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” tends to mean that out of the dozens of times you say it per day, you’re getting it wrong more times than you’d prefer to.

Fear not: Here’s your perfect introduction to the finer points of using conjunctions in Romanian, and a comprehensive list of Romanian conjunctions you’ll use every day. Conjunctions in Romanian are your ticket to perfect speech.

Table of Contents

1. What is a Conjunction?
2. The Simple Romanian Conjunctions
3. The Complex Romanian Conjunctions
4. Two Letters, Five Distinct Conjunctions: The Case of Că
5. A Uniquely Romanian Conjunction
6. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian Grammar

1. What is a Conjunction?

Conjunctions connect two or more things in your language. In fact, many people just call them “connectors.” And we use them constantly.

We can combine two potential sentences into one with a conjunction, like so:

• John is here. Mary is here.
  John and Mary are here.

Easy stuff! Once you see how it works in English, plenty of Romanian conjunctions fall right into place. And if you never got a handle on this grammar point, think how limited your language ability would be.

2. The Simple Romanian Conjunctions

The easiest conjunction in the whole language is also the most common one: și meaning “and.”

• Vreau pâine și apă.
  “I want bread and water.”

Like in English, people will sometimes use this as a filler, drawn out to continue a sentence without really knowing how it will end.

• Are la bază gemuri de toate felurile, scorțișoară șiiiiii… mere coapte.
  “It has many types of jam, cinnamon, annnnnd…baked apples.”

Naturally, you can use it to list nouns, verbs, or adjectives. The Oxford comma isn’t used in Romanian.

ci is another useful conjunction, used to set up an explicit contrast between two things. You can think of it as being similar to the English word “but” or “on the contrary.” This contrast happens in a single sentence—note how the second half can’t stand alone.

• Nici eu, ci el.
  “Not I, but he.”

Next we have the word ori, which is easy to remember because it’s almost the same as the English conjunction “or.” In fact, it’s practically interchangeable:

• Viață-n libertate ori moarte.
  “Life in liberty or death.”

As in English, we can also set up an “either / or” equivalent. Here we’ll repeat ori both times.

• E ori ăsta, ori ăla!
  “It’s either this one or that one!”

For the same construction, you can also choose a more literary variant, fie.

• Vom învăța ceva, fie din structura sa chimică, fie prin măsurare.
  “We will learn something, either from the chemical structure or from measurements.”

And if you want the more formal register, but two “or”s in the same sentence spooks you, then try out the third synonym, sau.

• Au fost unele incidente la decolare sau aterizare.
  “There have been some incidents with take-off and landing.”

With all these choices, you may forget to learn how to negate them! And as strange as the two-part conjunctions may seem, we do have a mandatory one with “neither / nor” in English. You guessed it; in Romanian, it’s a double-up as well: nici.

• Aici nu există nici bunuri, nici servicii.
  “There are neither goods nor services here.”

3. The Complex Romanian Conjunctions

Now we’ll move on to complex conjunctions, which can connect two different full sentences together. Consider the sentences “He didn’t go,” and “I went.” In English, we can use the conjunction “but” to connect those into a single “He didn’t go, but I went.” Thus, this takes two independent sentences and forms them into one.

In Romanian, we can use the word dar to express “but” in this particular way. As in English, it’s always used with a comma in front.

• Credeam ca sunt singura, dar și tu ești aici.
  “I thought I was alone, but you’re here too.”

There’s a similar word, însă, that doesn’t require a comma. It’s kind of like adding a comma plus “however” to the word it follows.

• Instinctul însă îmi spune s-o fac.
  “My instincts, however, say I should do it.”

When we want to express the concepts of “except for” or “apart from” we have to use a set phrase, namely în afară de.

• Nu se mișca nimeni în afară de hoți.
  “No one moved except for the robbers.”

Enough of this contrariness. How about some more agreeable Romanian conjunctions? The word for “so” and “therefore” is deci. You use it to connect two similar ideas that logically follow from one to the other.

• E pediatru, deci iubește copiii.
  “He’s a pediatrician, so he likes kids.”

This is another one you can draw out in speech if you don’t know how to end the sentence in a better way.

• Am doctoratul, deciiii…
  “I do have a PhD, soooo…”

To express certain relations of time, we can use the phrase după ce or simply după by itself. This means “after,” and it can actually be a simple or complex conjunction. Here’s how it looks in a simple sentence:

• După epidemie, nimeni nu a mai trăit acolo.
  “Nobody lived there after the outbreak.”

And then in a complex sentence, connecting two shorter clauses:

• Lucrurile au mers rău, după ce el a fost transferată aici.
  “Things went bad after he was transferred here.”

Speaking of time, what if two things are going on in the same moment? In English, we can use “while,” and in Romanian, we’ll go with the set phrase în timp ce, literally “at the time of.”

• Pot vorbi în timp ce lucrez.
  “I can talk while I work.”

We can, in fact, use this to contrast two things more directly, even when time isn’t explicitly involved.

• Lui Mihai îi place plăcinta cu mere, în timp ce Andreei îi place cea cu vișine.
  “Mihai likes the apple pie, while Andreea likes the one with cherries.”

4. Two Letters, Five Distinct Conjunctions: The Case of Că

By itself, că means “that.” It’s clearly cognate to que in Spanish and che in Italian, and yet it’s one of the most flexible conjunctions in all of Europe. Mastering all of its different meanings truly opens doors of expression for you.

How can we use it? Let’s have a look at five different ways:

1. Reporting what somebody or something said:

• Jordan a spus că Mihai a fost nebun.
  “Jordan said that Mihai was mad.”

2. Expressing the cause of some event:

• Am ajuns târziu că mi s-a stricat mașina.
  “I arrived late because my car broke down.”

3. Showing a certain type of an action:

• Eram bucuros la gândul că o voi revedea.
  “I was overjoyed at the thought that I would see her.”

4. Expressing the degree of strength of an adjective:

• Este așa de furios că a început să țipe la toată lumea.
  “He’s so angry that he started yelling at everyone.”

5. Passing judgment on a situation:

• E rău că nu te lași de fumat.
  “It’s bad that you do not quit smoking.”

With all those out of the way, could there be anything left? Just one…

5. A Uniquely Romanian Conjunction

There’s one conjunction we haven’t mentioned yet. It’s not particularly difficult to understand, but it deserves its own section because it doesn’t have any parallels in any related languages.

The preposition is iar. Sometimes it means “but” while other times it means “and,” except when it feels like meaning “while however.”

By and large, this Romanian conjunction word is for introducing a contrast. It doesn’t imply that the contrast is very strong, but it points it out unmistakably.

• Ninge la Budapesta, iar la Bucureşti bate vântul.
  “It’s snowing in Budapest, and it’s windy in Bucharest.”

• Lui Adrian îi place fotbalul, iar Mariei baschetul.
  “Adrian likes football, and Mary (likes) basketball.”

As you can see, the sentiment here isn’t difficult to understand—this isn’t some strange unknown realm of human experience only the Romanians have tapped into. You can think like this too. But note that we could translate this word as “though,” “while,” or “but,” and still have the same general meaning.

