Learning Romanian language

Thread: Learning Romanian language

Tags: None
  1. skr's Avatar

    skr said:

    Default

    I knew I missed something Thanks.
     
  2. mister Xazos's Avatar

    mister Xazos said:

    Default

    Cu plăcere skr.
    Πάρε φιλιά, πάρε καρδιά και μη νοιαστείς για μένα.
    Πάρε ό,τι ζει κι άσε με εκεί
    μόνο στο τίποτα...
     
  3. wolver99's Avatar

    wolver99 said:

    Default

    First, Cristina multumesc mult! The translation was perfect, prieten meu (is this the same for a prieten who is female?) intelegi tot (correct? poate?)...it was amazing, it usually takes her a little time to read my words, lol, it took her just a split second to read it how you wrote it and even to instantly type back, with smiles, that Yes (da), she understands, all, everything .

    I hope to be able to do that on my own very soon. Passably so, anyway, at first.

    Yes, your language (da, limba ta--?) is 'a tricky one' (?? puteti sa vorbiti mai rar, va rog?), not easy to learn, or even to understand when it is spoken (so fast, and the rhythms change so interestingly but confusingly depending on what is being said), at least for me---though it sounds so beautiful and it is able to express such beautifully poetic images & impressions (as in the line igrec translated above, about the petal falling on the crystal sea in that painting).
    '
    For example, what does this word: sarutmiinile ...mean? Igrec used it in a post to dya above. I see the word 'kiss' in there along with what looks like a form of 'tomorrow' but I am betting that the actual meaning differs from the literal translation of the combined words--especially considering that it's igrec we're talking about here, lol: Master of the Non-literal &/or Poetic.

    It makes me wonder how difficult or easy it might be to 'coin' words or make puns in your language during everyday conversation, especially taking into consideration that you lack words like 'windy' but instead say something like 'a bătut vāntul foarte tare,' ostensibly quite a mouthful by comparison to 'windy.'

    In this vein, if I tell someone I borrow a book from the library, is the expression for 'borrow' really 'a lua cu imprumut' as my dictionary says? What would the past tense be in the sentence "I borrowed a book."

    'a da cu īmprumut' = to lend. Wow.

    How would you say in Romanian "Oh, by the way, I borrowed that book"?

    I see, again from my books, that 'a lua' means to take, si 'cu imprumut' seems to carry the 'borrow' part (I took in order to borrow ?), so what part changes when you pass to the past tense form 'borrowed'?

    Arrrrrrghhh!

    Okay....a couple attemtps at translating when I see new unfamiliar forms of Romanian words (cuvinti romaneste?)--

    1) Nu pot sa cred ca iari esti bolnavior (Cristina said in a post): I can't believe you were sick yesterday. (? - I know bolnav means sick, but 'bolnavior'? Hmmm.)

    2) dya said: Iar esti bolnav?! Suna cunoscut: cred c-am bolit de 4 ori in ultimile 3 luni!

    You were sick yesterday? I know what you mean (guessing from 'I am familiar with that' or something similar? But why 'suna' instead of 'sunt'?): I think I have been sick 4 times in just the last 3 months!

    Lastly, if one & only is translated unicul şi singurul and you want to tell a woman that she is your 'one and only' (my one & only) would you use the feminine form of 'my' (mea) but switch to 'meu' if it is a woman saying this to a man?

    Romanian...limba nebun! Dar, nebun frumoasa.

    Okay, I think in a couple of hours I can post the first of the questions I have been wanting to begin asking. This post was only a warm-up for that.

    And...Husi! Great, I learned a new Romanian city (it is in Wikipedia) that I did not even know existed before---multumesc mult, igrec!

    Last edited by wolver99; 02-12-2008 at 05:24 PM.
     
