The Romanian Language Program

The Romanian program, part of the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures, has a long and rich tradition at Ohio State. Dating back to the 1970's, when Prof. Rodica Botoman began instructing language courses, both Graduate and Undergraduate students from a great diversity of fields have chosen to learn the language and/or its culture. For over 30 years now, students from political science to geography to linguistics to art history and many other Departments have enjoyed learning Romanian at OSU. Thanks to the energy of those students, the Romanian program has continued to teach the Romanian Language and the rich culture of Romania and Moldova even after Professor Botoman's retirement.

Why Learn Romanian?

Romanian is spoken by over 25 million people (of which about two hundred thousand live in the United States) and is related to French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese as a member of the Romance Languages. Not only will studying Romanian give you the means to communicate with these people and to better understand a different culture, it will also help you to understand the cultural richness and diversity of Europe. For English speakers, Romanian should be no more difficult to learn than the other romance languages, and our students usually make excellent progress during their first year of study.

Students of Romanian study for a great variety of reasons. Some students wish to discover their Romanian heritage. Other are interested in opening up research opportunities in a great variety of academic studies, including the fields of political science, international studies, history, art, linguistics, literature and many more. Yet other students are interested in government or NGO work, as well as the many business opportunities available from the emerging market of Romania, which is expected to join the European Union in 2007. Still others are simply interested in getting to know Romania, its vast history, culture, and peoples.

Romania, which is situated in South-Eastern Europe on the Black Sea, is not only an American ally in NATO, but also a popular tourist destination. For more information on Romania, please click here.

Romanian Courses at OSU

Romanian Language Series:

Elementary Romanian 101 is offered every fall quarter, followed by Elementary Romanian 102 in the winter and Intensive Intermediate Romanian 111 (which is a 10 credit class combining 103 and 104) in the Spring. This means that if you need to fulfill a language requirement, you can do it in 3 quarters (1 year) with Romanian! These credits can also be used as pre-requisites for a Minor in Slavic & East European Studies.

Romanian 235, which is a culture and civilization class, can be used to fulfill various GEC requirements.

Currently, the Romanian language and culture is taught through the Department of Slavic and East European Studies by:

Andrei Cretu
Graduate Teaching Associate
Department of Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures
Click here for more information.

Romanian Resources on the Web

Romanian dictionary on-line: www.dictionare.com
Romanian news: http://www.rompres.ro/index.php?ln=eng
Travel to Romania: http://www.romaniatourism.com/
Country information: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ro.html
Cultural information: http://www.culture.ro/
More Romanian Links: http://web.mit.edu/romania/www/linksromania.html