We can’t always use iar with every contrast. For that second sentence, if we wanted to say instead, “Mary doesn’t like football,” or Mariei nu-i place, then iar sounds a bit strange because now Mary is directly contrasting Adrian instead of just tangentially.

6. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian Grammar

The more you actually read and listen to Romanian, the more these finer points are going to stick out to you. Before long, with a good study plan, you’ll have an innate sense of these nuances that rivals a native-born Romanian.

And out of anything you do to increase your ability in Romanian, learning the conjunctions well is probably the closest thing to a silver bullet.

Each one that you learn allows you to make numerous new sentences and constructions. Reading an article like this is like running through dark hallways and flipping on lights in your brain.

But if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it! Take a look at the latest RomanianPod101 lessons right here, and make sure those new possibilities stay open.

Before you go, let us know in the comments how comfortable you feel using Romanian conjunctions now. Is there anything you’re still struggling with? We look forward to hearing from you!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and
polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract
sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.

Did you know there are many different types of calendars?

As you probably know – a calendar is a system of organizing days in weeks and months for specific purposes, according to Wikipedia.

Worldwide, most countries use the Gregorian calendar. Some just work on the same framework, meaning that time is divided into units based on the earth’s movement around the sun – the “solar calendar”. Other calendars keep time by observing the moon’s movements, a combination of the moon and the sun’s movements, and seasons.

Through RomanianPod101, you can learn all about this and so much more! Our themed, culturally relevant lessons are skillfully designed so you can do your planning perfectly for a holiday or a date.

Having a good plan for a visit or a trip is like studying well for an exam. You’re just so much better prepared! For that, you could well need specific phrases to plan around appointments and such, especially on business trips. Make sure to use the charts we provide here with the days of the week in Romanian, as well as the months in Romanian to navigate your way as you plan. Great resources!

Also – always remember to have fun!

Table of Contents

1. Why Will It Help To Know How To Talk About Dates in Romanian?
2. Talking About your Plans
3. Can RomanianPod101 Help You In Other Ways Too?

1. Why Will It Help To Know How To Talk About Dates in Romanian?

Well, that’s not a difficult question to answer. No matter why you’re travelling, it would be best to at least know the names of days and months in Romanian. You don’t want to miss your flight or an appointment because you confused “vineri” (Friday) with “Sâmbătă” (Saturday)! Or maybe you planned a holiday for “iulie” (July), but you booked a flight for “iunie” (June) by accident!

Avoid this confusion by learning the Romanian calendar before you leave.

Now, as promised, the 15 phrases to help you make and discuss plans.

2. Talking About your Plans

Perhaps you’re working in Romania, or maybe you’re enjoying a prolonged holiday. Fabulous! Memorize these phrases so you can be sure to successfully negotiate meetings, appointments, dates, events, the list goes on!

1. Ce faci weekend-ul acesta?

“What are you doing this weekend?”

This question is usually a preamble to inviting someone somewhere. Given that it’s over the weekend, it probably means a casual get-together or another social event. (But not necessarily! A manager or boss could also ask this for entirely different reasons.)

It’s a handy phrase to know when you’ve made Romanian or expat friends in the country. Or, be the one doing the inviting. Then train your ear to learn the following phrases so you can understand the response.

2. Călătoresc în acest weekend.

“I am traveling this weekend.”

This could be a reply if you’re not available because you’re doing other fun stuff.

No matter why you are visiting Romania, do take the time to explore the country! It’s beautiful and it has so many wonderful, interesting spots ready to be visited.

3. Am de gând să stau acasă.

“I am planning to stay at home.”

Maybe you feel unwell, but don’t want to give too much information? Or maybe you have work to do? Perhaps you just need some quiet gardening time…it doesn’t matter. This response is polite and honest without oversharing.

It could also be a slightly open-ended response, depending on how you deliver it. Because hey, being home could still mean your plans are flexible, right?

That said – depending on your relationship with the inviter, nuances like these will probably not be so apparent in a foreign culture. So, best to use this excuse for declining an invitation only if you are truly set on staying in.

4. În această săptămână sunt ocupat.

“This week I am busy.”

Another polite phrase that gives a reason for declining an invitation but without oversharing details.

Don’t decline too many invitations, though! You don’t want people to think that you’re too busy to hang out with them. They will stop inviting you out, and you know how the saying goes – all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…! Being social is good for the soul.

5. Sunt liber mâine.

“I am free tomorrow.”

Yay! Perhaps you were approached by that person and they asked about your availability for a date. This would be a fine reply. Not too eager, but still indicating that you’re interested.

Or maybe you’re just replying to a colleague or manager’s request for a meeting. Polite, honest and clear.

Alternatively, you’re just busy right now, and plans are not going the way they were…well, planned. Compromise is a lovely thing! And this phrase sounds just like that.

Use it to indicate that you want to accommodate an invitation or the inviter’s plans, despite your current unavailability. Only if you are really free, of course.

6. Putem reprograma asta?

“Can we reschedule this?”

So, life happened and you are unable to meet obligations or attend a planned meeting. This is a suitable question to ask if you wish to indicate your willingness to still engage with whatever is on the table.

Obviously you should (ideally) not ask to reschedule a party or big meeting! (Unless you’re the boss or it’s your own party, of course.) But if there’s reasonable wiggle room regarding arrangements, then this one’s your question.

7. Voi avea suficient timp la sfârșitul lunii.

“I will have enough time at the end of the month.”

A go-to phrase when events or activities are likely to take up a lot of your time, such as going away for a weekend, spending the day at a local market, or writing your manager’s quarterly report (with 20 flow-charts in Powerpoint) – anything that won’t only take an hour or two.

8. Când este momentul potrivit pentru tine?

“When is the best time that suits you?”

Remember phrase #5? That was a possible reply to this question. Asked by your crush, very possibly! Or, it could be asked by any other person for any other reason, doesn’t matter.

If this is addressed to you, it usually means that the person respects your time and schedule, which is a good thing. It probably also means that their own schedule is flexible, another good thing.

This is also a polite question to ask when a manager or senior colleague wants to meet with you. Let them decide on the time, and be as accommodating as possible. This attitude shows respect for seniority – good for career building. (Within reason, of course. You don’t need to postpone your wedding or your paid-up holiday to Australia because your manager wants to see you.)

9. Această dată este ok pentru tine?

“Is this date OK with you?”

But – if the other party insists that you choose a time for a meeting, appointment, or date etc., then do so! Respond with this nice, somewhat casual question that leaves space for negotiation, but only needs a simple reply.

Suitable for friends, and casual acquaintances and colleagues.

10. Ești disponibil în acea zi?

“Are you available on that day?”

This is the a-bit-more-formal version of the previous question. Again, it has room for negotiation, but only needs a simple response – nice and neat!

Maybe this is the go-to question when you’re addressing your seniors at work, or a person much older than you.

11. Putem face acest lucru cât mai curând posibil?

“Can we do it as soon as possible?”