  4. wolver99's Avatar

    wolver99 said:

    Default

    Oh my God, I almost forgot---

    I would like to obtain a copy of the Romanian translation of Paul Auster's novel titled "The Book of Illusions." Does anyone here know of a place online where I might find that? Do you have a Romanian version of Amazon dot com? I can't seem to find anything like that from my place here...

    One of my Romanian friends just read that book in a Romanian translation--she showed it to me on cam--and I borrowed the English original from the local library so we can discuss it (we both enjoy psychological stories & movies), then it occurred to me that comparing the English with the Romanian might expand my knowledge & understanding of your limba a lot. Any help in locating a place to find this book would be greatly appreciated, and multumesc in advans.

    Also, this morning I was taking out my garbage when I saw the handyman for our apartment complex riding his golf cart around the grounds as he did some work, picking up litter and the like.

    He is from near Moldava, is a highly-trained musician (we both play guitar), and speaks Russian as well as Romanian (his parents are from Romania but they took him outside the country for awhile for political reasons); it had been awhile since I had last chatted with him, and as I passed near him on my way back from the garbage compactor area and saw him smile, nod, and say Hi, how are you? to me in his uncertain, broken English I also smiled and said back to him: "Bine, multumesc, si buna dimineata!"

    He almost fell off his cart!

    "Ce mai faci?" I added, as though I hadn't noticed his astonishment.

    "I am working, but you--you are learning the Romanian?" he asked wonderingly.
    "De sigur. Intelegi?" I said.
    "Ohhh...yes...Da! And the Romanian---you are learning well!" and he shook his head and began to smile.
    "Multumesc! Pe curand...and have a good day," I replied, and walked on.
    "You too, have good day!"

    There is nothing like the smiles I receive at such times.
     
  5. mister Xazos's Avatar

    mister Xazos said:

    Default

    Dear wolver,

    I wanted to start with the corrections, but I couldn't wait til the end to get to the part with the "Master of the Non-literal &/or Poetic." Thank you my friend. Wel... Cut the "or" because I like to speak my language clearly and I avoid slangs. Multumesc !
    So... Let's begin. Your forgot the article in "prieten meu" because this expression is not used in Romanian. We use the word with the articles and here comes the hardest part 'cause we put the article in the end of the word. And it goes like this : "prietenul meu" This is for the masculine, for feminine it's : "Prietena mea"
    "intelegi tot" is for the IIsg right ? You're speaking to Cristina (I'm too in love and I get things a little ... you understand me ) so... it's correctly.
    "puteti de vorbiti mai rar" I don't think we speak fast. I mean... Wait 2 or 3 months to have a bigger vocabulary and you'll see we aren't talking fast.
    About the petal... It's poetical, was a structure that alowed some lyrism (although I use lyrism in my writting)
    "sarutmiinile" [sărutmâinile] it's a form of respect, used for older persons, or to women in generally. (remember the past epoque when men saluted women by taking off the hat and kissing their hands) word by word it means: I kiss your hands= Vă sărut mâinile
    As far as I know to borrow means to give someone smth and to expect it back in a periode of time. But considering that you have put there the library, mean to buy one (If I got the idea) in Romanian would go : "Am luat o carte de la librarie./Am cumparat o carte de la librarie"
    So... "a lua cu imprumut" is formed from the verb "a lua=to take" and the participle "imprumut=borrowed" when you want to express any time, you only pass the verb in the time you desire. Like "iau cu imprumut o carte" (it's present by the value is of the action of future, "I'm going to borrow..."), "am luat cu imprumut" (is past, with the value of the past; then I took it)
    Correct form is : "cuvinte rominesti" (not always the last letter is the same with the noun which accords in number, genre and case)
    "Nu pot sa cred ca iari esti bolnavior" Here "iari" must be a form of "iar" (again) in the Moldavian dialect (from the zone I'm from; I guess I told you about the zones spread in Romania:Moldova, Muntenia, Banat, Transilvania, Oltenia, Crisana, Maramures ) and "bolnavior" is a diminutive for "bolnav" (masc; fem=bolnavioara)
    "Iar esti bolnav?! Suna cunoscut: cred c-am bolit de 4 ori in ultimile 3 luni!" ="You're again sick ?! It sounds familiar: I guess I've been sick in the past 3 months" What Dya was saying is some sort of proverb, sayings, in which she pities me(see there's 4 times in 3 months, 4 is bigger than 3, so the problem is big, since it's suposed to be sick in the worse case once in a month)
    <Lastly, if one & only is translated unicul şi singurul and you want to tell a woman that she is your 'one and only' (my one & only) would you use the feminine form of 'my' (mea) but switch to 'meu' if it is a woman saying this to a man?> My friend... This expresion "unicul si singurul" does ot have any pronoun of possesion, it has a hidden meaning If I may say that's understandable she/he is mine. For the feminine it's :"unica si singura" (put them to the feminine, nothing more)
    <Romanian...limba nebun! Dar, nebun frumoasa.> some corrections: Romanian(Romina)... Limba nebuna! Dar, nebuna frumoasa. (accord the both to the same case, genre and number)

