Romanian Language Lessons

Pre-Departure On-Line Training

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US Peace Corps in Romania Survival Romanian

Table of Contents. 1

Introduction 2

Lesson 1: The Romanian Alphabet 3

Lesson 2: Greetings 4

Lesson 3: Introducing self 5

Lesson 4: Days of the Week. 6

Lesson 5: Small numbers. 7

Lesson 6: Big numbers. 8

Lesson 7: Shopping.. 9

Lesson 8: At the restaurant..... 10

Lesson 9: Orientation 11

Lesson 10: Useful phrases . 12

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US Peace Corps in Romania Survival Romanian

Introduction

Romanian (limba romn 'limba ro'mn/) is one of the Romance languages that belong to
the Indo-European family of languages that descend from Latin along with French, Italian, Spanish
and Portuguese. It is the fifth of the Romance languages in terms of number of speakers. It is
spoken as a first language by somewhere around 24 to 26 million people, and enjoys official
status in Romania, Moldova and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (Serbia). The official form
of the Moldovan language in the Republic of Moldova is identical to the official form of Romanian
save for a minor rule in spelling. Romanian is also an official or administrative language in various
communities and organisations (such as the Latin Union and the European Union the latter as of
2007). It is a melodious language that has basically the same sounds as English with a few
exceptions. These entered the language because of the slavic influence and of many borrowing
made from the neighboring languages. It uses the Latin alphabet which makes it easy to spell and
read. It is also a synthaetic language, connecting the words with prepositions but adding
possession, gender and number indicators to the end of the words.
Romanian speakers are also found abroad in many other countries (due to emigration),
notably in Italy, Spain, the United States, Canada, France and Germany. Owing to a general lack
of consistently-derived data, precise estimates for the total numbers of Romanian-speaking
emigrants are not available. Some secondary sources claim for example that more than 3 million
Romanian speakers live abroad as immigrants in Europe and North America; however, such
census data as is available indicates that these numbers may be overestimates.
We hope you will find the following language lessons helpful and useful for getting a first
grasp of what Romanian sounds and looks like. The language lessons contain survival elements
that should support your arrival in our country. It is everything you need to get by the first days of
orientation until commencing the proper language classes.
Enjoy!

Peace Corps Romania Language Team

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Lesson 1 The Alphabet - Alfabetul

Romanian Transliteration English

Consoane Konsoaneh Consonants
B beh board
C cheh car
D deh dear
F ef flower
G deh Greg
H hash hipo
J garage
K Kapa kiosk
L el lamp
M em milk
N en note
P peh Patricia
R r recent
S s sky
sh should
T Teh try
tz nuts
V veh viola
X iks xerox
Z zet wolves

Vocale Vokaleeh Vowels

A Aah car
girl
, mine
E eh end
I ee indian
O oh door
U oo wood

Grupuri de litere Groo-poori deh leeteh-reh Letter groups

CE che chest
CI chi chip
CHE ke Ken
CHI ki mosquito

GE de Roger
GI di register
GHE gue get
GHI gui give

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Lesson 2 Greetings - Saluturile

Romanian Transliteration English

Saluturile Sahlootooreeleh Greetings
Formal Formaal Formal
Bun dimineaa! Boo-n dee-mee-nea-tza Good morning!
Bun ziua! Boo-n zee-wah Good afternoon!
Bun seara! Boo-n se-ah-ra Good evening!
Noapte bun! Noo-ap-the boo-n Good night!
La revedere! La reh-veh-deh-reh Good bye!
Informal Eenformaal Informal
Bun Boo-n Hello!
Ciao chiao Ciao
Salut Sah-loot Hi!
Neaa Nea-tza Morning!
Pa Pah Bye.

ntrebri ntrehbri Question words

Unde? oo-ndeeh Where?
Cnd? Knd When?
Care? Kareh Which?
Ce? Che What?
De ce? Deh che Why?
Cum? Koom How?
Cine? chineh Who?
Pe cine? Peh chineh? Whom?
Cui? Kooy To whom?
Al/a/ai/ale cui? Aal/ah/aay/aaleh kooy Whose?

