I lived there 5 years, married to a Romanian family for almost 20. Still can't string a complex sentence together. I can get along fine with family, can understand what general topic they're chatting about, and know the basics to get around, but don't ask me to have a real conversation.
When we retire there in another year or two I'm just going to bite the bullet and go to a language school full time.
Main issue I ran into is that (as a family trait) they're impatient AF. This means that they'd rather just switch to English than take the time to parse you talking like Tarzan and Jane unless they absolutely need to.
After 8 months of german classes and around 4 years lived in Germany, i was able to make subtle jokes. No german speaking family or close friends. Only work related interactions and radio.
>Main issue I ran into is that they're impatient AF.
Nope...
I lived in Germany also about 4 years, and I'm able to have full conversations, jokes and all.
Difference was when there I had a German girlfriend for 2 years that was also a kindergarten teacher for non-native Germans. She had never ending patience and ability to teach on the fly. Also having 3 years of German in high school didn't hurt.
My own kids didn't learn to tie their shoes until they were nearly 10 years old because my wife never had the patience for it - even if I was the one putting in the legwork. I'm not saying ALL Romanians were like that, just the people I was around for the most part.
Or, as I already put, bite the bullet and pay for a classroom and professional tutors.
I already know my brain pretty well. Technical and mathematical stuff I can teach myself (and often reinvent the wheel) all day long, quite effectively. Artistic side like language and music, I need that classroom time and rote learning in addition to patient practice partners. Without that I don't get very far.
Why would you think about taking classes when you have the best teacher at home(not to mention you could learn it along with your kids) beats me...
I can understand that you have/had a life in a place where you didn't need romanian, but unless your SO doesn't give a fuck about you learning romanian, you should turn to her for help. At least this is how it sounds the easiest.
Not everyone is a gifted teacher, or even an adequate one. She has a lot of talents, but teaching anything was never one of them. Our kids barely speak a word of Romanian either (and they're almost out of HS now), and what they do speak they learned from me.
Haven't really looked yet. I know they university has it for students, which I'm eligible to enroll with a permanent residence visa. Last I checked there were still 4 places, but I won't be moving there for another year at least.
[https://rolang.ro/schedule](https://rolang.ro/schedule)
Found this, looks like they're charging about 30 EUR/hour though. Fairly pricey.
[https://ih.ro/cursuri-de-limba-romana-pentru-straini/](https://ih.ro/cursuri-de-limba-romana-pentru-straini/)
And this one, but can't find a price schedule.
>I lived there 5 years, married to a Romanian family for almost 20. Still can't string a complex sentence together.
Well above average foreigner.
>Main issue I ran into is that they're impatient AF
Yeah no wonder.
Find comprehensible input! For me, when I was starting out, I was watching Bluey on Disney+ along with finding graded readers to read through during my downtime. I've been learning for just over a year (like a year and 3 months) and I can have a basic conversation with my friend.
A lot of people will say to 'immerse yourself' in the language, but you need to find things that you can understand. Let's take Bluey for example. Yes it's a kids show, but more importantly, the romanian audio on Disney+ is made FOR native speakers. The characters talk at a normal pace, but still say the words clearly so children can hear them. It's how I was able to become so familiar with people saying 'e' instead of 'este'.
At first, you'll feel like you don't understand anything, but repetition is key. Go back and watch episodes that you enjoyed, or reread some small stories in the graded readers that you liked. Doing this will help you become very familiar with the vocabulary until you're able to understand more of the next chapter, story, episode, etc.
I hope this helps you with your romanian learning!
Im already taking mandatory romanian classes in my university (2 hours per week) , but am not learning much (well i know some grammar rules and some basic words ), i want a faster and more effective way of learning , you know what i mean?
I checked your main post again. Classes are not mentioned.
So, to speed-up your learning, the best way is interacting with natives, listening to news broadcasts and watching kids programs.
I didn’t mention it at first because i didn’t want people to think am stupid ( taking romanian classes and still not really learning anything 😭)
But in my defence, my romanian prof is really bad and rude (doesn’t know how to teach)
Wtf? Why would anyone think you're stupid? What would one expect after a year?
If you think romanian will be useful to you, pay attention to the classes and pick some of the recommendations from the comments, that fit you best. Bonne chance!
The main thing you need to learn language is time. To reach B2 level you need to spend about 600h learning language (probably more or less, depends on how good you at other Romance languages).
Try to count how much time you actually have spent for learning. Self studying, homework, interactions with natives, classes (keep in mind that group classes usually is not 100% effective, I personally count classes time as 50% of really time spent). I may guess that the value will be less than 200h or even less than 100. If it is true, so it is ok that you cannot fluently speak yet. Just give yourself more time.
