Saturday, June 3, 2017

How to ask for food and wine in Romania - and translating

Problem
You can read the words and point, but that leaves you at the level of grunting.

Answers
Google translate and Duolingo will teach you a few sentences. Copy down the ones you are likely to need.

English - Romanian
a - o
cucumber - castravete (sounds and looks like the word castrated. I leave you to imagine a visual reminder.)
i n g h e t a t a - ice cream
please - dog
thank you - mulțumesc
water - apă
we have - noi a v e m

Do you have any sandwiches? - Aveți sandvișuri
I would like some water, please? - Aș vrea ceta apă (from Google translate)
I would like some more. - Aș vrea may mult
Where is the toilet? May I have the bill?

Using Google Translate
If you copy anything from Google translate and then delete it, you are likely to be left with the embedded line breaks which messes up anything you type afterwards. That's why this page looks funny. 

Stories
You could use Google translate on your phone to show to people in a restaurant. However, I would not rely on this. We thought we would be able to do this in Italy and Cambodia but it rarely worked. 

If the server is busy, they won't wait but dash off to other tables. You might find your phone is dropped and broken (which happened to us in Italy).

You might forget or lose the piece of paper when you change jackets. In the evening I left my vital words behind when I opted for a smaller handbag in the evening. My phone battery died in the evening because I took so many videos during the day.

So on my next trip I shall print out vital words and give it to each member of the family (with a spare copy for anybody who wants one). Then everybody has one if you separate. You have a backup

Unde este toaleta? Pot avea proiectul de lege?
How long does it take? Something quick, please. We are in a hurry.

Cât durează? Ceva rapid, te rog. Ne grăbim.

We would like a table for two. 
Am v r e a  o masă pentru d o i
By the window.
Pe fereast.
Do you have a room for two. With a nice view. We are keen photographers.
Aveți o cameră pentru doi. Cu o vedere frumoasă. Suntem fotografi dornici.

Romanian - English
i n g h e t a t a (imagine eating a hat for hot weather is the accent over the i and the accent over the last letter a is bowl for ice cream ) - ice cream (both words starts with i and contain e and a)
noi a v e m - we have
o - a

Pronunciation Tips
Wikitravel has the best quick guide to pronunciation. For example,
c is like k, except when followed by i as in the Italian word for goodbye, ciao, when the c sound like ch, and the same applies to ce - sounds like ch.
I with a peaked hat accent above and A with a peaked hat accent above are the same sound.

More Translation Choices
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/translate/
This website gives you pretty pictures down the screen page for alternative languages.

Tips
http://romaniatourism.com
https://www.duolingo.com/
 See my other posts on Romanian, Italian, German, Spanish and other languages and travel to Italy, Romania and other countries. Please save, bookmark, and share links to your favourite posts.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer and teacher of English and other languages.

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