This question has an urgency to it that should preferably be responded to with the same. A simple reply will be good – yes or no. Less negotiable, this is still polite because it’s a question that gives you a choice.

But stand ready with one of the phrases in this article to help tie down a time and date!

12. Sunt disponibil în fiecare seară.

“I’m available every evening”

If you’re going to reply with this phrase, context is everything.

– If it’s your manager asking you to put in a bit of overtime, and you are available to – great reply! When deadlines are tight and everybody is stressing, your willingness to go the extra mile can only improve your relationship with your boss.

(Still, no need to be a doormat! If you get asked to work overtime too often, or if everyone else is goofing around while you have to graft, then re-evaluate the situation. And if you feel you’re being exploited a bit, don’t stress! Equip yourself with the diplomatic, yet assertive responses right in this article.)

– If it’s an old friend or longtime significant other asking to hang out – good reply. You know one another and appearances don’t matter any longer.

– If it’s a new crush who just asked when you’d be available for a date – stop. Not such a great reply. Tone down a bit! “Interested but not overly eager” is what you’re going for here.

Refer back to response #5, or use a counter-question, such as #1. Whatever suits you.

But if they – or anyone else – invite you to scale the Himalayas with them, then the next phrase will probably be the only sane response!

13. Trebuie să planific acest lucru cu mult timp înainte.

“I need to plan this well in advance.”

So, as said under #9, perhaps you’re invited to join someone conquer the Himalayas.

Or your company manager wants you to plan the Party that Tops All Year-End Parties Forever.

Simply – if you get asked to do something that you know will need a lot of thorough planning, this is a good phrase to respond with.

It’s an assertive phrase that demonstrates two things regarding your attitude:

a) That you know your own abilities, and respect your own schedule.
b) That your respect other people’s time and schedule too.

Then just be sure to actually do that planning well in advance!

14. Trebuie să găsim o altă dată.

“We need to find another date.”

So, you’re in negotiations regarding a date.

This is an assertive statement that should probably not be used with a “My way or the highway” attitude.

That stuff only works in the movies – think sharp-tongued Samuel L. Jackson. Or fierce Kristen Stewart. Yea, they can be scary, so tone down that tone.

Also, be mindful that fickle people who change plans all the time don’t keep friends! Taking others’ needs into consideration, while simultaneously having your way is a delicate art that takes proper cultivation. Use this phrase sparingly – we have better ones here to negotiate with.

Of course, if your planned trip to the dentist falls on the same day as the only Billie Eilish concert close by…well, priorities are priorities. Feel free to call the dentist with this phrase. Or even better, use the next one.

15. Nu pot să o fac în acea zi.

“I cannot do it on that day.”

This is the low-key-but-still-firm cousin of the previous phrase. You’re stating a personal fact, and depending on your tone, this can be as non-negotiable as you prefer.

Again, only use this when you really mean it, if you’re visiting Romania or any other foreign country.

So, that’s it, folks! Which phrase did you find the most helpful? Let us know in the comments!

3. Can RomanianPod101 Help You In Other Ways Too?

Well yes, of course!

We think you will find these phrases easy to use when talking about dates and months in Romanian. But knowing how to employ them properly could help you avoid sticky situations!

RomanianPod101 is uniquely geared to help you with this and so much more.

This InnovativeLanguage.com initiative is one of many online language-learning courses. With us, you’ll find it easy and fun to learn a new language, and here are a few reasons why:

• Immediately upon enrollment, you’ll receive hundreds of well-designed lessons to get you going.
• Watch superb recordings of native Romanian speakers in cool slide-shows – the easy way to practice till you sound just like a native speaker yourself!
• Also immediately upon enrollment, you’ll get access to a huge library of free resources! These include extensive, theme-based Vocabulary Lists and a Word of the Day List (For free, hot bargains!) These alone are sure to give your vocab-learning boxing gloves.
• You’ll also immediately be able to use an excellent and free Romanian online dictionary. Necessary for quick, handy translations, no matter where you find yourself.
• For the serious learner, there are numerous enrollment upgrades available, one of which offers you a personal, online Romanian host. Allow us to hold your hand and support you in your learning!

If you’re serious about mastering Romanian easily yet correctly, RomanianPod101 is definitely one of, if not the best, online language learning platforms available. Talking about your plans or dates in Romanian need not ever spoil your stay.

So, hurry up—enroll today!

To some people, family means no one gets left behind.

To others, it just means tasty food.

Learning to talk about and understand the different words for family members in other languages can seem like a daunting task. There’s, what, a dozen words you’ve got to learn all at once? Two dozen?

But here’s why it’s worth it to learn about Romanian family traditions and terms in your Romanian studies.

Speaking clearly and correctly about a topic so integral to a culture like family is an important challenge to overcome. There are few things so closely tied to one’s identity as one’s family – just imagine the kind of gut reaction you would have if your sister called you “mom!”

In this article, you’ll learn how to say “family” in Romanian, the most important family vocabulary in Romanian, as well as some information on family members in Romanian culture.

And when it comes to Romania in particular, you have an interesting combination to deal with. For one, the concept of family itself is probably quite similar to your own, if you come from a Western culture. But for another?

Well, you’ll find that out in a moment. Let’s begin.

Table of Contents

1. The Family in Romanian Culture
2. Describing Your Immediate Family
3. Describing Your Extended Family
4. Your Family Through Marriage
5. Patronymics and Matronymics in Romanian
6. The Romanian Royal Family and Their Language
7. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

1. The Family in Romanian Culture

Generally speaking, families in Romania aren’t very different from families in the rest of Europe and North America.

Marriages tend to be stable, and people living in big cities tend to have fewer kids. Young people are expected to be relatively independent when they reach adulthood, though that does bring us to one minor difference between Romanians and people from other cultures.

Simply put, the family unit is stronger in Romania. You know your cousins well, your parents rely on you for support in their old age, and you’re expected to be a loving and helpful parent to your own children.

Romanians tend to get together in large family reunions for holidays and important celebrations. It’s not unusual for teenage Romanians to travel to other cities or towns to help out their grandparents during the summer, whether that be on the farm, around the house, or at their small business.

Fortunately for someone outside the culture, these subtle differences don’t present huge challenges. And, as you’re about to see, neither does the language.

2. Describing Your Immediate Family

First things first: The words for “family” or familie in Romanian have no surprises. Pretty much every word maps directly onto its English equivalent, so there’s no need to worry that your conception of “brother” somehow doesn’t match up with the Romanians’.

Let’s start with parents, maybe the simplest family terms in Romanian for English speakers:

“Mother” is mamă, which makes plenty of sense. “Father” is tată, also not too far if you think of the English “daddy.” Interestingly, the informal, childlike word for “daddy” is, in fact, tati. And “parent” in general? That would be părinte.

There’s no single word for “sibling,” however, there is one for “twins.” It’s gemeni for “male twins” and gemene for “female twins.”

A “sister” is soră, and a “brother” is frate; you should recognize the Latin root from words like “fraternity” or “fraternize.” If you absolutely must include “brothers and sisters,” say exactly that: fraţi şi surori. Note that soră is irregular in the plural.

