How I learnt Romanian in 7 weeks and my 7 tips to learn a language as fast ? Mul?umesc Romania!

Always fond of learning languages as a means to communicate with more people and understand cultures better, I decided to learn Romanian with a book and podcasts earlier this year end of April and then spend two weeks in Bucharest to practise the language on-site with local friends in June.

Many people wondered: why Romanian? ???? And what other similar languages can you learn fast?

First, learning a language is not about speed or efficiency but rather a deep intellectual quest to discover another civilisation through the way people communicate with each other.

Nonetheless, when I learn languages, there are some synergies to leverage in terms of choice of language to learn and also methodology.

I often tend to choose (though not all the time) a new language that belongs to a family of languages I may already have some knowledge about.

As a French native, having learnt some Latin in high school and currently proficient in other Romance languages like Catalan, Portuguese, Italian or Spanish I use on a daily basis with friends and colleagues, Romanian represented, at least for me, the last major Romance language to unlock.

Romanian evolved from Vulgar Latin like its sister Romance languages. Thus, it presents numerous cognate words (words that derive from the same etymological root, in this case, Latin) and a familiar grammar (conjugation of verbs, genders of words and declensions).

Taking into account the influences Romanian received from Thraco-Dacian, Slavic languages, Turkish, Greek, German as well as French in the 19th and 20th centuries, I was quite intrigued to explore that language that sounded so kindred when friends spoke it around me and looked somehow guessable when written.

Therefore, I decided to learn Romanian from scratch first with a book and podcasts and then go to a 2-week intensive class in Bucharest in June.

7 weeks later, I graduated with an A2 level and in parallel am able to socialise in Romanian and grasp 90% of any written press article. There is still a lot to learn to reach B2 and I will keep learning.

Here are a few pieces of advice and tips I committed to in order to reach that level of fluency and which I always use for other languages.

Tip 1: Alphabet is key (when there is one or an equivalent)

Alphabet is key, I always start learning any language with the alphabet, trying to understand how each letter is written, pronounced and combined as well as the basic rules of spelling.

This really helps to grasp a language and ensure from the very beginning the right elocution, the right way letters and sounds click. This also enables you to read accurately everywhere.

For this, there are plenty of videos online on Youtube and also you can check out resources like www.omniglot.com.

Tip 2: Practise short daily life dialogs

Learn basic vocabulary and greetings to be able to start a small conversation and from there, find small dialogs that imitate daily life scenarii like going to the supermarket, asking for direction, or ordering at a restaurant.

In fact, one book I find quite useful and always recommend for language learning is the Assimil collection. Each book is structured in a series of chapters, and each chapter structured as a short daily life dialog with some vocabulary and a few elements of grammar.

For Romanian, I read the Assimil before going to Romania and then we practised new scenarios every day with the Rolang school teachers.

For Japanese and Korean, there is also a lot of videos online and all the content from the Language Pod 101 series that exists in many languages.

Tip 3: Read as much as you can in your target language (and if possible, read out loud) and start with your phone

Multiply the opportunities to read in that language everywhere.?

Start by switching your phone in your target language, it should not be too difficult to keep using your usual mobile applications even in a foreign language.

Look at local newspapers or short press articles and try to decipher the text with a translator next to you be it google Translate or a dictionary.

Finally, if you're on site, when you go to museums or art galleries, you can take two leaflets, one in your target language and one in a language you master so you can conduct a comparative translation.

I found this bilingual Romanian-German magazine in the airport and read it now while commuting in France.

Tip 4: Be an active listener

Look for any opportunity to train your ears to the frequencies and sonorities of the language you learn.

Younger, my Spanish teacher used to tell the class: "Si puedes escuchar la radio espa?ola o sea, ver una peli en espa?ol con subtítulos, hazlo." a.k.a "if you have any opportunity to turn on the Spanish radio, or if you can go to the cinema and watch a movie in Spanish subtitled [and not dubbed], do it".

Ten years forward, I still listen to these precious pieces of advice, I went three times to the cinema in Bucharest and watched Mica Sirena (Little Mermaid), Elementar (Elemental) and Mavka Zana Padurii in Romanian. I also went to the theatre to see O Noapte Furtunoas? and looked at content on Netflix and Instagram with Romanian influencers in Romanian.

Finally, I also listen to Romanian pop songs (and not only to the 2003 hit song Dragostea din Tei by O-zone even though we did study it in class). Slower songs are better to learn but any type of song you like can do.

Tip 5: Learn cognate words and non-cognate words by writing them

When I learnt Japanese in Hong Kong, the course was in Cantonese as all the students were local Hong Kong people. The course book as well was in traditional Chinese and I am glad it was in Chinese because knowing the Chinese characters and having them right next to the Japanese kanji (or hiragana/katakana) did help a lot (as many were as similar as the Romance languages word comparison above).

Similarly, when I learnt Korean at the Hong Kong Korean Cultural Center (look above), knowing Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese did help for the vocabulary as there are still many Sino-Korean words due to History.

Therefore, my piece of advice here would be to try to recognise similar words across languages and write them next to the words you want to learn in order to connect them together.

For the words that are not similar, write them as well and write them as much as you can as using your hand can also help to better train your memory.

Tip 6: Socialise with everyone

If you can and if you're not shy, talk to everyone (even with mistakes, we all do and it's okay). Engage with the locals in the country or abroad, anyone who speaks the language can always help. Talk to the reception, to the staff at hotels or restaurants, to the cashier at the supermarket, to your friends and colleagues. Language buddies are the best way to learn a language.

You could even go on dates and not only talk but text as well to maximise the practice of the language.

I also take notes during and after dinners or meetings of all the vocabulary I learnt and try to review it a bit later. It is quite helpful as when you read the notes you take, you remember and re-live the moment the specific words were anchored.

Tip 7: Explore the culture wherever you can

Learning a language gives better access to other societies and cultures, to other customs and traditions. The other way around also works to support your language learning journey. Go to cultural celebrations or simply try the food at a local restaurant there or abroad. It can help to bring another aspect to the pure exercise of learning the language and enrich your knowledge on a specific civilisation.

Please let me know if you have any comments, questions or other recommendations.

And to the Romanian readers out there:

In sfar?itul, m? bucur mult s? stau la Bucure?ti 2?s?pt?mani ?i nu pot s? termin acest articolul f?r? roman?. Mul?umesc prietenii mei ?i toate lumea la centrul vech unde am ?nv??at multe cuvinte ?i am v?zut foarte mult despre cultura romaneasc?.

Sunt sigur c? o s? continuu s? ?nv?? limba roman? ?i ma voi ?ntoarce in Romania fiindc? ?mi place mult voastra tara. Nu cred c? este f?r? gre?eli dar este destul de clar pentru toat? lumea. Thanks a lot Romanian friends for the last two weeks. Looking forward to the next linguistic trip.