    I wait your questions.

    I must say that I'm very happy for your lessons in learning Romanian. I feel so proud when I see you such a good student, always willing to know much, much more. Bravo !
    Πάρε φιλιά, πάρε καρδιά και μη νοιαστείς για μένα.
    Πάρε ό,τι ζει κι άσε με εκεί
    μόνο στο τίποτα...
     
  6. mister Xazos's Avatar

    mister Xazos said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wolver99 View Post
    He is from near Moldava, is a highly-trained musician (we both play guitar), and speaks Russian as well as Romanian (his parents are from Romania but they took him outside the country for awhile for political reasons);
    Well... I told you that after the WW2, Russia took (actually they stole !) some parts of Romania; between these are Basarabia, known today as Republic of Moldova. Which is not fair to Romania ! Because the region Moldova is this : Moldova and Republica of Moldova took the name of my region. Here is the map of Republic of Moldova : http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_map/moldova.gif and imagine that the big Moldova was this :big Moldova
    Anyway... Here in Moldova, not Basarabia (known as Rep. of Moldova) Russian isn't spoken by any people. It was under comunism, but now only older people know.

    what more to sy about the smile and happiness ? I'm proud too !
    Felicitari !
    Πάρε φιλιά, πάρε καρδιά και μη νοιαστείς για μένα.
    Πάρε ό,τι ζει κι άσε με εκεί
    μόνο στο τίποτα...
     
  7. skr's Avatar

    skr said:

    Default

    And how to translate "Call me.. (skr for example)"?
    Last edited by skr; 02-12-2008 at 06:40 PM.
     
  8. Yolaura said:

    Default

    Hey, I was just stopping by to thank you all for posting these small, helpful Romanian lessons! I'm just starting to learn the language, and I feel that this will help very much! Thanks!

    ~Laura
     
  9. mister Xazos's Avatar

    mister Xazos said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by skr View Post
    And how to translate "Call me.. (skr for example)"?

    Sună-mă... (what do you mean with skr ?)
    Πάρε φιλιά, πάρε καρδιά και μη νοιαστείς για μένα.
    Πάρε ό,τι ζει κι άσε με εκεί
    μόνο στο τίποτα...
     
  10. mister Xazos's Avatar

    mister Xazos said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Yolaura View Post
    Hey, I was just stopping by to thank you all for posting these small, helpful Romanian lessons! I'm just starting to learn the language, and I feel that this will help very much! Thanks!

    ~Laura
    Hey Laura. It's our pleasure. For any questions, just... ASK !
    Πάρε φιλιά, πάρε καρδιά και μη νοιαστείς για μένα.
    Πάρε ό,τι ζει κι άσε με εκεί
    μόνο στο τίποτα...
     
  11. dya said:

    Default

    Good morning!

