Teach Yourself Romanian Complete Course

277 Pages·2003·16.94 MB·English

by  Dennis Deletant

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introduction 1
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01 bună ziua hello
hello and goodbye; thank you; greetings;
asking people to speak more slowly; 5)
Romanian sounds 5
02 punând întrebări asking
asking for something; numbers up to ten;
asking the price; saying how much you want;
negative constructions 13
03 să ne prezentăm talking about yourself
introducing yourself; saying where you are from;
asking how much, how many, more plurals;
numbers from 11 to 20 21
04 cum să ajung la asking the way
asking the way and understanding directions;
some prepositions; the forms for I, you, he,
she, we, they, the verbs a fi tobe, a avea to have,
a sta to stay, a merge to go, a lua to take 31
05 cât e ceasul? what is the time?
the different types of verb; adjectives; numbers
up to 1,000; telling the time; the points of
the compass 41
06 recapitulare revision 52
07 căutând cameră la hotel finding somewhere to stay
the in Romanian; addressing people;
reflexive verbs; the subjunctive;
saying also, still, another 55
planuri de viitor planning ahead
the future tense; the to and of forms of nouns;
the days of the week and the months;
expressing in and at 67
ce s-a întâmplat? what has happened?
the past tense; adjectives denoting possession;
using the to the and of the forms of nouns;
reported speech 81
aceasta este a mea this is mine
the forms for this and that; saying her, him, it,
us and them; other forms of the future 94
lucram I was working
saying I was doing, I was reading, etc.;
saying to me, to you, to him, to her, to us
and to them; saying all, every 108
dacă aş fl aş... if I could, I would...
f
more about to me, to you etc.; saying I would,
t
you would; saying nothing, never, nor 121
recapitulare revision 133
obiectele personale people's belongings
more ways of expressing of, saying mine, yours•
asking whose?, saying whom, which; countries,
towns and rivers 137
descriind oameni şi obiecte
using adjectives before the noun; saying the best,
the biggest, etc.; saying I am invited,
it was sent, etc. 150
cum să comanzi being authoritative
when you need a doctor; commands like
come here; saying the one, the other, each 162
să intrăm în amănunte getting down to details
more expressions of time, until, whenever, etc.;
more uses of să; more examples of pe;
saying first, second, third 174
18 rezultate results
more reflexive verbs; saying so quickly that, so
much that; etc.; expressing doing, leaving, taking 188
19 orientare în spaţiu position
saying I had seen, I had slept, etc. ;
saying I might be going, I might have gone, etc.;
saying in front of, around, at the back of, etc. 199
20 recapitulare revision 210
taking it further 217
key to the exercises 219
verb tables 231
glossary of grammatical terms 247
Romanian-English vocabulary 250
English-Romanian vocabulary 261
grammar Index 273

