush into Romanian. It's different enough from English that some things you'd expect to transfer over... Show more

Are you having a bad day in Bucharest? Crabby in Cluj? Testy in Timișoara? You might want to take a deep breath and let it out. Or not. Because sometimes it’s really necessary to put your anger into words and tell others how you really feel. Or suppose somebody's harassing you. You don't want to give them any kind of leeway—you want them gone, and pronto. So now is the perfect time for you to review (or learn for the first time) how to express your anger in Romanian with some angry words and phrases you can use. We're not going to get too explicit here. Learning some mild insults, sentence patterns about anger, and maybe some more serious insults is good enough. Anything you want to express with these phrases is going to come across... Show more

There’s a lot to be said for being able to make good small talk in another language. Conversations can start up and keep going indefinitely with the right people. But what can you talk about? Perhaps you’ve tried talking about something like the weather, or food, but didn’t get terribly far. Or perhaps you’ve already met someone in Romania and gotten along with them, but you don’t know what to talk about whenever you hang out. The truth is, all you really need is this list. For starters, anyway, as you begin learning how to wish someone a happy birthday in Romanian and similar best wishes in Romanian. Take a look at these different situations. They all represent life events, big or small, that can be the topic of a great conversation.... Show more

Are you stuck in a Romanian loop? Do you keep learning a little then sliding back down, unable to really understand what people are saying? Chances are, your vocabulary just isn’t quite there yet. Vocabulary actually makes a big difference when it comes to comprehension. It may sound obvious, but the truth is that no matter how you’re learning, if you don’t know the words, you don’t know the words. In this article, just for you, we’ve got one-hundred fantastic Romanian adjectives that you can use to spice up your Romanian. And these are the real deal, complete with real-life example sentences. One quick read-through of our top Romanian adjectives list and your Romanian will never be the same. Let’s go! Table of Contents A... Show more

Admit it—only the first few pages in your grammar books are thumbed back. Most people like the idea of knowing all about the grammar of a particular language, but when it gets down to it, they much prefer communicating. Naturally there are exceptions: I’ve known some dedicated students to start Russian with nothing but a dictionary, a notebook, and War and Peace. But with a language like Romanian, how much good is the grammar (like Romanian connecting words) really going to do you? If you squint long enough at most of the words, the meaning pops into your head and, more often than not, it’s right. Well, it’s not quite that easy. And with a grammar point as ubiquitous as Romanian conjunctions, getting the meaning "mostly right"... Show more

Romanian society can be described as "laid-back" in some ways. With the sultry sun, the rich food, and the beautiful scenery, who wouldn’t expect the people to be relaxed? Because of that, you can let your hair down. Treat people well, and they’ll treat you well. Until you do something that you thought was obviously fine, and you realize that the other party took it as very obviously not fine. That situation is confusing, embarrassing, and maybe even dangerous at the wrong time. And the worst part is that it happened from ignorance of Romanian customs, not malice. So that’s why this article exists: part phrasebook, part etiquette guide that helps you avoid doing things out of ignorance. Learning to deal with other cultures is simply... Show more