Romanian doesn’t have separate words for “older” or “younger.” Instead, you use mai mare after the word to indicate “older” and mai mic/mică for “younger.”

Onto children: The word in Romanian for “child” in a gender-neutral sense is copil, while a “son” is fiu and a “daughter” is fiică.

Remember, when talking about people in Romanian, we use the masculine plural for couples of mixed gender. So fraternal twins would be referred to as gemeni, and when speaking about your parents you’d use the male form părinți.

3. Describing Your Extended Family

And yet we’re just getting started. As mentioned above, the concept of an “extended” family is slightly different in Romania, but only because you’re expected to be closer to those family members.

Moving up a generation, we have your bunic, or your “grandfather,” along with your bunică or “grandmother.” To them, you’re probably a “grandson” or nepot, or a “granddaughter” or nepoată.

Suppose your parents have siblings as well? No problems here. An “aunt” is mătușă, and “uncle” should be a piece of cake for English speakers, as it’s unchi. These words don’t change if someone is an aunt or uncle by marriage or by blood. A “cousin” is văr, another word which is inherently gender-neutral.

Here, we actually can’t shift the perspective like we did with grandparent/grandchild. The word for “nephew” is nepot, the same as “grandson,” and “niece” fits the same pattern. To be specific, we can say something like “nephew of an uncle” which would be nepot de unchi.

And then when it’s time to get really extended, there’s a handy prefix to put on some of these words. The prefix is stră-, cognate to “extra” in English (and Latin, where it ultimately derives from). Take a word like străvechi which means “very old; ancient.” That’s made up of stră– +‎ vechi, or “extra” + “old.”

So in family terms, we can slap that prefix onto a few of the words we learned. So: străbunic, străbunică, strănepot, and strănepoată. Doing so gives us the “great” generation. That is, a “great-grandfather,” “great-grandmother,” “great-grandson,” and “great-granddaughter!”

It even gives us a general word for “ancestor“: străbun.

The only exceptions are when talking about great-aunts and great-uncles. To do that in Romanian, you need the phrase unchi de gradul doi or străunchi for “great-uncle” and mătușă de gradul doi or strămătușă for “great aunt.”

4. Your Family Through Marriage

Like English, Romanian has plenty of words for your family-by-marriage, also known as your in-laws.

Before you get to that stage in your relationship, though, you need some words for love.

One’s “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” is iubit or iubită, respectively. This is, naturally, related to the base verb “to love,” which is a iubi.

After marriage (căsătorie) the happy couple becomes soț or “husband” and soție or “wife.”

And what about their families? Well, here we have a whole new set of words for relatives-in law. Your “parents-in-law” are your socru or “father-in-law” and soacră or “mother-in-law.” Your siblings by marriage? That would be your cumnat or “brother-in-law” and cumnată or “sister-in-law.”

Suppose your own child gets married? Their husband would be your ginere or “son-in-law,” and their wife would be your noră or “daughter-in-law.”

As the saying goes, soon comes a baby in a baby carriage. It turns out that names in Romanian sometimes follow family patterns as well…

5. Patronymics and Matronymics in Romanian

If you think of a “typical Romanian” name, what does it sound like?

Most likely, the last name is going to end in –scu, since that’s a feature of the majority of Romanian names. Why the popularity?

Well, the –escu or –scu suffixes actually mean “son of.” They’re what’s known as patronymics, or names passed down through the male line.

Matronymics aren’t quite so common. The pattern is roughly detectable by noting the preposition a and the genitive case marker –ei around a particular name, all formed into one word thanks to the passage of time. So a child of Maria would be a-Mariă-ei = Amariei.

This tradition doesn’t really happen very much anymore. In some countries—even in Europe—names will change every generation to reflect one’s ancestry. But nowadays, Romanian people tend to keep and pass down their last names.

6. The Romanian Royal Family and Their Language

Here’s an interesting bit of historical, political, and cultural trivia. Romania officially has no Familia Regală or “royal family.” So why does everybody know who they are?

Regele Mihai I, known as King Michael I in English, abdicated the throne in 1947. But he was still around, and although he lived for many years abroad, Romanians still knew who he was. By 2007, he had returned to the country and drafted some suggestions for how the modern parliament should treat the royal family—and they listened to him.

He outlined a line of succession, and that’s where we’ll get our final family-related vocabulary here today.

First, there hasn’t been a “queen” or regina for several hundred years—generally, kings are wed to princesses.

The word for “princess” is principesa, and as Michael had five daughters, there are currently five princesses. Traditionally, the word for “prince” is prinţ; however, Michael’s grandson is usually referred to as principele, a word that means the same thing but is noticeably different. Why’s that? Well, for various reasons, he’s been cut out of the line of succession!

7. How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

Reading this article is one thing. But what’s the best way to actually make sure you’re able to use and understand these words when they come up?

By using them.

Take a moment right now to look over the lesson materials right here on RomanianPod101.com and start locking those memories in. We offer an array of insightful blog posts, free vocabulary lists, and podcasts. Also check out our MyTeacher program for Premium Plus members if you’re interested in a one-on-one learning experience with your own personal Romanian teacher!

Then, the natural next step is to imagine yourself somewhere in Romania—a sunflower field, a friendly hostel, your country’s embassy—describing your own family in Romanian. Now what if somebody else you know was doing it?

And what if you were the king?

This kind of active imagination, combined with your ordinary studies, is a sure-fire way to really anchor new words into your memory. Some people even speak this stuff aloud and record it for later; you don’t have to share it with anyone!

When your Romanian skills have expanded to include any and all family matters, you’ll be prepared. So prepared, in fact, that you can walk right into a family reunion and leave everyone totally blown away.

We hope you found this article helpful. How are you going to practice these new Romanian family names? Let us know in the comments!

Traveling to foreign countries is nearly always an exciting, enriching, and beneficial experience. Yet, some things can be real downers, such as boredom on a lengthy flight to Romania. Really, binge-watching onboard movies can only be interesting for so long! And jet lag – another huge downer. Did you know that jet lag is more severe when you travel from the West to the East?

Well, we won’t know how to beat that, but there are fortunately plenty of remedies around to investigate.

To beat flight boredom, though, we may have the answer for you at RomanianPod101! Why don’t you take the time to study Romanian travel phrases? We make this super easy and fun, with great downloadables, like our PDF Cheat Sheets. Quickly memorize these, and impress your Romanian friends or travel guide with your flawless Romanian!

Table of Contents

1. Importance Of Learning Travel Phrases
2. 13 Must-Have Travel Phrases and Words
3. Good-To-Have Travel Phrases
4. Ways To Improve Communication in a Foreign Country
5. RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Travel Phrases Easily and Effortlessly!

1. Importance Of Learning Travel Phrases

Impressing Romanian people or your travel partners will be the least of the benefits you reap from learning these helpful phrases. These are greater ones:

1) Eliminate Travel Frustration: First of all, you’ll be able to cut out a good chunk of travel frustration and inconvenience due to language barriers.

