„Welcome to Romania!” or – better said - „Bun venit în România!” You like our town, you like the people that you’ve just met, but you would also like to speak our language! Let us guide you through the beauty of an extremely complex language.

Are you a tourist or a student in Romania, wanting to understand its basic vocabulary? Do you work for one of the companies in Romania and wish to communicate with your office colleagues? Or are you going to get married in Romania soon?

Well, we’ll help you pass over the emotional ups and downs as a first-time language learner and begin to comprehend Romanian language. How? By teaching you – in the beginning - a few expressions related to: SALUTURI, NUME, ȚĂRI, NAȚIONALITĂȚI (= Greetings, Names, Countries, Nationalities).

So, let’s …. start!

First of all, greet the others, according to the proper day time:

Bună dimineaţa! = Good morning!

Bună ziua! = Good afternoon!

Bună seara! = Good evening!

Then, introduce yourself:

My name is Sebastian. – Numele meu este Sebastian.

Afterwards, ask the others:

Care este numele tău? / Cum te cheamă? / Cum te numeşti? = What is your name?

As your nationality is very important, don’t forget to mention it:

Eu sunt francez = I am French.

Sunt din Franța. = I’m from France.

Eu sunt neamț. = I am German.

Sunt din Germania. = I’m from Germany.

Eu sunt Italian. = I am Italian.

Sunt din Italia. = I’m from Italy.

Eu sunt spaniol. = I am Spanish.

Sunt din Spania. = I’m from Spain.

Eu sunt grec. = I am Greek.

Sunt din Grecia. = I’m from Greece.

Eu sunt austriac. = I am Austrian.

Sunt din Austria. = I’m from Austria.

And – of course - you will hear people saying:

Eu sunt român. = I am Romanian

Sunt din Romania. = I’m from Romania.

Now, here are three short exercises for practising the phrases above:

I. Ce se potrivește? (Match):

Bună dimineața! Bună seara! Bună ziua!

7.30 = Bună ……………………….!

20.30 = Bună ………………………!

16.00 = Bună ………………………!

II. Completați (Fill in the sentences):

– Eu sunt Aura. Sunt din România.

- ………. sunt Franz. Sunt din ………………………………………. .

– Eu ………. din Milan. Sunt ………………………….. .

III. Separați cuvintele și propozițiile (split the words and sentences):

Eu/sunt/

dingermaniahansenestedinberlinmariaestedinromânia

marioestedinitaliaolgaestedinmoscovafranzestdinaustria.

Deadline for your homework: next Thursday, July  1-st 2010, when you will have the possibility to check out your answers and learn new Romanian words related to: ORAȘE, PROFESII (Towns, Jobs).

And now, until your next „class” with A_BEST Foreign Language Center, here are some pieces of advice for you, if you have decided to start learning Romanian: try to set realistic expectations and don’t forget that not understanding and making mistakes are a very natural part of the language learning process, so accept the fact that you will not understand everything. And last but not least, remember that the only way to learn a language is through practice, practice, and more practice!