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Lesson 3 Introducing self- Prezentarea

Romanian Transliteration English

Verbul A FI Verbool Ah Fee The Verb TO BE
Eu sunt Eoo soont I am
Tu eti Too yeshti You are
El este El yesteeh He/it is
Ea este Ea yesteeh She/it is
Noi suntem Noi soon-tem We are
Voi suntei Voi soon-te-tzi You (all) are
Ei/ele sunt Ey/ eleeh soont They are

Profesiuni Proh-feh-see-ooni Jobs

Contabil Kon-ta-bil accountant
Inginer een-gi-ner engineer
Avocat Ah-vo-kat lawyer
Profesor Pro-fe-sor teacher
Arhitect Ar-hi-tekt architect

Dialog Dee-ah-log Dialogue

John: Bun ziua. M Boon zi-ooah. M Good afternoon. My
cheam John. Cum te cheh-am John. Koom name is John. What is
cheam? teh cheh-am? your name ?
Maria: M cheam M cheh-am Maria. My name is Maria.
Maria.
J: mi pare bine mi pareeh bee-neh. Glad to meet you.
M: mi pare bine. De mi pareeh bee-neh. Glad to meet you too.
unde eti? Deh oon-deh eshti? Where are you from ?
J: Sunt din America. Soont din America. Shi I am from America. And
i tu? too? you ?
M: Eu sunt din Eoo soont din Romnia. I am from Romania.
Romnia.
J: Cu ce te ocupi? Koo cheh the ok-oopi? What do you do ?
M: Eu sunt Eoo soont pro-fe-soa- I am a teacher. And
profesoar. Dar tu? rh. Dar too? you ?
J: Eu sunt voluntar Eoo soont vo-loon-tar I am a Peace Corps
la Corpul Pcii. lah Kor-pool Pchii. Volunteer.

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Lesson 4 Days of the week Zilele sptmnii

Romanian Transliteration English

Luni looni Monday
Mari Maartzi Tuesday
Miercuri Mier-koo-ri Wednesday
Joi oi Thursday
Vineri Vee-neh-ri Friday
Smbt Sm-b-th Saturday
Duminic Doomee-nee-k Sunday

Sptmna Sp-t-mnaah the week

Stmna aceasta Sp-t-mnaah ach-eas-tah this week
Sptmna trecut Sp-t-mnaah tre-koo-th last week
Sptmna viitoare Sp-t-mnaah vee-ee-toa-reh next week

Astzi/azi Aahs-tzi today

Ieri Yeri Yesterday
Mine Mi-neh tomorrow

Astzi este ziua mea! Aahs-tzi esteh zi-ooah meah Today is my

birthday!
La muli ani! Lah mooltzi aani Happy birthday!

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Lesson 5 Small numbers Numere mici

Romanian Transliteration English

1 unu Oonoo one
2 doi Doy two
3 trei Trey three
4 patru Pah-troo four
5 cinci chinchi five
6 ase Shaseh six
7 apte Shapteh seven
8 opt Opt eight
9 nou No-oo nine
10 zece Zeh-che ten
11 unsprezece oon-spre-ze-che eleven
12 doisprezece Doi-spre-ze-che twelve
13 treisprezece Trey- spre-ze-che thirteen
14 paisprezece Paay- spre-ze-che fourteen
15 cincisprezece Chin-chi- spre-ze-che fifteen
16 aisprezece Shay- spre-ze-che sixteen
17 aptesprezece Shap-teh- spre-ze-che seventeen
18 optsprezece Opt- spre-ze-che eighteen
19 nousprezece No-oo- spre-ze-che nineteen
20 douzeci Do-oo zeh-chi twenty
21 douzeci i unu Do-oo zeh-chi shee oo-noo
22 douzeci i doi Do-oo zeh-chi shee doy
23 douzeci i trei Do-oo zeh-chi shee trey
::::::::::::::::::::::.
30 treizeci Trey zeh-chi thirty
40 patruzeci Pa-troo zeh-chi fourty
50 cincizeci Chinchi zeh-chi fifty
60 aizeci Shaay zeh-chi sixty
70 aptezeci Shapteh zeh-chi seventy
80 optzeci Opt zeh-chi eighty
90 nouzeci No-oo zeh-chi ninety
100 o sut O soo-th one hundred

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Lesson 6 - Big numbers Numere mari

