Romani Online in UK

I am learning to be an English teacher to speakers of other languages. I have a student who is Romanian and for part of my project I have to identify what Romanian speakers find hard about learning English.

For example, is it word order, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary? It would be really helpful if you could give me specific examples. Thank you for your help!

What have you found difficult to learn?

I suggest you to start with yourself identifying a problem and then make enquiries about that issue. As a next step you can draw a conclusion based on our answers and then you will know if it's a general difficulty or just individual.

I believe that every foreigner has some learning difficulties at some point. But that depends on which stage of learning the individual is.

You haven't given much details about your student's speaking/writing level.

Thus to answer to your request I would say that the most important difficulty encountered was to say the adjective in front of the noun; that was because we say in Romanian the other way round.

Good luck with your project.

-takecare- akecare-

personal opinions:

For me pronunciation it is the most difficult part of learning English.

I guess that the best method it would be over 75% free face to face discussion (even loud reading,etc). I tried to do something like that with a colleague of mine (a french one) and it was very useful. I found that if i am trying to tell something (and i can't remember the word exactly but i am trying to describe it), if the other person is giving me a hint i am learning faster.

Hi

Difficulties with not only foreign students but native ones as well:

-spelling & pronunciation
-sequence of tenses in direct-indirect speech
-if conditionals
-word order in sentences and clauses
-if only/I wish constructions
-you'd better/I'd rather; it's (high) time
- idioms
-false friends
-prepositions with/without verbs
-linking words
-the simple/continuous (progressive) aspect of verbs in the past, present and future
-inversion after negative/restrictive words/phrases


Suggestion: Listening to authentic material is the best way to learn pronunciation: cassettes/CDs,TV/radio programmes, Bus/train /tube announcements, even innocent eavesdropping.

Hello :)

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I thought I would reply anyway :P

traxhill brought up a good point about pronunciation, because English - and especially British English has so many distinct accents and dialects - it can be difficult for many to imitate and learn one which will sound best where they are going.

Most people I know from the Balkans have a particularly tough time due to the amount of American English which has been injected into the media. I myself usually have a Standard Scottish English accent, which in many ways can sound more 'proper' than RP because consonants aren't omitted in speech - so /should/ be easier for Romanians and many other non-natives (The pronunciation of words like 'hard' for example).

Something unrelated to pronunciation to keep in mind is that in Romanian - there is no 'the','of/to the' etc - they are presented in cases. In modern, colloquial language (especially on the internet, in media etc) - it's common for English words to be borrowed and the suffix applied to them. Some students in the early stages will probably have a habit of doing this when learning English.

Hope it helps :]

Dani.

I myself usually have a Standard Scottish English accent
Sorry, it made me smile to read this.
No offence so please don't take it personaly -saint- aint- but if you are Romanian I find it difficult to believe you could really ever pick up the Scottish accent ( it's a good accent don't get me wrong and people all over the world like it and find Scottish people friendly because of their accent - but in the same time hate Irish accent and find it not so trustworthy if you know what I mean ) unless you lived there for like all your life or you've been there as a child and went to school from early age. That's the only way the accent must have caught you.

I still find my accent better than any regional accent in the UK and would pick my own over all. But I hate accents and in Romanian never had one, I learned to speak since I was a kid without an accent even so it was hard coz everyone around me had one and they were making fun of me. But I am a person who hates accents so I'll never like hearing my own voice speaking English unfortunately unless I manage to lose it one day.

I never found it hard to learn to speak English. I studied it in school since 7 years old, yeah even with just one hour class a week, I found it so easy and hated French! I was however a little shy to speak it for the first 2-3 weeks in London when I came, because I am a perfectionist and just the thought of saying something wrong was upsetting me. So, I waited until one day when I just spoke! And all my friends around me were wow she has a voice -handlaugh- andlaugh-

Languages are very easy for me, I could easily speak Italian, Spanish, Portuguese if I wanted to coz I understand them 80% but again I'm shy to say something ... same story as in English at first. But I did however teach myself German language from English and not Romanian and I found it soooo easy. Honestly the similarity with English language is amazing! Every English person should speak German in my view.

Words which in Romanian mean the same thing ( for example borrow and lend= a imprumuta) and expressions such as “ switch off” “ turn off”, put off” when we have only one word for all of these = inchide. Expressions such as “ L-am avut pe Ion pe la mine mai devreme” ( insemnand Ion a venit pe la mine mai devreme) nu poti sa spui “ I had ION here earlier “ pt ca inseamna altceva. Apart from that, I found difficult the spelling!
And Alana, I would make so much money if I spoke all these languages…. Wow! You are in the wrong job if you don’t earn lots and lots of money just by being fluent in 3 + languages !! ...

Da,si eu inca gasesc dificil cateodata,ca aseara de ex-tre sa zic:
"the fire alarm went off",cand pt mine mai mult sens ar avea
"the fire alarm went on"-adica cand a pornit sa urle,in miez de noapte -shout- hout-
Spellingul,ca spellingul,il gresesc si-n romaneste sometimes (vezi inot/innot),but the pronunciation is still a problem.
My daughter now corrects me in words like: pear/ear/year,and,what's worse,she's doing this in front of others -shout- hout- .

