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Pronunciation & Spelling Rules

Main notable features:

h is not silent like in other Romance languages such as Spanish and French.
j represents the sound spelled with s in the English words vision, pleasure, and treasure.
There are two letters with a comma below (ş and ţ) which represent the sounds ‘sh‘ and ‘ts‘.
A final i after a consonant often represents the palatalization of the consonant and is not pronounced like in Italian. This is an example of the slavic influence in Romanian.
ă represents the ‘a’ sound in apple.
î and â have a sound similar to ‘er’ in English. For example ‘runner‘.
x represents either ‘eks‘ or ‘egs‘ (excelent and exemplu).

Further sounds:

Group	Pronunciation	Examples
ce, ci	ch in chest, cheek	cerc (circle), cine (who)
che, chi	k in kettle, kiss	chem (I call), chimie (chemistry)
ge, gi	j in jelly, jigsaw	ger (frost), gimnast (gymnast)
ghe, ghi	g in get, give	gheţar (glacier), ghid (guide)

Posted by admin on February 9th, 2010 Read More No Comments

Numbers

0	11	22	33	44	55	66	77	88	99
zero	unsprezece (informal: unşpe)	douăzeci şi doi (informal: două’ş’doi)	treizeci şi trei	patruzeci şi patru	cincizeci şi cinci	şaizeci şi şase	şaptezeci şi şapte	optzeci şi opt	nouăzeci şi nouă
1	12	23	34	45	56	67	78	89	100
unu	doisprezece (informal: doişpe)	douăzeci şi trei	treizeci şi patru	patruzeci şi cinci	cincizeci şi şase	şaizeci şi şapte	şaptezeci şi opt	optzeci şi nouă	o sută
2	13	24	35	46	57	68	79	90
doi	treisprezece (informal: treişpe)	douăzeci şi patru	treizeci şi cinci	patruzeci şi şase	cincizeci şi şapte	şaizeci şi opt	şaptezeci şi nouă	nouăzeci
3	14	25	36	47	58	69	80	91
trei	paisprezece (informal: paişpe)	douăzeci şi cinci	treizeci şi şase	patruzeci şi şapte	cincizeci şi opt	şaizeci şi nouă	optzeci	nouăzeci şi unu
4	15	26	37	48	59	70	81	92
patru	cincisprezece (informal: cinşpe)	douăzeci şi şase	treizeci şi şapte	patruzeci şi opt	cincizeci şi nouă	şaptezeci	optzeci şi unu	nouăzeci şi doi
5	16	27	38	49	60	71	82	93
cinci	şaisprezece (informal: şaişpe)	douăzeci şi şapte	treizeci şi opt	patruzeci şi nouă	şaizeci	şaptezeci şi unu	optzeci şi doi	nouăzeci şi trei
6	17	28	39	50	61	72	83	94
şase	şaptesprezece (informal: saptişpe)	douăzeci şi opt	treizeci şi nouă	cincizeci	şaizeci şi unu	şaptezeci şi doi	optzeci şi trei	nouăzeci şi patru
7	18	29	40	51	62	73	84	95
şapte	optsprezece (informal: opşpe)	douăzeci şi nouă	patruzeci	cincizeci şi unu	şaizeci şi doi	şaptezeci şi trei	optzeci şi patru	nouăzeci şi cinci
8	19	30	41	52	63	74	85	96
opt	nouăsprezece (informal: nouăşpe)	treizeci	patruzeci şi unu	cincizeci şi doi	şaizeci şi trei	şaptezeci şi patru	optzeci şi cinci	nouăzeci şi şase
9	20	31	42	53	64	75	86	97
nouă	douăzeci	treizeci şi unu (informal: trei’ş’unu)	patruzeci şi doi	cincizeci şi trei	şaizeci şi patru	şaptezeci şi cinci	optzeci şi şase	nouăzeci şi şapte
10	21	32	43	54	65	76	87	98
zece	douăzeci şi unu (informal: două’ş’unu)	treizeci şi doi	patruzeci şi trei	cincizeci şi patru	şaizeci şi cinci	şaptezeci şi şase	optzeci şi şapte	nouăzeci şi opt

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Posted by admin on February 7th, 2010 Read More No Comments

Language Lessons

Here is a consolidated list of various language learning posts:

Lessons

Basis Words & Phrases

Numbers

Pronunciation & Spelling Rules

Texts

Vlad Dracula & Other Rulers

WW1 – WW2

Stray Dogs

Posted by admin on February 7th, 2010 Read More No Comments

Basic Words & Phrases

Hello – Buna ziua

Excuse me – Ma scuzati

Yes – Da

No – Nu

OK – In regula

Good morning – Buna dimineata

Good afternoon – Buna ziua

Good night – Buna seara

Thank you – Multumesc

Please – Va rog

Sorry – Imi pare rau

Perhaps – Poate

What – Ce

Where – Unde

When – Cand

Why – De ce

Posted by admin on February 7th, 2010 Read More No Comments

Little in their history has given Romanians cause for celebration. They frequently suffered at the hands of a succession of invaders (invadatori) and have lived for long periods under foreign rule (stăpânire). About the year 1000 Transylvania was conquered by the King of Hungary and, except for a brief period (perioadă) in the sixteenth century, remained under Hungarian control (autoritate) until 1918. Moldovia and Wallachia were created in the 1400țs and both were ruled by Romanian princes (domnitori). The best known of these are remembered by the Romanians for their attempts to defend their domains against invaders from the north (nord) and south (sud) such as the Poles (polonezi) and Turks (turci). Stephen The Great (Ștefan Cel Mare), prince of Moldovia, defeated the Turks on several occasions and managed to keep Moldovia independent until his death (moarte) in 1504. In recognition of his exploits Stephen was called The Athlete of Christ by the Pope (papă).

(more…)

Posted by admin on December 10th, 2009 Read More No Comments

From WW1 To WW2

The end (sfârşit) of the First World War (primul război mondial) saw the union of all the regions inhabited by Romanians. The provinces of Transylvania, Banat and Bessarabia were added to the country to create what Romanians called România Mare. During the reigns of Ferdiand (1914-27), Carol II (1930-40) and Michael (1940-7), efforts were made to develop Romania. Modern highways (şosele) were built, a public bus, rail (calea ferată) and air system were introduced, and electricty (electricitate), gas (gaze) and water (apă) were brought to towns. More schools (şcoli) and hospitals (spitale) were also constructed. However, despite these advances the life of the peasants in the villages remained largely unchanged. Before the outbreak of the Second World War (al doilea război mondial) 80% of Romania’s 18 million people lived on the land (pământ).

In June 1940 the Soviet Union seized Besserabia and two months later Romania lost more territory, this time to Hungary, when, under pressure from Germany, she was forced to give away the northern part of Transylvania. At the end of the Second World War in 1945 Soviet troops occupied Romania and the first steps were taken to communize the country. This involved the abolition of all institutions and the creation of new ones, and the imprisonment of all those who opposed this process. The complete subjugation (subjugare) of Romania to the Soviet Union was marked by King Michael’s forced abdication (abdicare) in December 1947 and the proclomation (proclamare) of the Romanian People’s Republic.

Posted by admin on November 20th, 2009 Read More No Comments

Stray Dogs In Navodări

Here are some pictures of stray dogs / puppies in Navodări next to the RomPetrol factory. We found them on the ‘dig‘ (Romanian for dam, or pier). Au murit de foame (they were starving, dying of hunger).