Romanian, a descendant of Latin, is the official language and is spoken by approximately 90% of the general population. One of the romance languages, Romanian has four regional dialects or "graiuri" (grai for singular and graiuri for plural), all of which can be a bit of a challenge to learn. Those who know Spanish or Italian will have the easiest time learning the language, while those who only know English will have to spend some time studying it before attempting to communicate with it.

Those attending a private or public Elementary School, Secondary School, or college will find that the language is part of the curriculum. Those not attending school can hire a private tutor to help them learn the language. Another option is to enroll at the Bridge Language Study House, the largest private language school in Romania. It is located in Bucharest. For more information, visit: www.learn4good.com/great_schools/romanian_language_programs_in_romania.htm

In addition to Romania, the Romanian language is spoken in parts of Moldavia, Hungary, Finland, Italy, Israel, Russia, Germany, and Greece.

Hungarian and German are also widely spoken languages within the Romanian borders.

Added 6/12/05 by Ivan - Over 70,000 people in eastern Serbia speak Romanian as a first language. Most of them study in Bucharest.

Added 03/02/06 by Ela - Unlike other countries (I have travelled extensively in France speaking atrocious French and have been indulged in a friendly way), Romanians will not accept anything other than the exact pronunciation and will correct you. Every time I learned a word and tried it out it was wrong because there are rules for everything: gender, number of people present, age of person......for example "Multumesc" (thank you) becomes "Multumim" if it is including another person. The word for number two changes depending on if the objects are masculine or feminine.