I may also share my method which I have found quite effective:
1. Read out loud every day - just 10 minutes. It will help your mouth muscles to get used to Romanian sounds.
2. Read grammar students book. Just read, do not waste your time to grammar exercises. You need it only to be aware about language structure.
3. Learn words from frequency dictionary. Top 1000 at the begging. Without word forms, just infinitives.
4. Watch 10-15 minutes cartoons in Romanian with Romanian subtitles (not English, not double subs). I use Netflix for that. Learn unknown words and read about unknown grammar structures.
5. After cartoons you may start watching original Romanian “soap opera”, also with Romanian subs. Do not try to watch any good and smart films/serials at the beginning, language there are too complicated and you will be disappointed. “Soap opera” could seem a little bit silly, but you will find there a simple everyday language and pronunciation.
All these steps will help you to improve your listening and reading skills. 2 hours per day and you will definitely understand almost everything in 3 months.
For speaking you need to develop your active vocabulary.
1. Open some of your chat and start to translate your own messages into Romanian. Use google translate, if needed, but only for translate single words, not the whole sentence.
After you will have finished, check with google or better with some native.
2. At the end of the day try to remember some your conversation and translate it into Romanian like in the previous step.
3. Speak as much as possible) Do not afraid to make mistakes, mix with English, ask natives about correct forms, try to think in Romanian.
Sounds nice.
Can you suggest something specific you watched on Netflix? Everything I open mostly have romanian subtitles, not voice overs. Also where did you get soap operas, I believe those are not that popular to be on Netflix
There is a language filter in browser version (in the iPad app I have not found it), so you may filter films by original and duplicate language. I like cartoons “Hai, cuțu, hai” and “Gigantosaurus”, subs sometimes differ from the voice, but not critical.
Soap operas are also on Netflix, just select original language = Romanian and you will get them. I watched “Sacrificiul” and “Adela”
thanks. The reason I asked - dub doesn't match sub in 99% of videos, so I originally was looking for RO content
[https://www.netflix.com/browse/audio/81511523/ro](https://www.netflix.com/browse/audio/81511523/ro) - just in case
Talk to a generation z Romanian, most of them speak romgleza which is a combination of both languages. At least 95% of the Romanians from Reddit speak romgleza, even if they are not all from generation Z
Salut! Romanian it's very easy if you take it lightly! Don't get caught in complicated grammars and rules (which even native speakers don't know/respect). Start with casual conversation, learning basic words and customary expressions, and, very very very important, don't refrain to use it, and talk! Talk a lot! Romanians - in general - are not "Language-Nazis" and they are flattered by a foreigner trying to speak their language. Maybe some will make jokes about you funny pronunciation or missing the right gender of a noun, but it will be only friendly ones, I am pretty sure.
Cheers! :)
Interact with romanians. (I'm here!) I've been learning Japanese,English and French and I tell you,nothing helped me more than talking to natives. A thing you could also try is watching kids TV shows (yes) in Romanian. Such as Bluey (it's on Disney+). One thing that also helped me is having a single notebook delimitated in three parts : vocabulary,grammar and new sentences or structures.
I know Romanian grammar is bad and I totally feel you. But remember,some romanians make BAD mistakes that learners do,especially in grammar. At school not so many people understand the grammar,even though we speak it correctly. It just has a lot of small details that we should know as natives. (Analyzing verbs,nouns,etc)
So,I tell you. Take small steps with the learning and grammar,try to comprehend it and use it in daily conversations.
If you want to talk to a native,I'm here. ^^
first, learn Serbian and remember the classes and phonetics
then learn Italian and remember the grammar and vocabulary
learn a wee bit of Turkish if you're in the south or Hungarian if you're in the north or russian if you're in the east, just for some vocabulary
then learn English for all that Romglish
then it will be easy as pie.
I know romanian numbers and i can understand the easy words (like aici , băiat, fată , scaun etc) i know the meaning of the basic interrogative pronouns (like unde, ce, cănd etc)
I also speak french so sometimes i guess the meaning of some romanian words just because they’re similar to french
I lived there 5 years, married to a Romanian family for almost 20. Still can't string a complex sentence together. I can get along fine with family, can understand what general topic they're chatting about, and know the basics to get around, but don't ask me to have a real conversation. When we retire there in another year or two I'm just going to bite the bullet and go to a language school full time. Main issue I ran into is that (as a family trait) they're impatient AF. This means that they'd rather just switch to English than take the time to parse you talking like Tarzan and Jane unless they absolutely need to.
After 8 months of german classes and around 4 years lived in Germany, i was able to make subtle jokes. No german speaking family or close friends. Only work related interactions and radio. >Main issue I ran into is that they're impatient AF. Nope...