Hi Alena!

Aww, so sweet - I too hate speaking other languages to begin with until I've perfected them (or I'm drunk, which is a very bad idea ;).

You're right, Romanian isn't my first language :P ))

Despite touching on Polish, Czech, Serbian, Bulgarian etc - I now concentrate on Romanian & Russian (Though, I'm currently trying to learn some Thai for when I visit ;x). I usually always try to mimic a neutral or good accent of the target language - but with some it's more difficult than others. Each time I've visited Romania, people have said to me that they don't believe that I am not Romanian - not just because I look it lol. Hopefully this should help when I move to Bucuresti next year ;)

I really dislike regional UK accents, some of them are awful! I have a Ecuadorian-German friend who has a lovely accent in English, much different than what you'd typically hear from a German. In my experience, Romanians sound a lot nicer speaking English than Germans. How long have you lived in the UK?

cata246: "what's worse,she's doing this in front of others" <-- lol; At least it should help motivate you to remember. :)

Dani.

Pronounciation - it's quite different from the romanian language and doesn't seem to have a rule, i.e the french would pronounce (ai) as (e), and so on but in english the phonetic is all over the place. That's my opinion anyway and after 20 years there are still some words I struggle to pronounce correctly. Hope this helps.

Annie

I am learning to be an English teacher to speakers of other languages. I have a student who is Romanian and for part of my project I have to identify what Romanian speakers find hard about learning English.

For example, is it word order, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary? It would be really helpful if you could give me specific examples. Thank you for your help!

Now,you tell me how you call,when working in a nursing home (bare that in mind),someone with this names
-Joan/Jo Ann,and finally Joanne,specially when all of them in lounge...
Please tell me the difference in pronunciation between sheet and shit,I mean,I know it,but ,sometimes...
All that confusion (for me at least) between recipe and receipt ,forget about prescription.
Wednesday-ziua de miercuri,cum ar veni,tell me please-you say WENS'DAY ,sau WED'N'SDAY?

Your comment is a very good one and to answer to your question its like this:

Joan is pronounced like Ioan in Romanian
Jo- Ann is Jo & Ann together but with sshort ending as in Johan but don't use the h
Joanne - is pronounced with an emphasis on ann with a very open a
Wednesday - is pronounced as Wens-day

and talking about confusion just ofr a laugh I used to get so confused between the words and their meaning and always used the wrong one instead:
breath and breast - so when I wanted to refer to inhaleing or exhaling i used to refer to my breast instead of breath and vice versa. Ha, Ha, -shout- hout-

Annie

Now,you tell me how you call,when working in a nursing home (bare that in mind),someone with this names
-Joan/Jo Ann,and finally Joanne,specially when all of them in lounge...
Please tell me the difference in pronunciation between sheet and shit,I mean,I know it,but ,sometimes...
All that confusion (for me at least) between recipe and receipt ,forget about prescription.
Wednesday-ziua de miercuri,cum ar veni,tell me please-you say WENS'DAY ,sau WED'N'SDAY?

Now,you tell me how you call,when working in a nursing home (bare that in mind),someone with this names


Correct is: "bear that in mind".

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bear (KEEP) Show phonetics
verb [T] bore, borne or US ALSO born
to have or continue to have something:
Their baby bears a strong resemblance/an uncanny likeness to its grandfather.
The stone plaque bearing his name was smashed to pieces.
On display were boxing gloves which bore Rocky Marciano's signature.
[+ two objects] I don't bear them any ill feeling (= I do not continue to be angry with or dislike them).
Thank you for your advice, I'll bear it in mind (= will remember and consider it).

------------------------------------------------------------
bare Show phonetics
adjective
without any clothes or not covered by anything:
Don't walk around outside in your bare feet.
There's no carpet in the room, just bare floorboards.
The cupboard/room was completely bare. (= there was nothing in it).
I just packed the bare essentials (= the most basic things).
There isn't much time, so I'll just give you the bare facts/details (= I'll only give you the most important information).
She eats only the bare minimum (= the least possible) to stay alive.

-selfhug- elfhug- hey bombuzal what can I say... I'm almost always right and guessed you went to school here at young age! Tell that to my hubby and he'll totally disagree with me :) but I have proof I'm usually the right one.