Know how to pronounce and use at least the basic Romanian phrases, and then just look foreign. This should go a long way to help you get by and win you friends, because locals would be more inclined to help someone who took the trouble to learn a smidgen of their language.

2) Emergency Readiness: In case of an emergency, you will be able to get help a lot quicker if you know how to ask for what in Romanian. Imagine miming to a doctor or nurse that you have a sore ear but that you’re allergic to penicillin. Not so easy, right?

Rather, you should know basic emergency travel phrases, especially if you suffer from a serious condition. Also, information about life-threatening allergies you have should always be on your person in the language of the country you’re visiting.

3) Sight-Seeing Readiness: Hopefully, you also travel to learn more about a country’s culture. Visiting the main tourist sites in Romania will be more interesting if you know how to ask pertinent questions in Romanian.

In this blog, we’ll also be giving you important travel phrases to consider – from the 13 essential must-have phrases to ones that are just generally useful and good to know.

Let’s get cracking!

2. 13 Must-Have Travel Phrases and Words

Seasoned explorers of multiple countries will tell you that certain words and phrases are absolute must-knows in anyone’s travel vocabulary. Learning from them, we collated some of the most essential ones here for you.

If you know these travel phrases and words by heart in Romanian, you will be much better equipped for your visit than most of your movie-binging travel mates.

1) Mulţumesc (Thank you)

As a tourist, you will be relying on the kindness of strangers to get by. Repay them with a small acknowledgment of their friendly generosity – know how to say “thank you” in Romanian.

2) Vorbiți engleza? (Do you speak English?)

While it may be a bit of a cop-out, sometimes you just can’t figure out how to communicate. Maybe you’re blanking on one specific word you need, maybe they’re speaking with a heavy accent, or maybe it’s just really late and you really want to get to the hotel. In that case, try asking if they speak English, and hopefully you can make things a little bit simpler for yourself.

Don’t abuse this phrase, though! If you just try to get by without learning any of the local language, not only will you not learn anything – you’ll be out of luck if they can’t speak English!

3) Există un autobuz de la aeroport în oraș? (Is there a bus from the airport to the city?)

Public transit is usually cheaper, if slower, than taking a taxi or rideshare. Use this phrase to see if you can get where you’re going when you’re strapped for cash, or just when you’d like to take the scenic route into town!

4) Acesta este autobuzul care merge la aeroport? (Is this the right bus for the airport?)

Likewise, if you’re the kind of person who can get themselves moving early (or maybe you just have a late flight), maybe you want to take the bus to the airport rather than taking a cab. If that’s the case, you’ll want to be sure you’re actually heading the right way! You wouldn’t want to end up at a lookout point half an hour away, watching your flight take off in the distance, would you?

5) Scuzați-mă, cât e tariful? (Excuse me, what’s the fare?)

If you are paying for a cab, you’ll want to know how much. Most legal taxis will have meters, but when dealing with a currency you’re not familiar with, it can be worth asking just to double check that you’re paying the right amount – especially if the currency has cents.

6) Am o rezervare (I have a reservation)

This one you can expect to use at least a few times throughout your trip, unless you’re the kind of person who travels by the seat of their pants and just goes to whatever hotel, motel, or hostel has rooms available.

7) Aveți camere libere în seara asta? (Do you have any vacancies tonight?)

If that’s the case, you’ll definitely be using this phrase instead. Quite possibly a lot, depending on how lucky you are!

8 ) Unde este stația de tren? (Where is the train station?)

If you’re in a country with an expansive commuter rail system (or maybe just a fan of other types of locomotives), you may want to know where the closest station is. Just don’t go looking for pennies on the rails!

9) Sunt alergic la alune (I am allergic to peanuts)

Replace “peanuts” with whatever the word for your allergen may be. If your allergy is serious, you probably already know the importance of stating this very clearly in Romanian.

If the condition is life-threatening, be sure to have a letter or prescription from a medical professional in Romanian on your person at all times. Consider getting a medical alert bracelet specially made in Romanian if your stay will be longer than a month or so.

10) Aveți mâncăruri vegetariene? (Do you have any vegetarian dishes?)

If you dislike eating certain things, or you have certain dietary restrictions, it would be best if you knew how to convey this clearly in Romanian.

Remember, though, that saying “I’m vegan” or “I’m diabetic” may not be enough to get you what you want. The rules for veganism and vegetarianism are not standard everywhere in the world. Also, your patron might not understand what “diabetic” means. If you have a medical condition, it would be best to research some in-depth vocabulary beforehand.

11) Aș putea primi o hartă? (Could I get a map?)

Planning on exploring your destination? Hopelessly lost? Maybe just an amateur cartographer? No matter the reason, this phrase is sure to come in handy. That said, you’re more likely to get use out of it at some sort of tourist or travel center than you are asking a random passerby on the street.

12) Cât costă aceasta? (How much is this?)

Even if you’re not a big shopper, you’re probably going to need this phrase at some point. Knowing how to count in Romanian will, of course, help a lot with purchases too.

13) Acceptați cardul de credit? (Do you take credit card?)

This is another travel phrase that will smooth your monetary transactions considerably.

3. Good-To-Have Travel Phrases

Unlike the previous phrases, these are not really essential so much as they are useful. Yet, knowing these will still smooth over some bumps on your journey, more than just knowing the crucial phrases would.

1) Este Wi-Fi gratuit? (Is the Wi-Fi free?)

If you’re abroad, your normal cellular plans probably won’t have any service, and you’ll be totally reliant on publically available Wi-Fi while you’re out and about. Just ask a server, clerk, or attendant, and they’ll be happy to let you know. Just make sure you’re paying attention when they tell you the password!

2) Ați putea să îmi faceți o poză vă rog? (Could you take a picture of me please?)

What would a trip be with no photos to commemorate the event? Just be sure to ask this of someone who actually looks like they’d be willing to, unless you’re willing to risk being given the cold shoulder or worse. If you’re at a tourist attraction, you’ll find that most people are more than happy to take one for you, so long as you take one of them as well!

3) Ai unele recomandări? (Do you have any recommendations?)

Eating alone in a restaurant? Or going out with new Romanian friends or business colleagues? Let them help you decide what to have.

4) Aș dori un loc pentru nefumători, vă rog (I’d like to have a non-smoking seat, please)

Though smoking has gone out of fashion in some places, it’s still popular in others. In the event you’re at a restaurant where smoking is allowed on premises, you can always ask this question to the staff and be seated elsewhere.

5) Apă, vă rog (Water, please)

If you’ve emptied your glass, or are cutting yourself off after a few drinks, you can always ask for some water. It can be especially useful if the restaurant is busy to the point you need to call out to someone to get service.

6) Îmi faceți nota de plată? (Could I have the check?)

To finish off the restaurant related phrases, if you’re eating with friends or really want to impress your colleagues, taking the bill can be a nice treat for them. Of course, this phrase could come in handy as well if you’re eating alone and you’re just impatient to leave.

7) Ce ați recomanda pentru un suvenir? (What do you recommend for a souvenir?)