    First of all, Wolver, we are all smiling and feel proud for your progress in learning our language. The reaction that man had when he heard you speaking Romanian was a normal one, because we don't actually expect people to learn our language. What he experienced was a mixture of astonishment, pleasure and pride. You go in the other part of the world, where most of the people have never thought twice about your country and you hear someone from there speaking your language. Well, that is quite a pleasant surprise

    I see Igrec answered your questions while I was sleeping so that part is already solved.

    I just have a small correction to what he said. Here:
    But considering that you have put there the library, mean to buy one (If I got the idea) in Romanian would go : "Am luat o carte de la librarie./Am cumparat o carte de la librarie"

    Common mistake for us, Romanians:
    library--bibliotecă (the place you borrow books from)
    librărie-- book shop(the place you buy books from)

    So, when you go to the library(bibliotecă) you say:

    Am luat o carte cu &#238;mprumut.

    But, considering everybody knows that from a library you borrow books and nothing else, we usually skip the word "&#238;mprumut" and we simply say:

    Am luat o carte de la bibliotecă.

    Everybody understand that I didn't actually take the book, I simply borrowed it.

    Also, there's a "shortcut" in romanian for the expressions: a lua cu &#238;mprumut/ a da cu &#238;mprumut. And that is the verb alone: a &#238;mprumuta.

    This verb illustrates the idea of "loan" and covers both borrow and lend. Thus, we say:

    Am &#238;mprumutat niște bani de la ei-- I borrowed some money from them

    but also

    Le-am &#238;mprumutat niște bani--I lent them some money.

    The conjugation of the verb a &#238;mprumta in the present tense is this:

    Eu &#238;mprumut
    Tu &#238;mprumuți
    El/Ea &#238;mprumută
    Noi &#238;mprumutăm
    Voi &#238;mprumutați
    Ei/Ele &#238;mprumută

    In the past tense:

    Eu am &#238;mprumutat
    Tu ai &#238;mprumutat
    Ei/Ele au &#238;mprumutat
    Noi am &#238;mprumutat
    Voi ați &#238;mprumutat
    Ei/Ele au &#238;mprumutat

    If you want to use the longer expressions, you conjugate the verbs in them:

    a lua cu &#238;mprumut-- a lua is a totally irregular verb so pay attention to it:

    Present tense
    Eu iau
    Tu iei
    El/Ea ia
    Noi luăm
    Voi luați
    Ei/Ele iau

    Past tense:
    Eu a luat
    Tu ai luat
    El/Ea a luat
    Noi am luat
    Voi ați luat
    Ei/Ele au luat

    a da cu &#238;mprumut (to lend) -- a da behaves more friendly

    Preset Tense:
    Eu dau
    Tu dai
    El/Ea dă
    Noi dăm
    Voi dați
    Ei/Ele dau

    Past Tense:
    Eu am dat
    Tu ai dat
    El/Ea a dat
    Noi am dat
    Voi ați dat
    Ei/Ele au dat

    Hope that helps
     
  12. dya said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wolver99 View Post
    2) dya said: Iar esti bolnav?! Suna cunoscut: cred c-am bolit de 4 ori in ultimile 3 luni!

    You were sick yesterday? I know what you mean (guessing from 'I am familiar with that' or something similar? But why 'suna' instead of 'sunt'?): I think I have been sick 4 times in just the last 3 months!
    Iar ești bolnav means literally Again you are sick?
    Do not confound iar--again with ieri--yesterday

    Sună cunoscut means It sounds familiar. Literally you have two words: a verb and a participle:

    Sună -- Sounds
    +
    cunoscut-- known ( a cunoaște-- to know)

    In english you don't say "it sounds known", you say "it sounds familiar"

    As for the verb I used furher on in that phrase: a boli. This is a popular form of " to be sick". It's nothing poetic in this use, it's a non-literar form of thelanguage and the verb itself also carries the meaning "I had a bad time while being sick, I was unable to perform anything"

    Sunt bolnav/ă--I am sick
    Bolesc-- I am fully experiencing the "joy" of being sick and not able to do anything!

