Is Romanian Hard to Learn? What to Know Before You Start

Romanian is the Romance language nobody expects. Tucked away in Eastern Europe and surrounded by Slavic neighbours, it quietly kept its Latin backbone — making it a cousin of Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. For learners that’s great news: much of it is more familiar than it looks. So is Romanian hard to learn? For English speakers it sits in the more accessible tier, and if you already know another Romance language, you’re halfway there.

The good news: Romanian is a Romance language

Romanian descends from Latin, so its core vocabulary overlaps heavily with the big Romance languages. Words like familie (family), carte (book), apă (water), bun (good) and noapte (night) trace straight back to Latin — and many resemble English words borrowed from Latin and French too. If you speak any Spanish, Italian or French, you’ll recognise a remarkable amount on day one.

It’s spelled the way it’s spoken

Here’s a feature English learners dream about: Romanian is essentially phonetic. Once you know the sounds of the letters, you can read almost any word aloud correctly — no silent letters, no spelling traps. After the maze of English (or French) spelling, this is a genuine relief.

The special letters and sounds

Romanian adds five letters to the Latin alphabet, and they’re worth ten minutes up front:

ă — a short, neutral “uh” sound, like the a in “sofa”.
â / î — the same sound (a tense “uh” made further back), just written differently depending on position.
ș — “sh”, as in shoe.
ț — “ts”, as in cats.

Learn those five and Romanian’s spelling holds no more surprises.

What takes a little practice

A couple of things need attention. Romanian picked up a layer of Slavic loanwords (plus a few Hungarian, German and Turkish ones), so not every word is guessable from Latin. And the grammar has noun genders — including a neuter — plus case changes. None of it is a wall; it’s the normal work of any language, spread over months.

A genuinely cool feature: “the” is a suffix

Romanian does one thing no other Romance language does: it attaches the definite article to the end of the noun. “A man” is un om; “the man” is omul. Casă (house) → casa (the house); lup (wolf) → lupul (the wolf). It feels odd for a day, then becomes a fun party trick — and it’s a great example of learning nouns in context rather than in isolation.

How long does it take?

Because of its Latin core and phonetic spelling, Romanian is one of the more approachable languages for English speakers — and noticeably faster if you already know a Romance language. As always, consistency beats intensity: short daily practice will have you holding simple conversations within a few months. When you’re ready to begin, follow the full plan in how to learn Romanian for beginners.

How to start smart

Learn the alphabet and the five special letters first, so you can read everything aloud.
Front-load high-frequency words — see 100 most common Romanian words.
Speak from week one with ready-made phrases: 50 common Romanian phrases for travelers.
Keep it daily and out loud, always with native audio.

The friendliest way in

The smoothest start combines the alphabet, frequency vocabulary, native audio and daily review in one place. Learn Romanian For Beginners opens with the alphabet and its sounds, then teaches 60+ everyday topics through pictures and native-speaker audio, with mini games — and daily and lifetime leaderboards — to keep your streak alive.

Download Learn Romanian For Beginners free on Google Play and discover how approachable Romanian really is.