Should You Study Romanian?

                                                                                      

         Today in Romania, and in Romanian communities abroad, we celebrate Romanian Language Day. Inevitably, I thought about my international friends who are curious or passionate about Romania and its culture, and who are planning to learn the language, and even muster up a few words and sentences. 

          Am I encouraging you to study Romanian? If so, what are the best things to keep in mind? 

... Romanian is, as most of you already know, the only language of Latin provenience in Eastern Europe. However, we also have some Slavic influences - around 20%, if I'm not mistaken, plus some bits from Turkish, Greek or Hungarian. 

... Studying Romanian will be easier for you if your native language is Italian, French, Spanish or Portuguese, or if you are at least fluent in any of these languages. Similarities may not be always guaranteed, but, compared to other language families, they are definitely more numerous.

... Romanian may be, however, closer to French and Italian rather than the other Romance languages. Plus, it is said that it brings quite a close resemblance to Catalan and Sardinian. 

...  Is it useful? It is spoken as a native language in Romania and Moldova, which could amount to 25 million speakers, more or less. But don't forget that we are everywhere, especially in Europe, and most surely all European nationals have at least one Romanian friend or aquaintance. So, why not impress them with your language skills? ;) Or perhaps you are a professional planning to work in Romania for a while, or to start up a business. In which case, studying the language will prove itself useful.

... Is it difficult? Maybe not, or not more than other language. Pronounciation is quite easy, as most words are pronounced like they are spelled, without any "strange" rules or groups of letters. We do have about 4 letters which are a bit "peculiar", but other than that, I don't see much trouble. 

... If you live in a capital city, or at least a bigger city, check if you find a representation of Institutul Cultural Roman, or other Romanian institutions, which may organize courses, or even have a library. 

... And, last but not least, keep in mind that although we are all tempted to start learning a language with swearwords and naughty stuff, all natives are more impressed when you come up with "serious" things to say. ;)

    Perhaps I will try, in time, to teach you some tips and tricks. In the meantime, I bid you... LA REVEDERE ("farewell") and I wish you TOATE CELE BUNE ("all the good things").