    The conjugation of this verb, in case someone is interested

    Present Tense
    Eu bolesc
    Tu bolești
    El/Ea bolește
    Noi bolim
    Voi boliți
    Ei/Ele bolesc

    Past Tense :
    Eu am bolit
    Tu ai bolit
    El/Ea a bolit
    Noi am bolit
    Voi ați bolit
    Ei/Ele au bolit
     
  13. dya said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by skr View Post
    And how to translate "Call me.. (skr for example)"?
    Just to clarify this:

    If you want to say: "Call me skr" meaning "Call me by this name/ Address to me using the name skr "

    you say:

    Spune-mi skr.

    Igrec gave you the translation for "call me on the telephone". That is:

    Sună-mă
     
  14. dya said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Yolaura View Post
    Hey, I was just stopping by to thank you all for posting these small, helpful Romanian lessons! I'm just starting to learn the language, and I feel that this will help very much! Thanks!

    ~Laura
    And finally: Welcome, Laura As Igrec already said: for any questions you may have, we're here to answer
     
  15. dya said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wolver99 View Post
    Oh my God, I almost forgot---

    I would like to obtain a copy of the Romanian translation of Paul Auster's novel titled "The Book of Illusions." Does anyone here know of a place online where I might find that? Do you have a Romanian version of Amazon dot com? I can't seem to find anything like that from my place here...
    I'll give you the details in a PM.
     
  16. Cristina's Avatar

    Cristina said:

    Default

    Wow,wow,wow!!! So many answers today..I lost a lot of things..but good job guys..
    Welcome Laura and congratulation Wolver99. You learned many things in romanian..Very good!!!
     
  17. Maviii's Avatar

    Maviii said:

    Default

    Great job my friends
    I`m a new student here ..I read some pages quickly but i`ll back to read all this thread clearly to start learn romanian ..I hope it will be easy
    coz i notice that some what it similer to italian & some lettlers are familiar to me i donno how ..
    For now i just want to thank you all for ur great idea & ur great job here
    thats really kind to teach other languages for those who want to learn new things like me .. thanks again ,,bless u our teachers
     
  18. mister Xazos's Avatar

    mister Xazos said:

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Maviii View Post
    Great job my friends
    I`m a new student here ..I read some pages quickly but i`ll back to read all this thread clearly to start learn romanian ..I hope it will be easy
    coz i notice that some what it similer to italian & some lettlers are familiar to me i donno how ..
    For now i just want to thank you all for ur great idea & ur great job here
    thats really kind to teach other languages for those who want to learn new things like me .. thanks again ,,bless u our teachers
    Thank you Maviii.
    Welcome for join us ! Prepare for the Hell (kidding) We'll do our best to teach the beautiful Romanian.
    God bless you too...
    Πάρε φιλιά, πάρε καρδιά και μη νοιαστείς για μένα.
    Πάρε ό,τι ζει κι άσε με εκεί
    μόνο στο τίποτα...
     
  19. Lenka said:

    Default

    hello, could somebody help me again, please?
    What does this mean?

    ...si Meg nu mai vine odata.... I ve tried to translate but no chance

    ...and Meg (what is nu mai? in czech book i found something like not anymore, or "not already" ) vine - incoming, odata - true (born) - thats what i found here http://www.dictionare.com/dictionaries/dictionary.htm

    And of course, it doesnt make a sense to me again
     
  20. dya said:

    Default

    Thank you, Maviii, we'll do our best to help you

    Lenka, let me explain:
    odata--once (as in once upon a time, not once- twice)
    nu mai vine--doesn't come anymore

    but when you use a verb in the negative, together with "mai" and "odata" it forms an expression which denotes the exasperation in the speaker's voice: And Meg is not coming already!!!
    Meaning : my time of waiting for Meg is already up, I lost my patience and what is she doing that she's not here already?!?!