Romanian Transliteration English
101 o sut unu O sooth oo-noo One hundred and one
102 o sut doi O sooth doy One hundred and two
103 o sut trei O sooth trey One hundred and three
104 o sut patru O sooth pah-troo One hundred and four
105 o sut cinci O sooth chin-chi One hundred and five
106 o sut ase O sooth sha-seh One hundred and six
107 o sut apte O sooth shap-teh One hundred and seven
108 o sut opt O sooth opt One hundred and eight
109 o sut nou O sooth no-oo One hundred and nine
110 o sut zece O sooth ze-cheh One hundred and ten
120 o sut douzeci O sooth do-oo zechi One hundred and twenty
130 o sut treizeci O sooth trey zechi One hundred and thirty
140 o sut patruzeci O sooth patroo zechi One hundred and fourty
150 o sut cincizeci O sooth chin-chi zechi One hundred and fifty
160 o sut aizeci O sooth shay zechi One hundred and sixty
170 o sut aptezeci O sooth shap-teh One hundred and seventy
zechi
180 o sut optzeci O sooth opt zechi One hundred and eighty
190 o sut nouzeci O sooth noh-oo zechi One hundred and ninety
200 dou sute Do-oo soo-teh Two hundred
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
300 trei sute Trey soo-teh Three hundred
400 patru sute Pah-troo soo-teh Four hundred
500 cinci sute Chin-chi soo-teh Five hundred
::::::::::::::::::::::::
900 nou sute Noh-oo soo-teh Nine hundred
1.000 o mie Oh mee-yeh One thousand
1.200 o mie dou sute Oh mee-yeh do-oo One thousand two
soo-teh hundred
1.230 o mie dou sute treizeci Oh mee-yeh do-oo One thousand thwo
soo-teh trey zechi hundred thirty
1.238 o mie dou sute treizeci i opt Oh mee-yeh do-oo One thousand thwo
soo-teh trey zechi shee hundred thirty eight
opt
10.000 zece mii Zeche mee Ten thousand
10.500 zece mii cinci sute Zeche mee chin-chi Ten thousand five
soo-teh hundred
10.570 zece mii cinci sute aptezeci Zeche mee chin-chi Ten thousand five
soo-teh shapteh zechi hundred seventy
10.579 zece mii cinci sute aptezeci i Zeche mee chin-chi Ten thousand five
nou soo-teh shapteh zechi hundred seventy nine
shee no-oo
100.000 o sut de mii O soo-t deh mee One hundred thousand
1.000.000 un milion Oon mee-lee-on One million

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Lesson 7 Shopping La cumprturi

Romanian Transliteration English

Culorile Kooloreeleh Colors
Rou Roh-shoo Red
Galben Gaal-ben Yellow
Albastru Aal-bastroo Blue
Verde Vehrdeh green
Maro Mahroh brown
Negru Nehgroo black
Alb aalb white
Oranj Oran orange
Violet Vee-oh-let purple
Roz Rohz pink
Gri gree grey

Dialog la cumprturi Dee-alog lah koom-pr- Shopping dialogue

toori
Tom: Bun ziua. Boonh zee-ooah. Good afternoon
Vnztoarea: Bun ziua, Boonh zee-ooah, spoo-nei, Good afternoon, how can I
spunei v rog,ce dorii? vh rog, cheh doreetzi? help you?
T: Am nevoie de o jachet. Aam neh-vo-yeh deh oh I need a jacket.
aketh.
V: Ce mrime? Cheh m-ree-meh? What size?
T: Mrimea L, cred. M-ree-mea L, cred. Size L, I think.
V: Ce culoare? Cheh coo-loa-reh? What color?
T: Albastru deschis, v rog. Aal-bastroo dehs-kees, vh Light blue, please.
rog.
V: Poftii. Pof-teetzi. Here you are.
T: Da, mi place. O cumpr. Dah, mi placheh. Oh Yes, I like it. Im buying it.
Ct cost? koompr. How much is it?
V: 150 de lei. 150 de ley. 150 lei.
T: Hm, e cam scump dar Hm, eh kahm skoomph dar Hm, its kind of expensive
am nevoie de ea ahm nevoyeh deh ya. but I need it.
V: La revedere. Lah reh-veh-deh-reh. Good bye.
T: La revedere. Lah reh-veh-deh-reh. Good bye.

Am nevoie de o cartel de Ahm nevoyeh deh oh I need a phone card/I need a

telefon/ Am nevoie de un kartehl deh the-leh fon/ cell phone/ I need a plug
telefon celular/ Am nevoie de Ahm nevoyeh deh oon the- converter.
un adaptor de priz. leh fon che-loo-lar/ Ahm
nevoyeh deh oon ah-dap-
tohr deh pree-zh.

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Lesson 8 At the restaurant La restaurant

Romanian Transliteration English

Sunt la restaurant. Soont la reh-stah-oorant. I am at the restaurant.
Comand ceva de but. Komahnd chevah deh I order something to drink.
boot.
Bun ziua. Ce dorii ? Boon zee-ooa. Cheh Good afternoon. What would
doreetzi? you like to have?
A dori ap, v rog. Ash doree ap, vh rog. I would like water, please
Mineral sau plat ? Mee-neh-rah-l saoo Mineral or spring water ?
plah-t ?
Ap mineral. Aap mee-neh-rah-l. Mineral water.
Poftim. Pofteem. Here you are.
Mulumesc. Mool-tzoo-mesk Thank you.
Cu plcere. Koo plchereh. You are welcome.

A dori cafea Ash doree kafea I would like coffee

A dori ceai Ash doree cheaay I would like tea
A dori bere Ash doree beh-reh Ilwould like beer

Sunt la restaurant. Soont la reh-stah-oorant. I am at the restaurant.