Now that your trip is over, what better way to cap it all off than a memento, or maybe a gift for friends and family at home? It’ll be nicer to have something recommended by the locals than a cheap bauble from the airport store, so go ahead and ask someone you’ve met what they think.

4. Ways To Improve Communication in a Foreign Country

When traveling, it’s possible to keep communication smooth when you don’t share a language.

Do so by keeping these five tips in mind. They are aimed to help you communicate with those who cannot speak English very well, and also to keep your traveling experience pleasant!

1. Keep your English simple and easy to understand.
If the person you are talking to speaks very little English, use basic verbs, adjectives, and nouns, and keep sentences short.

However, don’t patronize them by talking in pidgin or like you would address a child. Keep your speech simple but natural, and use the correct grammar.

For instance, don’t say: “You come when?”. If you say: “When will you come?”, you will very likely be understood, and may even help someone who wants to improve their English.

2. Ask someone to write information down.
Apply Rule 1 first at your hotel, where the staff is very likely to be able to speak some English. Get them to write down, in their native language, things like: “I would like to go to the airport, please,” “Please take me to the beach,” or “Where is the closest bathroom?”

These written questions are something you can then give to taxi drivers or any other people who are willing and able to help you. This simple step could make your life a lot easier when you travel to a foreign country!

3. Avoid asking leading questions!
If you want the correct information from a non-native English speaker, that is.

When you need directions, for instance, don’t ask: “To get to the bus stop, do I need to turn left here?” If the person didn’t really understand you, you will probably just get a smile and a “Yes,” which could possibly make you miss your bus.

Rather, you should ask: “Where is the bus stop?” If they understand you, you will get the correct directions.

4. Pick the right person to ask for help.
Time to look at people and think a bit about their appearance! A younger person who looks like they might be a student is more likely to have English skills than the friendly but ancient lady smiling at you from a fruit stall.

If you don’t see anyone like that, head into town to the nearest bank, hospital, pharmacy, or hotel. The staff at those places usually speak a bit of English.

5. Know when to quit.
If you stuck to the above rules, but the person you are talking to only stares at you blankly, say thank you and leave. Hanging around hoping someone will suddenly understand and respond is just wasting your time, and may irritate them as well. Go find someone else.

5. RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Travel Phrases Easily and Effortlessly!

So, reader, have you found this article helpful?

Do you feel comfortable enough to use some essential travel phrases in Romanian? We’d also love to hear if you think we left out important travel phrases. Leave your suggestions and opinions in the comments!

RomanianPod101 takes the lead with many free learning tools to help you master Romanian reading and speaking easily, and in fun ways.

These tools include:

– An extensive vocabulary list, regularly updated
– A new Romanian word to learn every day
– Quick access to the Romanian Key Phrase List
– A free Romanian online dictionary
– The excellent 100 Core Romanian Word List
– An almost limitless Lesson Library for learners of all levels

You will also have access to topic-specific recordings like our Before You Travel: Survival Phrases lesson.

Learn even more efficiently with the help of a personal tutor, after taking an assessment test to personalize and tailor your training.

Getting a tutor is also a good option if you meet challenges in your learning, or need to fast-track correct pronunciation and diction. Your very own friendly, Romanian-speaking teacher will be only a text away on a special app, anywhere, anytime – an excellent option for business persons!

Using a guided learning system that was developed by experts in language and online education, you’ll receive personal feedback and constant support to improve in no time. You’ll also be tasked with weekly assignments in reading, writing, and speaking to hone your Romanian speaking skills.

Imagine how impressed your Romanian friends or colleagues will be when you display your excellent conversational skills! With RomanianPod101, getting there will be easy and fun.

It’s a numbers game out there.

No matter what you say in Romanian, sooner or later you’re going to run into a handful of Romanian numbers. Phone numbers, prices, ages… How are you going to react?

Are you going to freeze up and sheepishly say the number in English with a Romanian accent? (I’ve seen it happen!)

Or are you going to smoothly and serenely rattle off a tongue twister like șapte sute douăzeci și cinci (seven-hundred and twenty-five)?

It sounds beautiful—and in this article, we’ll break down how these numbers are formed and how you can use them correctly every single time.

Table of Contents

1. How Romanian Got its Numbers
2. The Cardinal Numbers
3. The Ordinal Numbers
4. Phone Numbers
5. Conclusion: How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

1. How Romanian Got its Numbers

Language enthusiasts know that Romanian is not the “purest” of the Romance languages. Quite a few words in everyday life have been borrowed from Slavic or other neighboring languages of the area. Numbers, though—numbers are Latin through and through.

Even substantial sound changes like decem → zece and quattuor → patru fit right into the models of how we know languages evolve. And by the way, all these numbers are related to the English numerals as well, since they all end up coming from Proto-Indo-European, spoken more than 3,000 years ago!

2. The Cardinal Numbers

One of the most obvious features of Romanian when comparing it to other languages is its noun gender. Romanian nouns have one of three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Neuter nouns are interesting because they act masculine in the singular form, and feminine in the plural.

For our purposes in this article, we’ll just mention that unu and doi are the masculine forms of those numbers. The feminine forms are una and două, respectively. And above two, you don’t need to worry about that sort of declension!

When it comes to talking about zero, things work exactly like in English. We say “one degree” and “zero degrees,” and in Romanian, the plural is obligatory as well: un grad, zero grade.

Let’s move on to eleven through nineteen. If you’ve learned other European languages before, get ready for a little surprise…

They’re all regular! None of this eleven, twelve nonsense that exists in all the other European languages. Each of these comes from the base number, the word spre meaning “toward” (it used to mean “over,” which makes more sense), and zece meaning “ten.”

And what’s the deal with that third column? Well, you may have already noticed that sprezece is a bit of a mouthful. So in colloquial speech, you’ll very often just hear that ending as șpe. You wouldn’t want to write it in anything formal, and you might get made fun of by stuck-up grammarians, but in reality, everybody uses these short forms.

Take another look at that word for “eighteen.” That’s actually the word in Romanian with the most consonants all in one row: ptspr. Because of that inconvenience, you’ll often hear the variant optisprezece, which makes things easier by adding a vowel. Again, that’s not considered correct enough to write down.

After nineteen, things keep getting easier. We take the root number and stick on zeci, the plural of zece.

So “twenty” is douăzeci, made from două + zeci. “Forty” is patru + zeci on the same principle. The only strangeness is “sixty,” which doesn’t follow the pattern exactly. The regular form șasezeci is nowhere to be found, and instead șaizeci is what comes up.

For a construction like “twenty-five,” the phrasing is literally “twenty and five”: douăzeci și cinci. Nothing to it!

These words also have a simplified pronunciation: the whole zeci bit contracts to ș or zeș, so that “fifty-one” comes out to cincizeci și unu → cinzeșunu.

Also, when we count things after twenty, we add the word de meaning “of.” So we literally have “twenty of something” instead of “twenty somethings.” Observe:

• Ali Baba Şi Cei Patruzeci De Hoţi
  Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves (Ali Baba and The Forty of Thieves)

Once we get above ninety-nine, the sky’s the limit. Just like in English, we simply say each part of the number: so 365 is trei sute șaizeci și cinci, or literally “three hundreds sixty and five.”

