Romanian Online – Level 1

Romanian is the only Romance language in the Eastern Block, spoken by around 24 million people mostly in Romania and Moldova.

It has its roots in Latin, and in fact, the name Romania, and its derivatives, come from the Latin word ‘Romanus’ (citizen of Rome), a legacy of the Roman Empire who took control of ancient Dacia (today Romania) in 106 A.D.

So where does Walachia, ruled by the infamous Vlad Dracula, fit in to all of this? In 1601, the principalities of Moldavia, Walachia, and Transylvania were united for the first time under Prince Michael the Brave. They were then united once for the final time in 1859 to form modern Romania.