Romanian is the official language of Romania. To you, it may sound a bit strange. But come to think about it, all languages sound strange. Let’s check Romanian out!
Romanian has more letters than English. The English alphabet has 26 letters. The Romanian alphabet has 5 more. That means 31. Those are the letters that make Romanian sound strange.
Remember pizza? Yes, pizza! Won’t a slice be perfect right now? It would, but just say the word again. P-I-Z-Z-A. Notice the sound between the “pi” and the “a”? Those double z’s sound exactly like the Romanian letter “ţ”. Basically it’s a “t” with a little sign underneath it. It’s common in Romanian. And if you’re wondering, pizza in Romanian is spelled either pizza or piţa.
Moving on, we find another Romanian letter. It’s “ş”. Don’t worry, you know this letter, too. Trust me! Just say the name Sasha. Notice the sound of the “sh” letters. Say it again. That’s how the Romanian “ş” sounds. Like the first letter, “ş” is an “s” with the little sign underneath. See? It’s not that hard! Let’s see the other 3 left.
When you’re out of ideas and make a long “aaahhh” when you’re speaking? That’s the Romanian “ ă ”. Romanians also use it when they’re out of ideas. But not only then. It’s used in words, too. It would be too weird to have a letter just to make a sound.
Just two left! Actually, one. Yes, two is not one. But, in fact, those two letters are for the same sound. Those letters are “ î ” and “ â ”. The spaces are so you can see the “hat”, as the Romanians call it, that the letters have. It’s like a roof over the letters’ head. Like I said, they’re two letters for the same sound. The only difference is that, in writing, the “ î “ is used at the beginning or the end of the word. You’ll find the “ â ” only in the middle. It’s simple! Those extra 5 letters that the Romanian alphabet has are not that hard. You actually know 3 of them.
Online Romanian lessons for kids: dinolingo.com