And yes, I said “hundreds.” “Hundred” is sută, and the plural is sute, which is obligatory.

There’s one last thing to be appreciative of: In other Romance languages, the word for 1000 is something like mil, which is confusing for an English speaker, who thinks “million.” In Romanian, 1000 is simply mie, which is far enough away that there’s no reason to get confused!

3. The Ordinal Numbers

So we’ve got a good handle on how to count, and how to count things, in Romanian. What about listing things?

That’s where ordinal numbers come in, and they’re a total cinch.

The word for “first” in Romanian is the only irregular one; it’s primul for masculine and prima for feminine. All ordinal numbers have regular masculine and feminine variants, since what you’re actually saying is “the first [something].”

So for a masculine ordinal, you add -lea to the base number word. For a feminine ordinal, you just add -a.

“The third” becomes al treilea / a treia. Pretty cool, right? Unfortunately, it’s not quite as regular as that since there are a couple of vowel deletions and additions. Here’s a chart for you:

Have a look at that last one. Anything ending in -zece is going to follow the same pattern as zece itself. So all the numbers from eleven to nineteen (and 111 – 119, 211 – 219, etc) have the same endings.

• al doisprezecelea / a douăsprezecea
  The twelfth (masculine / feminine)

Once we get to twenty, a new pattern emerges. As we already know, multiples of ten end in -zeci. This will regularly turn to ­-zecilea (masculine) and -zecea (feminine).

So we’d eventually get to al treizecilea / a treizecea meaning “the thirtieth” and al cincizecilea / a cincizecea meaning “the fiftieth.”

Further, when we’re not counting even multiples of ten, we only modify the very last digit of the number. Just like in English, we don’t say “the fortiethfifth.” We say “the forty-fifth,” which in Romanian is al patruzeci și cincilea / a patruzeci și cincea.

With this information, you should be able to count pretty much anything. Even if you can’t remember the last time you mentioned “the seventy-seventh” of something, you now know the rules behind forming them!

There’s one last thing to consider: reversed forms.

When we talk about floors in a building, we switch the order like so:

• etajul al cincilea
  the fifth floor (literally the floor the fifth)

The same switcheroo happens for certain historical figures:

• Carol al Doilea
  Carol The Second

It happens in a few more places, but these are the most common, by far. When you go to a museum and the exhibit for Carol the First is on the sixth floor, you’ll know how to describe it.

4. Phone Numbers

Let’s take a few moments to look at one of the most common uses of numbers in daily Romanian life: the telephone. Romania’s country code is +40, read as plus patru zero.

For a long time, international calls could not be made out of Romania unless you were in government. In the 1990s, things started opening up, but there was still a complicated system for phone numbers, where some counties got longer and shorter numbers depending on their population.

Now, though, everyone’s number is nine digits long, plus a mandatory zero at the beginning. Don’t forget it! To ask for someone’s number, simply say:

• Îmi puteți da numărul de telefon?
  Can you give me your phone number?

5. Conclusion: How RomanianPod101 Can Help You Master Romanian

Learning to say numbers fluently in a foreign language sometimes feels like a thankless task. After all, when was the last time you thought a foreign speaker of your language did a particularly good job with numbers?

That ability just slips right by undetected.

But the good news is that, for a language with regular numbers like Romanian, you don’t need to spend a ton of time on it. Once you learn the base numbers and the rules for forming the other numbers, all you need is just a little bit of deliberate practice.

And then before you know it, you’ll be a numbers whiz in any language you want.

What did you think about counting and numbers in Romanian? Are there some you’re still struggling with? Let us know in the comments!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.

Learn 4 tools and techniques to stop translating in your head and start thinking in Romanian

Going through Romanian lessons is enough to get by and learn the basics of Romanian, but to truly become fluent you need to be able to think in Romanian. This will allow you to have conversations with ease, read smoothly, and comprehensively understand natives. To do this, you need to go beyond just completing daily or weekly lessons.

We naturally translate in our heads because it’s viewed as the easiest way to learn the definitions needed when learning a language. This way of learning can actually hinder your skills and fluency later on. If your brain has to make neural connections between the word you’re learning, what it means in your native tongue, and the physical object the connection will not be nearly as strong. When you bypass the original translation between Romanian and your native language then there is a more basic and strong connection between just the Romanian vocabulary word and the tangible object.

In this blog post, you will learn the 4 important techniques to easily and naturally begin to speculate about the daily occurrences in your life. The best part is all of these techniques are supported and can be achieved through RomanianPod101.com.

Create Your Free Lifetime Account and Start Learning the whole Romanian Language from the Beginning!

1. Surround yourself with Romanian

By surrounding yourself with Romanian constantly you will completely immerse yourself in the language. Without realizing it you’ll be learning pronunciation, sentence structures, grammar, and new vocabulary. You can play music in the background while you’re cooking or have a Romanian radio station on while you study. Immersion is a key factor with this learning process because it is one of the easiest things to do, but very effective. Even if you are not giving the program your full attention you will be learning.

One great feature of RomanianPod101.com is the endless podcasts that are available to you. You can even download and listen to them on the go. These podcasts are interesting and are perfect for the intention of immersion, they are easy to listen to as background noise and are interesting enough to give your full attention. Many of them contain stories that you follow as you go through the lessons which push you to keep going.

2. Learn through observation

Learning through observation is the most natural way to learn. Observation is how we all learned our native languages as infants and it’s a wonder why we stop learning this way. If you have patience and learn through observation then Romanian words will have their own meanings rather than meanings in reference to your native language. Ideally, you should skip the bilingual dictionary and just buy a dictionary in Romanian.

RomanianPod101.com also offers the materials to learn this way. We have numerous video lessons which present situational usage of each word or phrase instead of just a direct translation. This holds true for many of our videos and how we teach Romanian.

3. Speak out loud to yourself

Speaking to yourself in Romanian not only gets you in the mindset of Romanian, but also makes you listen to how you speak. It forces you to correct any errors with pronunciation and makes it easy to spot grammar mistakes. When you speak out loud talk about what you did that day and what you plan to do the next day. Your goal is to be the most comfortable speaking out loud and to easily create sentences. Once you feel comfortable talking to yourself start consciously thinking in your head about your daily activities and what is going on around you throughout the day.

With RomanianPod101.com you start speaking right away, not only this, but they have you repeat words and conversations after a native Romanian speaker. This makes your pronunciation very accurate! With this help, you are on the fast path to making clear and complex sentences and then actively thinking about your day.

4. Practice daily

If you don’t practice daily then your progress will be greatly slowed. Many people are tempted to take the 20-30 minutes they should be practicing a day and practice 120 in one day and skip the other days. This isn’t nearly as effective because everyday you practice you are reinforcing the skills and knowledge you have learned. If you practice all in one day you don’t retain the information because the brain can realistically only focus for 30 minutes at most. If you’re studying for 120 minutes on the same subject little of the information will be absorbed. Studying everyday allows you to review material that you went over previous days and absorb a small amount of information at a time.

