Learning Romanian language

Thread: Learning Romanian language

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  1. smfc_stevo_smfc's Avatar

    smfc_stevo_smfc said:

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    Yeah but Mike, say you spend a months holiday in Romania and pick up Romanian insults. Would your opinion then change of Romanian and your own language now that you would know insults in 2 languages and hear them a lot?

    I don't really think the English language sounds great or horrible. I like it I suppose but I love the latin sounds of Romanian and Italian.

    I'm curious as to what are insults in Romanian although unfortunately I wouldn't be able to find out here due to language filters. - I don't exactly plan on using the insults but I think it'd be useful to know when you are being insulted and what the insult actually means.

    I like how the English language has a lot of synonyms. Dragonfly, what do you mean by the use of deeper insults?
     
  2. Darcy's Avatar

    Darcy said:

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    When looking for Romanian teaching sites I came across this one, it has a section on insulting others if you care to look for it.

    http://www.phrasebase.com/english/
     
  3. dragonfly93's Avatar

    dragonfly93 said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by smfc_stevo_smfc View Post
    Yeah but Mike, say you spend a months holiday in Romania and pick up Romanian insults. Would your opinion then change of Romanian and your own language now that you would know insults in 2 languages and hear them a lot?

    I don't really think the English language sounds great or horrible. I like it I suppose but I love the latin sounds of Romanian and Italian.

    I'm curious as to what are insults in Romanian although unfortunately I wouldn't be able to find out here due to language filters. - I don't exactly plan on using the insults but I think it'd be useful to know when you are being insulted and what the insult actually means.

    I like how the English language has a lot of synonyms. Dragonfly, what do you mean by the use of deeper insults?

    I mean, since we have so many words, some mean different things than they started out.

    I know a few Romanian insults and won't repeat them here.
    Minä olen horjunut, epäilen enemmän kuin ennen
    Mutta halusit ihmisen, sen viat, sen heikkouden
     
  4. smfc_stevo_smfc's Avatar

    smfc_stevo_smfc said:

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    Mersi Darcy.
    I done a sort of quiz on that site and it said that "rau" meant "worst". Can a native please tell me if this is true or not? - I thought "rău" just meant bad and assumed "mai rău" (or something like that) meant "worst"

    Does "rau" without the diacritic change the meaning of the word? (Google translator has me confused again)

    Dragonfly, what about in a private message (if that's possible)?
     
  5. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by smfc_stevo_smfc View Post
    Yeah but Mike, say you spend a months holiday in Romania and pick up Romanian insults. Would your opinion then change of Romanian and your own language now that you would know insults in 2 languages and hear them a lot?

    I don't really think the English language sounds great or horrible. I like it I suppose but I love the latin sounds of Romanian and Italian.

    I'm curious as to what are insults in Romanian although unfortunately I wouldn't be able to find out here due to language filters. - I don't exactly plan on using the insults but I think it'd be useful to know when you are being insulted and what the insult actually means.

    I like how the English language has a lot of synonyms. Dragonfly, what do you mean by the use of deeper insults?
    insults aren't so bad. I mean those 4-letter words really don't offend. I was refering more to the regular language usage. Full sentences but professional people to belittle those around them. Done by people with superiority complexes. :P I hear romanian has some very vulgar curse words. In a bus in ploiesti, I read grafiti off of the side of a building and recieved some pretty funny looks.

    darcy, i'm the most active member of the romanian forum on phrasebase! stop by anytime. too bad not many natives visit but there are some fun games.
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decât răspunsul.
     
  6. dragonfly93's Avatar

    dragonfly93 said:

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    Stevo: LOL Mike is right, they are... Very... Ummm "personal" insults... Mi se pare that they are mainly based off one method of insult!

    "Mai rău" is "worse", not "worst", I think.
    "Rau"... Not sure if it's a different word, but be aware that "râu" means river
    Minä olen horjunut, epäilen enemmän kuin ennen
    Mutta halusit ihmisen, sen viat, sen heikkouden
     
  7. Darcy's Avatar

    Darcy said:

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    Mike I have never been on their forums, this is the first one i have joined. I don't know enough to say anything more than the occasional word or very,very short sentence. When I get chance I will have a look at the games, so far I only looked at the phrases.
     
  8. Darcy's Avatar

    Darcy said:

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    would cel mai rau be worst, like cel mai bun is best?
     
  9. dragonfly93's Avatar

    dragonfly93 said:

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    Hmmm, that SOUNDS right, but check with a native, or at least someone more fluent than I!
    Minä olen horjunut, epäilen enemmän kuin ennen
    Mutta halusit ihmisen, sen viat, sen heikkouden
     
  10. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    it depends on the noun you are describing.

    maşina cea mai rea
    câinele cel mai bun

    think of:
    "good, better, best" == "bun, mai bun, cel mai bun."
    "tall, taller, tallest" == "înalt, mai înalt, cel mai înalt"

    I think it is safe to say if you translate it literally you find "tall, more tall, the most tall"

    the same rule applies to all adjective as far as I know. And also keep in mind that "cel, cei, cea cele" must match the noun and the adjective in person and number.

    + Femeia cea mai frumoasă - the most beautiful girl
    + Femeile cele mai frumoase - the most beautiful girls

    + Bărbatul cel mai bogat - the richest man
    + Bărbaţii cei mai bogaţi - the richest men

    anyway, the forum isn't for advanced speakers. I started there around 2+ years ago with very small vocabulary, no knowledge of grammar and without the ability to form sentences. not that i'm an expert now or anything. far from it.