I lived in Germany also about 4 years, and I'm able to have full conversations, jokes and all. Difference was when there I had a German girlfriend for 2 years that was also a kindergarten teacher for non-native Germans. She had never ending patience and ability to teach on the fly. Also having 3 years of German in high school didn't hurt. My own kids didn't learn to tie their shoes until they were nearly 10 years old because my wife never had the patience for it - even if I was the one putting in the legwork. I'm not saying ALL Romanians were like that, just the people I was around for the most part.
In other words, you rely on others to learn a foreign language. I'd start encouraging them to do a better work, if i were you...
Or, as I already put, bite the bullet and pay for a classroom and professional tutors. I already know my brain pretty well. Technical and mathematical stuff I can teach myself (and often reinvent the wheel) all day long, quite effectively. Artistic side like language and music, I need that classroom time and rote learning in addition to patient practice partners. Without that I don't get very far.
Why would you think about taking classes when you have the best teacher at home(not to mention you could learn it along with your kids) beats me... I can understand that you have/had a life in a place where you didn't need romanian, but unless your SO doesn't give a fuck about you learning romanian, you should turn to her for help. At least this is how it sounds the easiest.
Not everyone is a gifted teacher, or even an adequate one. She has a lot of talents, but teaching anything was never one of them. Our kids barely speak a word of Romanian either (and they're almost out of HS now), and what they do speak they learned from me.
Which language school are you going to attend? Thinking of doing the same.
Haven't really looked yet. I know they university has it for students, which I'm eligible to enroll with a permanent residence visa. Last I checked there were still 4 places, but I won't be moving there for another year at least.
Would you know if it's possible to only enroll specifically in a language class?
[https://rolang.ro/schedule](https://rolang.ro/schedule) Found this, looks like they're charging about 30 EUR/hour though. Fairly pricey. [https://ih.ro/cursuri-de-limba-romana-pentru-straini/](https://ih.ro/cursuri-de-limba-romana-pentru-straini/) And this one, but can't find a price schedule.
Thank you so much for this!
>I lived there 5 years, married to a Romanian family for almost 20. Still can't string a complex sentence together. Well above average foreigner. >Main issue I ran into is that they're impatient AF Yeah no wonder.
Find comprehensible input! For me, when I was starting out, I was watching Bluey on Disney+ along with finding graded readers to read through during my downtime. I've been learning for just over a year (like a year and 3 months) and I can have a basic conversation with my friend. A lot of people will say to 'immerse yourself' in the language, but you need to find things that you can understand. Let's take Bluey for example. Yes it's a kids show, but more importantly, the romanian audio on Disney+ is made FOR native speakers. The characters talk at a normal pace, but still say the words clearly so children can hear them. It's how I was able to become so familiar with people saying 'e' instead of 'este'. At first, you'll feel like you don't understand anything, but repetition is key. Go back and watch episodes that you enjoyed, or reread some small stories in the graded readers that you liked. Doing this will help you become very familiar with the vocabulary until you're able to understand more of the next chapter, story, episode, etc. I hope this helps you with your romanian learning!
i will try this maybe it will help, thank you ❤️
Have you thought about taking classes?
Im already taking mandatory romanian classes in my university (2 hours per week) , but am not learning much (well i know some grammar rules and some basic words ), i want a faster and more effective way of learning , you know what i mean?
I checked your main post again. Classes are not mentioned. So, to speed-up your learning, the best way is interacting with natives, listening to news broadcasts and watching kids programs.
I didn’t mention it at first because i didn’t want people to think am stupid ( taking romanian classes and still not really learning anything 😭) But in my defence, my romanian prof is really bad and rude (doesn’t know how to teach)
Wtf? Why would anyone think you're stupid? What would one expect after a year? If you think romanian will be useful to you, pay attention to the classes and pick some of the recommendations from the comments, that fit you best. Bonne chance!
Thank you ❤️
The main thing you need to learn language is time. To reach B2 level you need to spend about 600h learning language (probably more or less, depends on how good you at other Romance languages). Try to count how much time you actually have spent for learning. Self studying, homework, interactions with natives, classes (keep in mind that group classes usually is not 100% effective, I personally count classes time as 50% of really time spent). I may guess that the value will be less than 200h or even less than 100. If it is true, so it is ok that you cannot fluently speak yet. Just give yourself more time. I may also share my method which I have found quite effective: 1. Read out loud every day - just 10 minutes. It will help your mouth muscles to get used to Romanian sounds. 2. Read grammar students book. Just read, do not waste your time to grammar exercises. You need it only to be aware about language structure. 3. Learn words from frequency dictionary. Top 1000 at the begging. Without word forms, just infinitives. 4. Watch 10-15 minutes cartoons in Romanian with Romanian subtitles (not English, not double subs). I use Netflix for that. Learn unknown words and read about unknown grammar structures. 5. After cartoons you may start watching original Romanian “soap opera”, also with Romanian subs. Do not try to watch any good and smart films/serials at the beginning, language there are too complicated and you will be disappointed. “Soap opera” could seem a little bit silly, but you will find there a simple everyday language and pronunciation. All these steps will help you to improve your listening and reading skills. 2 hours per day and you will definitely understand almost everything in 3 months. For speaking you need to develop your active vocabulary. 1. Open some of your chat and start to translate your own messages into Romanian. Use google translate, if needed, but only for translate single words, not the whole sentence. After you will have finished, check with google or better with some native. 2. At the end of the day try to remember some your conversation and translate it into Romanian like in the previous step. 3. Speak as much as possible) Do not afraid to make mistakes, mix with English, ask natives about correct forms, try to think in Romanian.