It’s tough to find motivation to study everyday, but RomanianPod101.com can help. It’s easy to stay motivated with RomanianPod101.com because we give you a set learning path, with this path we show how much progress you’ve made. This makes you stick to your goals and keep going!

Conclusion

Following the steps and having patience is the hardest part to achieving your goals, it’s not easy learning a new language. You are essentially teaching your brain to categorize the world in a completely new way. Stick with it and you can do it just remember the 4 tools I taught you today! With them, conversations, reading, and understanding will become much easier. The most important thing to remember is to use the tools that RomanianPod101.com provides and you will be on your way to being fluent!

Learn Romanian With RomanianPod101 Today!

Learn 4 honest reasons you need Romanian slang words and why they are so vital to truly learning and mastering the language.

Teachers may normally cringe at the thought of their students learning Romanian slang words. After all, slang words and phrases are typically defined as being grammatically incorrect. So why would your teacher want you to spend time learning the “wrong way” to speak Romanian? Here are 4 of the top reasons why you should study slang words and expressions when learning Romanian or any new language.

1. Native Speakers Use Slang Expressions in Everyday Conversation

If you are going to study a foreign language and plan to use it to speak with native speakers, then you have to learn slang words and expressions. Otherwise, just using formal expressions and grammar may alienate you from native speakers and make it more difficult to establish a real connection. So it is best to at least learn some common slang words and expressions if you’re planning to meet or speak socially with someone.

2. Slang Words Are Used All Throughout Romanian Culture

If you turn on any popular Romanian TV show, listen to any song, or watch any movie, you are quickly going to see the value of learning Romanian slang phrases. Just like everyday conversations between native speakers, Romanian culture is filled with slang phrases and expressions. Without at least some knowledge of the more common slang phrases, popular culture and most conversations will be very confusing and potentially alienating.

3. Slang Expressions Help You Better Express Your True Thoughts and Feelings

Only relying on formal grammar and vocabulary is very limiting, especially in social situations. Just like in your native language, using the appropriate Romanian slang words can help you express a broader range of emotions, thoughts, and feelings.

4. Proper Use of Slang Makes You Sound More Natural

We’ve all met foreigners who technically used formal language perfectly but still sounded odd and well….foreign. But when you use the right slang words and expressions, you will sound more natural and like a true native speaker. If you notice, even most politicians include a sprinkling of slang expressions and words throughout their speeches to help them sound more natural and to better connect with the audience.

The Dark Side of Slang Expressions

Learning Romanian slang words can indeed help you sound more natural, better understand the people and culture, and make integration much easier. However, there is a dark side: using the wrong slang expressions can also make you look foolish, uneducated, and potentially disrespectful.

But how do you know which slang words or phrases to use and when?

The truth is that you can’t learn the most modern and appropriate slang words in textbooks or formal classroom settings. By the time the information gets incorporated into a formal curriculum, it’s already outdated and no longer in use by actual Romanian people. And while you can learn current slang expressions from Romanian TV shows, movies, songs, and games, you may not understand the context. If that happens, you may use the right Romanian slang words but in the wrong situation and still look like a fool or possibly even offend someone.

So where can you learn current slang expressions and the right context in which to use them?

At RomanianPod101, native speaking instructors create audio and video lessons that can include slang expressions and words. Our instructors provide context and examples for all the Romanian slang words used in any lesson to make sure students understand the right time and place to use them.

Romanian slang words and expressions may be grammatically incorrect but they are vital to truly understanding and immersing yourself in the culture. In fact, it will be very difficult to fully understand any movie, TV show, song, game, or even 1-on-1 conversation without knowing a few of the more common slang expressions.

However, it is important to learn the proper context and use of even popular slang expressions or you may come across as confusing, disrespectful, or uneducated.
At RomanianPod101, you’ll learn how to use slang phrases and words to draw the right attention and avoid these problems.

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Stuck in traffic? Losing time in your car? Have you ever felt that in all this wasted time, you could have watched the 750 episodes of One Piece, finished the last Super Mario ten times, or even better…you could have learned Romanian? Between family, friends and work, in addition to this time-consuming commute, it can become difficult to find time to properly learn Romanian.

Fortunately, every problem has a solution, and what could be a better solution than turning that commute time into learning time? Stop passing the time mindlessly listening to the radio and try some of our best tips for mastering Romanian in your car!

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You can learn Romanian in your car, hands free
While driving, it’s important that you keep your focus on the road, so this is why our top tips won’t require you to use your hands!

Listening to Romanian audio content in the car is a good way to learn
This is because it is a fun and efficient way to learn. With RomanianPod101.com podcasts, you will be able to discover Romanian culture through topics about everyday life. Instead of the radio, listen to a Romanian podcast adapted to your level, from Absolute Beginner to Advanced, and you will make progress sooner that you would expect!

You can listen to Romanian music in the car
Did you know that you can learn Romanian by singing while driving? Listen to songs from cartoon or drama and try to identify some words you learned.

Challenge yourself! Use the Romanian you’ve studied up to this point and see how much you understand! Making the jump to real-life Romanian is a scary one, but friendly children’s songs are a great place to start!

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You can learn alone in your car
When you’re driving alone, you can be as loud as you want – there is nothing better for remembering your Romanian lessons than repeating loudly, again and again. Next time you see a driver who seems to be talking alone, you will know he or she is just learning Romanian!

You can learn through repetition with your passengers
If there are passengers in the car, it can be more stimulating to learn together. You can set a role play with Romanian dialogues. With RomanianPod101.com, you can download all the lessons transcript including the dialogues, as a PDF. Print it out and have some fun speaking in Romanian!

One of the passengers can answer the quiz available on each of our lessons, while another can correct that person. Listening to someone at a more advanced level of Romanian or a better accent is positive and helps you improve.

You can learn Romanian offline
Do you have a poor connection or are unable to use the Internet? It’s not a problem for learning Romanian! Before you start your commute, use our App to download the lessons you want to study and the podcast you want to listen to in your car, and you will be able to enjoy your lessons offline. Entering a tunnel won’t be a problem anymore. What a pleasure to listen to audio content without having the host freezing every 5 seconds!

Click here to download the App and learn offline!

You can learn every day at your own pace
One of the best approaches for learning a language is little by little and often. It’s not efficient to take in a huge amount of information at one time. What you need is to study on a regular basis – a little bit of Romanian every day. You commute several days a week, and that is all time you can take advantage of!

You have the freedom to choose the lessons and podcasts you want to focus on, at your own rhythm. You may want to do a little revision or discover how to talk about a new topic. And if you’re wondering what to learn next, you can use the new Learning Paths, which is our customized pathway feature that gives you a step-by-step way to learn Romanian without getting lost!

Click here to access Learning Paths at RomanianPod101!

If you don’t have a car and commute by another method, these tips are still valid! Learning Romanian is no longer limited to the classroom or your house; there are so many benefits to learning in your car or elsewhere. Reaching a conversational level will take you less time than you could ever have imagined! Don’t forget to sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and enjoy our content!