    But they recently redid the site layout. And the problem is the romanian moderator made too many sticky so only 3 regular forums remain on the first page. But if you look through the other pages, there are some nice beginner games/exercises. The lessons are very good as well. I'll happily play them with you or anyone else. I'll help the best I can there or here. Of course natives are more than welcome to join.

    There's even one thread where I was giving piano lessons to someone! \/
    Last edited by mike123; 04-15-2010 at 09:42 PM. Reason: had an idea for explaining :)
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decât răspunsul.
     
  11. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by dragonfly93 View Post
    Au vorbe care dor în românește, nu?
    Dragonfly, I forgot to ask.. what did you want to say here?
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decât răspunsul.
     
  12. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    If anyone would like to learn the pronunciation of the romanian alphabet. I came across this link.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpkzaxkcdJE
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decât răspunsul.
     
  13. dragonfly93's Avatar

    dragonfly93 said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by mike123 View Post
    Dragonfly, I forgot to ask.. what did you want to say here?
    There are words that hurt in Romanian as well as English, like in every language. I'm not sure that's correct, though.
    Minä olen horjunut, epäilen enemmän kuin ennen
    Mutta halusit ihmisen, sen viat, sen heikkouden
     
  14. smfc_stevo_smfc's Avatar

    smfc_stevo_smfc said:

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    I tried the forum the other night. It seemed kinda useful at first with the games but after a while I started to not enjoy it when the answers were kinda wrong and I could no longer hear the audio because I wasn't a member.

    (Question for a native) - What's most commonly used in Romania when writing? - S and T with a cedilla or with a comma underneath?
    Last edited by smfc_stevo_smfc; 04-17-2010 at 07:45 AM.
     
  15. mike123's Avatar

    mike123 said:

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    dragonfly, ahh i see. I would try to say (with hopes of a correction) like this:
    "Cuvinte există să supară in română la fel că şi engleză, la fel că şi în toţi limbi."

    stevo, the games on phrasebase? Ahh, yes i seem to remember I had a limit with those too. And the code which they use to test is a little buggy. But you can go on the forum without limitations. unfortunately, as I've said, there aren't many natives who participate. But i will help the best that I can.

    Here's the link to the romanian forum.

    http://www.phrasebase.com/discuss/board.php?FID=56
    De multe ori tăcerea e mai bună decât răspunsul.
     
  16. Mipp said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by dya View Post
    Cine- Who
    Ce- what
    Unde- Where
    Când- When
    De ce- Why
    Cum- How
    I know that while Romanian is a Romance language, it's often mistaken for a Slavic language, but when I saw these words it struck me how similar they are to their equivalents in French. You can really hear those Latin roots when you look deeper.

    Ce -- Quoi
    Unde -- Où
    Când -- Quand
    De ce -- Pourqoui
    Cum -- Comment

    Does Romanian have the informal/formal pronouns like French does (tu/vous) or in the archaic English (thou/you)?
     
  17. dragonfly93's Avatar

    dragonfly93 said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mipp View Post
    I know that while Romanian is a Romance language, it's often mistaken for a Slavic language, but when I saw these words it struck me how similar they are to their equivalents in French. You can really hear those Latin roots when you look deeper.

    Ce -- Quoi
    Unde -- Où
    Când -- Quand
    De ce -- Pourqoui
    Cum -- Comment

    Does Romanian have the informal/formal pronouns like French does (tu/vous) or in the archaic English (thou/you)?
    Yes, if you want to look further into the roots... there are words from Russian (iubire, bogat...they're abundant), Turkish (geam, can't think of others off the top of my head, but there are a lot), and Latin (the rest of the words that are neither of the above)

    Romanian uses tu/voi (like in Italian; it's identical) for you(informal) and you(formal)

    EDIT: I forgot to mention that in Italian, voi is used for plural, but Lei is used for singular formal. Sorry!

    As for this...here's a list of translations you may find interesting:

    Romanian/French/Spanish/Italian
    Ce / Quoi / Qué / Che
    Unde / Où / Dónde / Dove (old Italian was "onde")
    Când / Quand / Cuando / Quando
    De ce / Pourquoi / Porqué / Perché
    Cum / Comment / Cómo / Come

    I could list the Latin...But you'd find that it looks most similar (if not identical) to Romanian and Italian (not to mention, one of these words in Latin would get quite a few laughs out of Romanian-speakers)

    Hope this was helpful!!
    Last edited by dragonfly93; 04-20-2010 at 04:14 AM.
    Minä olen horjunut, epäilen enemmän kuin ennen
    Mutta halusit ihmisen, sen viat, sen heikkouden
     
  18. smfc_stevo_smfc's Avatar

    smfc_stevo_smfc said:

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    "Foarte interesant"... (I think there is a lack of selection on this forum when it comes to smillies.)
     
  19. dragonfly93's Avatar

    dragonfly93 said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by smfc_stevo_smfc View Post
    "Foarte interesant"... (I think there is a lack of selection on this forum when it comes to smillies.)
    I agree... someone needs to reprogram the interface xD
    Minä olen horjunut, epäilen enemmän kuin ennen
    Mutta halusit ihmisen, sen viat, sen heikkouden
     
  20. dya said:

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    Quote Originally Posted by dragonfly93 View Post
    Romanian uses tu/voi (like in Italian; it's identical) for you(informal) and you(formal)
    Also remember that Tu & Voi represent the singular-plural distinction:

    tu- personal pronoun, singular
    voi- personal pronoun, plural

    with all the necessary verb form changes (apart from English which has the same form of the verb for both plural and singular)

    Dragonfly, I know you know this, so my post addresses those who are not familiar with Romanian language...yet