Comand ceva de mncare. Komahnd chevah deh I order something to eat
mnka-reh.
Bun ziua. Ce dorii ? Boon zee-ooa. Cheh Good afternoon. What would
doreetzi? you like to have?
A dori sup de pui, v rog. Ash doree soop, vh I would like chicken soup
rog.
Ciorb Chiorb. sour soup
Friptur de vit Freep-too-r deh pooy. Beef steak
Pine Py-neh bread
Garnitur Gaar-nee-too-rh garnish
Cartofi piure Kartofi pee-ooreh. eshed potatoes
Cartofi prjii Kartofi pr-eetz French fries
Orez Oh-rehz Rice.
Un meniu vegetarian. Oon meh-neeoo ve-geh- A vegetarian menu.
ta-ree-an

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Lesson 9 Orientation Orientare pe strad

Romanian Transliteration English

Unde locuieti/stai? Oon-deh lo-koo-yeshti/ Where do you live?
staai?
Eu locuiesc pe strada... Yeoo lokooyesk peh I live on .... street
stradah...
Locuiesc ntr-un Lokooyesk ntroon I live in a small apartment.
apartament mic. apartament mik.
Locuiesc ntr-o cas. Lokooyesk ntroh kas. I live in a house.
Unde este buctria? Oondeh yesteh boo- Where is the kitchen?
ktreea?
Unde este baia? Oondeh yesteh bayah? Where is the bathroom?
Unde este camera mea? Oondeh yesteh kamerah Where is my room?
meah?
Este frumos/frumoas. Yesteh froomos/ It is nice.
froomoas.
Este mare. Yesteh maareh. It is big.
Este mic/mic. Yesteh meek/meek. It is small.
Este ap cald. Yesteh aap kald. There is hot water.
Este ap rece. Yesteh aap recheh There is cold water.
Scuzai-m, unde este Skoozatzeem, oondeh Excuse me, where is the
coala? yesteh shkoala? school?
Mergei drept nainte i a merdetzi drept naeenteh Go strainght ahead and
doua strad la dreapta/ shee ah do-ooah strah-d turn the second to the
stnga. lah dreap-tah/stngah. right/left.
Aici Aeech here
Acolo Akoloh there
Aproape Aproa-peh near
Departe Deh-par.teh far

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Lesson 10 Everyday phrases Expresii uzuale

Romanian Transliteration English

Formal Formal Formal
Ce mai facei? Cheh maay fachetzi? How are you?
Sunt bine, mulumesc. Soont beeneh, I am fine, thank you.
mooltzoomesk.
Nu prea bine. Noo preah bee-neh. Not so good.
V rog. V rog. Please.
Poftii. Pofteetzi. Here you are.
Informal Eenformaal Informal
Ce mai faci? Cheh maay fachi? How are you?
Bine, merci. Beeneh, mersee. I am fine, thank you.
Nu prea bine./Aa i aa Noo preah bee-neh. Not so good. So and so.
Ashah shee ashah.
Te rog. Teh rog. Please.
Poftim. Pofteem. Here you are.

Mulumesc. Mooltzoomesk Thank you

Cu plcere. Koo plchereh You are welcome.
mi place. mi placheh. I like it.
Nu mi place. Noo mi placheh. I dont like it.
mi pare ru. mi pareh roo. I am sorry.
Sunt obosit/obosit. Soont oboseet/oboseet. I am tired.
Mi-e frig. Myeh freeg. I am cold.
Mi-e cald. Myeh kald. I am hot.
Mi-e somn. Myeh somn. I am sleepy.
Mi-e sete. Myeh she-the. I am thirsty.
Mi-e foame. Myeh foameh. I am hungry.
Nu mi-e foame. Noo myeh foameh. I am not hungry.
M-am sturat. Mam stoorat. I am full.

Cum se spune...? Koom she spooneh? How do you say.......?

Nu neleg Noo ntzeh-leg I dont understand
Vorbii mai rar Vorbee-tzi maay rar. Dont speak so fast
Scuzai-m Skoo-zatzeem Excuse me!
Pot s v ajut cu ceva? Pot s v aoot koo May I help you with anything?
chevah?
Ce nseamn? Che nseamn? What does it mean?
mi pare ru. mi pareh roo. I am sorry
mi pare bine. mi pareh bee-neh. Glad to meet you
E clar? Yeh klar? Is it clear?
Ai neles? Atzi ntzeles? Did you understand?
Repetai, v rog! Repetatzi v rog. Repeat, please!
Noroc! Noroc! Norok! Cheers!
Noroc! Norok! Bless you! (when you sneeze).

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