This course is for those with no previous knowledge of
Romanian. It has been designed for self-tuition, but may also
be used for study with a teacher.
Romanian, because of its Latin origin and the fact that it has
borrowed words from other Romance languages, will be
recognizable to anyone who knows French or Italian. In
working through this course you will find many familiar
words, especially those conveying more abstract concepts,
some identical in spelling with similar words used in English.
This makes it relatively easy to read texts in Romanian of a
non-literary nature, in particular, newspapers.
The course introduces both colloquial and written forms of
Romanian. The emphasis is on learning to use Romanian in a
variety of situations and each of the 20 units has been
structured to this end, as you will see from the list at the
beginning of each one. No knowledge of grammatical
terminology is presupposed; each term is defined as it is
introduced although we have also added the traditional
grammatical terms for those familiar with them. It is these
latter terms that we have sometimes used in the index for ease
of reference where there is no straightforward alternative.
One point of comfort. Romanians are extremely tolerant of
those who make the effort to learn their language; do not,
therefore, be over-cautious about using the language for fear
of making grammatical errors. Romanians themselves
occasionally slip up and for that reason are sympathetic to the
difficulties faced by non-Romanians.
Most of the 2,000 words introduced in the course are those
frequently used in daily conversational situations. Many of
the vocabulary items are listed in the Romanian-English and
English-Romanian Vocabulary at the end of the book. Each
unit contains its own word-list of items introduced and is more
explicit about the relevant grammatical forms.
9
Q.
CO How to use this course
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Each unit contains a list with its contents. It will outline which
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tasks are presented and which situations you will be
linguistically able to cope with. The unit opens with Key words
which will enable you to understand the words introduced in
the Grammar section and the dialogue. Pay careful attention to
the Key words, learning them in the ways suggested in Unit 1.
Grammar and pronunciation
Following the Key words in the initial units there are useful tips
about pronunciation and grammar. In later units, this section
gradually introduces the structures of Romanian. This will help
you to understand how the language works. Such an
understanding will give you the ability to use the language
effectively. Mastering Romanian grammar is difficult but this
section attempts to make it more accessible by providing simple
explanations illustrated by numerous examples. The points
raised in the Grammar section are exemplified in the dialogue
and Exercises.
Dialogue
The dialogue should be read in conjunction with the Key words.
Make a detailed study of it, noting all the new vocabulary and
language forms. The first question of the Exercises always refers
to the dialogue and is designed to test your understanding of it.
The answers are to be found at the back of the book on page
219.
A good tip for familiarizing yourself with the conversational
gambits in the dialogue is to read it aloud. Memorizing it will also
assist you in your own use of the language in relevant situations.
Remember that understanding Romanian will not by itself
enable you to create Romanian fluently and accurately. Much
practice is needed before you can make the leap from
recognition to creation.
Exercises
Since this is a self-instruction course, a key is provided to all the
Exercises. This is to be found in the Key to the exercises starting
on page 219.
The nature of the course requires you to complete the exercises
in writing, but you can also do some of them orally in order to
develop your spoken expertise. As you would expect, the
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exercises are dominated by tests on the vocabulary and
structures introduced in the latest unit. There are three Revision
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units (6, 13, 20) which cover material from all preceding units. s
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You should regard your progress with 6 and 13 as a sign as to 3
whether you should go on to the following units. There is a
great deal of grammatical material introduced in Units 7 to 12
and you should not attempt these before you have familiarized
yourself with the first five units.
A few words about the recording
Although this course-book is designed to be self-contained, you
will find it extremely useful to work with the recording
produced to accompany the course. The native speaker
recordings will help you to recognize and understand spoken
Romanian and to reproduce pronunciation, intonation and
stress that will make you intelligible to Romanian speakers. The
recording contains the dialogues and some of the Key words
from the first seven units. In addition, it includes some of the
exercises from the book. All the answers are at the back of the
book in the Key to the exercises.
Listen to the dialogue several times, paying particular care to the
pronunciation and stress. See how much of the dialogue you can
understand without consulting the text.
Copying out the dialogue is a useful way of checking your
comprehension of it against the text.
Pronunciation
You will find a guide to pronunciation in Unit 1, on pages
10-12.
Symbols
Q This indicates that the recording is needed for the
following section.
H This section contains information on Romanian culture,
history and everyday life and introduces extra
vocabulary.

hb
e
l
lu
o

n
ă

z
i
u
a

In this unit you will learn
• to say hello and goodbye
• to say thank you
• to exchange greetings
• to ask people to speak more
slowly
• how to pronounce Romanian
sounds
Before you start
Read the introduction to the course starting on page 1. This
gives some useful advice on studying by yourself and how to
make the most of the course.
As you probably know, people learn in different ways: some
need to know rules for everything, others like to feel their way
intuitively. In this unit you'll be given the opportunity to find
out what works best for you.
Make sure you've got your cassette recorder next to you as
you'll need to listen to Key words and the section on Romanian
sounds. If you don't have the recording use the section on
Romanian sounds on pages 10-12 to help with pronunciation.
Exercise
Can you think of any Romanian word you know such as the
words for hello and thank you? Say them aloud and look at the
Key words section below to check the answers.
• Key words and phrases
Before you listen to the recording, look back at the section A
few words about the recording on page 3 to find out how to
listen to the Key words and dialogues.
bună ziua good afternoon, hello
bună dimineaţa good morning
bună seara good evening (after 6 p.m.)
noapte bună good night (when going to bed)
la revedere goodbye
da, mulţumesc yes, please
nu, mulţumesc no thank you
vă rog please
Poftim? Sorry? (when you want
something repeated)
poftim here you are
scuzaţi sorry (to apologize)
Vorbiţi englezeşte doamnă/ Do you speak English,
domnule/ domnişoară? Madam/Sir/Miss?
Vorbiţi româneşte doamnă/ Do you speak Romanian,
domnule/domnişoară? Madam/Sir/Miss?
Vorbiţi mai rar, vă rog. Speak more slowly, please.