Languages · Română
Video Chat with Romanian Speakers
You can practice Romanian with native speakers by video chatting with people from Romania and Moldova, where Romanian is the official language. On Omlet these one-on-one chats are free and need no sign-up, so you can hear Romanian at natural speed, with all its regional accents, from your first day. The free day starts with a card, and the $3 is charged once when it ends unless you cancel in Settings.
Omlet has no language matching, so use the country filter to choose Romania or Moldova, or ask the people you meet, "Vorbești românește?" (Do you speak Romanian?). If you already speak Italian, Spanish, French or Portuguese, you'll recognize a lot: Romanian is a Romance language that grew from Latin, picking up words from Slavic languages, Hungarian, Turkish and Greek along the way.
Where people speak Romanian
Romanian (Română) is an official language in 2 countries and territories. To meet people from one of them, pick it with the country filter.
Useful Romanian phrases for video chat
Short, natural phrases you can use in your first minute on camera. The pronunciation is a simple English-style guide; stressed syllables are in capitals.
| English | Romanian | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Hi! (casual) | Salut! / Bună! | sah-LOOT / BOO-nuh |
| How are you? | Ce faci? | cheh FAHCH? |
| Good, and you? | Bine, tu? | BEE-neh, TOO? |
| What's your name? | Cum te cheamă? | koom teh KYAH-muh? |
| My name is … | Mă numesc … | muh noo-MESK … |
| Where are you from? | De unde ești? | deh OON-deh YESHT? |
| I'm learning Romanian. | Învăț limba română. | uhn-VUHTS LEEM-bah roh-MUH-nuh |
| Nice to meet you. | Mă bucur să te cunosc. | muh BOO-koor suh teh koo-NOSK |
| Can you speak more slowly? | Poți să vorbești mai rar? | POTS suh vor-BESHT my RAHR? |
| How do you say … in Romanian? | Cum se spune … în română? | koom seh SPOO-neh … uhn roh-MUH-nuh? |
| What do you do? | Cu ce te ocupi? | koo cheh teh oh-KOOP? |
| I didn't understand. | N-am înțeles. | nahm uhn-tseh-LESS |
| Thank you / Thanks | Mulțumesc / Mersi | mool-tsoo-MESK / mer-SEE |
| Bye, see you! | Pa, ne mai vedem! | PAH, neh my veh-DEM |
Tips for practicing Romanian on video chat
- Use tu with people around your age on a casual chat, and the polite dumneavoastră with older people. If you're unsure, the plural verb form ("Ce mai faceți?") is polite and safe.
- Don't panic over the special letters. Plenty of native speakers type without diacritics in chats, so "esti" for "ești" will be understood; just learn how the letters sound.
- Learn hai (come on, let's) and gata (done, ready, that's it). You'll hear both constantly: "Hai să vorbim!" (Let's talk!), "Gata, mulțumesc!" (That's it, thanks!).
- Ask about food: sarmale (cabbage rolls), mici (grilled sausages), mămăligă (polenta) and ciorbă (sour soup) all come with family opinions and plenty of vocabulary.
- Ask for recommendations. Bucharest, Cluj, Iași, Timișoara, Chișinău, the Carpathians and the Black Sea coast are easy starting points, and asking where someone would take a visitor gets people talking.
The five letters that make Romanian sound Romanian
| Letter | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ă | uh, like the a in "about" | mă (muh), me |
| â / î | a deep i made with the tongue pulled back; no exact English match | în (uhn), in |
| ș | sh | ești (YESHT), you are |
| ț | ts, as in "cats" | mulțumesc (mool-tsoo-MESK), thank you |
| ce / ci | che / chee | ce (cheh), what |
Two more patterns help a lot. Che and chi are said "ke" and "kee" ("cheamă" is "KYAH-muh"), and a final unstressed i is barely pronounced, so "faci" sounds like "fahch" and "ești" like "yesht".
Romanian also has a feature that surprises speakers of other Romance languages: "the" is attached to the end of a noun. Lup is wolf and lupul is the wolf; casă is house and casa is the house.
Tu, dumneata, dumneavoastră: levels of politeness
Romanian has several ways to say "you". Tu is informal. Dumneata sits in the middle and is less common today. Dumneavoastră is fully formal and takes plural verbs, so "Ce faci?" becomes "Ce faceți?".
Many younger Romanians switch to tu quickly online, so a good rule is to match the form your partner uses with you. Titles matter more than in English, too: domnule (sir) and doamnă (madam) are polite ways to address someone older.
A shadowing routine for Romanian
Shadowing means repeating a native speaker's sentence right after them, copying the rhythm as closely as you can. It's a simple way to work on Romanian's vowels and stress, which shifts from word to word. Try it with each partner:
- During the chat, ask your partner to say one sentence slowly, such as "Mă bucur să te cunosc", and to type it in the chat box.
- Repeat it right away, then once more after they correct you.
- Right after the chat, say it out loud five times from memory, copying their rhythm.
- In your next chat, use the sentence early and ask, "Am pronunțat corect?" (Did I pronounce that right?).
For more speaking drills, see our guide to improving your speaking in a new language, and the language exchange video chat page for how practice works on Omlet.
Romanian in Moldova and beyond
Romanian in Moldova is the same language, with its own accent and some local words, and many people there also speak Russian, so it's normal to hear both in one conversation. Many Romanian speakers also live abroad, so a quick "Vorbești românește?" on Worldwide matching can be worth a try.
Romania and Moldova are on UTC+2 (UTC+3 in summer), which puts their evenings in the early afternoon on the US East Coast.
Practice Romanian with the country filter
Omlet's interface is in English only, and it doesn't match people by language or translate anything. There are two easy ways to find Romanian speakers:
- Use the country filter. Press Country, pick a country where Romanian is spoken (for example Romania or Moldova), then press Start.
- Ask whoever you meet. On Worldwide matching, a quick "Do you speak Romanian?" costs nothing to try.
The country filter's first day is free (you add a card to start, and can cancel in Settings before the charge). After that it's $3 one time for that device and browser, with no subscription. It can make matching slower when fewer people from that country are online; if a match takes a while, try another country or switch back to Worldwide.
Say you're practicing Romanian in your first sentence and ask your partner to slow down or correct you. It's a normal request.