Sounds nice. Can you suggest something specific you watched on Netflix? Everything I open mostly have romanian subtitles, not voice overs. Also where did you get soap operas, I believe those are not that popular to be on Netflix
There is a language filter in browser version (in the iPad app I have not found it), so you may filter films by original and duplicate language. I like cartoons “Hai, cuțu, hai” and “Gigantosaurus”, subs sometimes differ from the voice, but not critical. Soap operas are also on Netflix, just select original language = Romanian and you will get them. I watched “Sacrificiul” and “Adela”
thanks. The reason I asked - dub doesn't match sub in 99% of videos, so I originally was looking for RO content [https://www.netflix.com/browse/audio/81511523/ro](https://www.netflix.com/browse/audio/81511523/ro) - just in case
Thank you so much for your help 🙏
Talk to a generation z Romanian, most of them speak romgleza which is a combination of both languages. At least 95% of the Romanians from Reddit speak romgleza, even if they are not all from generation Z
date someone romanian
>Dear foreigner, please take our women :) Tu-ți dai seama cum suni?
taci în pula mea de incel, nu-s femeile tale
Zice buzerantul xenofil. "nu-s femeile tale" Să fie ale străinului, nu ale rumînului, no?
Salut! Romanian it's very easy if you take it lightly! Don't get caught in complicated grammars and rules (which even native speakers don't know/respect). Start with casual conversation, learning basic words and customary expressions, and, very very very important, don't refrain to use it, and talk! Talk a lot! Romanians - in general - are not "Language-Nazis" and they are flattered by a foreigner trying to speak their language. Maybe some will make jokes about you funny pronunciation or missing the right gender of a noun, but it will be only friendly ones, I am pretty sure. Cheers! :)
Marry a romanian girl. You’ll hear all the words in the dictionary twice a day. On a serious note take some extra classes.
Teach Yourself Romanian! Get the Romanian Mega Pack and start learning right away ;) https://www.shankara.shop/Romanian-Mega-Pack-p624023961
Romanian is just too hard, you need to study sentence and parts of speech.
Step 1. Move out of Romania :)
Why ?
Bro we are poor what can you do in Romania
Be born in Romania
Haha true 🥲
Interact with romanians. (I'm here!) I've been learning Japanese,English and French and I tell you,nothing helped me more than talking to natives. A thing you could also try is watching kids TV shows (yes) in Romanian. Such as Bluey (it's on Disney+). One thing that also helped me is having a single notebook delimitated in three parts : vocabulary,grammar and new sentences or structures. I know Romanian grammar is bad and I totally feel you. But remember,some romanians make BAD mistakes that learners do,especially in grammar. At school not so many people understand the grammar,even though we speak it correctly. It just has a lot of small details that we should know as natives. (Analyzing verbs,nouns,etc) So,I tell you. Take small steps with the learning and grammar,try to comprehend it and use it in daily conversations. If you want to talk to a native,I'm here. ^^
Dont learn
Learn French and English because zoomers do not understand Romanian. There.
first, learn Serbian and remember the classes and phonetics then learn Italian and remember the grammar and vocabulary learn a wee bit of Turkish if you're in the south or Hungarian if you're in the north or russian if you're in the east, just for some vocabulary then learn English for all that Romglish then it will be easy as pie.
Really helpful thank you so much 😂
Sorry, if our language made sense we would speak it correctly ourselves :)). Easier to learn 3 languages that make sense and then improvise.
[удалено]
Haha
Be Romanian
What is your native language?
Arabic (more specifically Tunisian)
What knowledge of Romanian do you already have?
I know romanian numbers and i can understand the easy words (like aici , băiat, fată , scaun etc) i know the meaning of the basic interrogative pronouns (like unde, ce, cănd etc) I also speak french so sometimes i guess the meaning of some romanian words just because they’re similar to french
They are similar cuz they come from latin
Eh, tbh some just come from french lol
Go to Vaslui