FSI Romanian Language Course

Romanian is an official and national language in both Romania and Moldova, and according to estimates, it has between around 25 and 30 million native speakers worldwide as well as a further four million who can speak it as a second language.

It belongs to the Romance family of languages, meaning it is related to languages like French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, and anyone who speaks any of those will immediately notice plenty of similarities. However, since it comes from the Eastern branch of the Romance family rather than the Western branch, there are also quite a few differences compared to the other languages just mentioned.

It is not one of the most commonly studied languages for speakers of English, but as an important European language and one of the official languages of the EU, coursebooks and other materials do exist for those who want to learn it. However, any supplemental resources are always welcome, so this free online Romanian reference grammar may prove to be an invaluable addition to your collection of study materials.

Course Details

What is FSI Romanian Reference Grammar?

FSI Romanian Reference Grammar is unlike much of the other material from FSI in that it is simply a grammatical reference book rather than a coursebook designed to teach you the language.

It covers all the main aspects of Romanian grammar, including nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, verbs and more, so if you are learning Romanian with another coursebook or with a teacher, this book will be a useful backup to answer any grammar-related questions you have.

How was FSI Romanian Reference Grammar originally used?

FSI has been providing US diplomatic staff with language training for the best part of a century, and the FSI Romanian Reference Grammar book would have been given to students preparing to leave for postings in areas where Romanian is spoken.

This was never intended as a coursebook. Rather, it would have been given to students learning Romanian to give them a resource to turn to when they had queries concerning points of grammar in the language.

How can you use FSI Romanian Reference Grammar?

You can use this free Romanian reference grammar book exactly as it was intended – as a resource to turn to that can help you master the basics of Romanian grammar. It may be slightly dated now, but Romanian grammar hasn’t changed much since 1989 when this work was published, making it a useful guide you can rely on without needing to spend any money.

Taking it further

Of course, you can’t learn a language just by reading a grammar book – and you can’t master a language from coursebooks alone. This means that if you are trying to learn Romanian, you should take your new language skills and try them out “in the wild”. Look for native Romanian speakers to practice with, and above all, try to make using Romanian a part of your daily life. Then, when you do this, you will start to make rapid progress in this relatively easy but intriguingly exotic European language.

Student Text