Anyway, good for you. I also managed to learn all the languages by travelling and interacting with people from those countries. I remember I shocked my hubby once in Spain in a restaurant ( it was my first visit in a Spanish speaking country back then ) and after a glass of wine ( well more like a bottle ) I remember started translating what the waiters were saying! Luckily was good stuff about us! And he was amazed! He still reminds me doing that... well after wine courage came and so on... and he realised how well I knew Spanish and I never even studied it ever! So yeah it'd be really easy for me... Also Italian, ah it's so amazing coz any Italian people I meet they want to speak Italian to me and are amazed how can I understand them so well, again never ever studied it! Portuguese I remember 5 years ago when we visited Brazil for a month and again I understood it all but couldn't speak( they speak it too quick and couldn't really keep up plus this R pronounced H and so on... they are a bit different, but I understand it) The similarities are so many it's amazing!
German language is very similar to English so again for me was super easy!
But for you to learn Russian would be very easy as you say you speak Bulgarian... their language is much more similar to Russian than Romanian to it!!! Actually I hate Russian, don't ask why... I just don't like it! Some languages for me are a bit silly and have no time or sympathy for them. No offence to the people who speak them -badteeths- adteeths- And Thai language wow it'll be a total chalange I believe, it's so different. I would love to learn Chinese and Japanese actually... just for the difficulty of it. I enjoy chalanges. Besides my hubby is going on about wanting us to visit Tokio soon and I would love to visit Hong Kong in my turn as I have a friend from there (she might be able to help me learn it but I don't dare ascking her because she'll think I'm crazy to even try to attempt).

I've been in the UK for 10 years now, when I moved I was 18 years old. And I never been to college or Uni here as yet, never needed to I guess but instead my first ever job I ever had was in the UK and I enjoyed it so I didn't miss school. And so, I know I can't lose my foreign accent unless I go to elocution lessons, which I have no interest to do or time for that matter! Besides I get so many compliments about my accent that I start to believe them... it must be nice. Even on the phone apparently my voice is wow to some people. Often they would speak to me longer ( you know clients at work) just so they can hear me speak. But I am told I don't speak with a Romanian accent at all! But more with Italian or/and French! Nobody guesses ever where I come from.

As for you cata246, Joan is pronounced with a H in between Jo and an! so is more like Johan whereas Joann is pronounced quick but with an A and no H this time and accent on ann!
For sheet and shit or breast and breath hahaha! Come on, it's huge difference they end with st and th!!! Mile apart. Trust me there are huge differences between pronunciations! I rarely get it wrong these days -badteeths- adteeths-

Ah well, hope some day the languages I know will come to rescue, as for now I don't need them! But I know I'll use them in the future and for sure during my trips abroad.

Alana,

Your message is quite interesting and what can I say after 20 years in UK as an actress/entertainer using accents as well as voice overs, etc - even I can't understand how I wasn't able to differentiate between breast and breath but it's part of learning a language and from mistakes we tend to learn more. As for all the latin based languages I bet you most Romanians can understand French, Italian, Portugese, Spanish to a certain degree. I had the same amazement when I was with some friends in a club in London and after a few glasses I could speak Italian as if I've leanrt it all my life. Travelling as they say broadens the mind and it's interesting how listening to a language one can pick up words even phrases.

I believe the question is: on "what is difficult for Romanians....." as it says in the title who are trying to learn English - not whom have been learning for a long time - was referring to examples of how did people find learning English and what were the difficulties they encounter whilst in the process. I am sure it is the same in your case - when you first began learning English you had some difficulties perhaps in pronunciation or some words which made no sense, etc - don't forget although some words in English may sound similar to Latin based words their meaning and interpretation in English could be completely different.

For the fear of sounding that I'm having a digg at you - I had to laugh (it seems to be a Romanian trait) when I read your comment that " I'm usually the right one"? - I assume you meant to say that I'm usually right as i have proof of......etc.

Annie -hello- ello-

-selfhug- hey bombuzal what can I say... I'm almost always right and guessed you went to school here at young age! Tell that to my hubby and he'll totally disagree with me :) but I have proof I'm usually the right one.

Anyway, good for you. I also managed to learn all the languages by travelling and interacting with people from those countries. I remember I shocked my hubby once in Spain in a restaurant ( it was my first visit in a Spanish speaking country back then ) and after a glass of wine ( well more like a bottle ) I remember started translating what the waiters were saying! Luckily was good stuff about us! And he was amazed! He still reminds me doing that... well after wine courage came and so on... and he realised how well I knew Spanish and I never even studied it ever! So yeah it'd be really easy for me... Also Italian, ah it's so amazing coz any Italian people I meet they want to speak Italian to me and are amazed how can I understand them so well, again never ever studied it! Portuguese I remember 5 years ago when we visited Brazil for a month and again I understood it all but couldn't speak( they speak it too quick and couldn't really keep up plus this R pronounced H and so on... they are a bit different, but I understand it) The similarities are so many it's amazing!
German language is very similar to English so again for me was super easy!
But for you to learn Russian would be very easy as you say you speak Bulgarian... their language is much more similar to Russian than Romanian to it!!! Actually I hate Russian, don't ask why... I just don't like it! Some languages for me are a bit silly and have no time or sympathy for them. No offence to the people who speak them -badteeths- adteeths-

I've been in UK for 10 years. But I know I can't lose my foreign accent unless I go to elocution lessons, which I have no interest to do or time for that matter! Besides I get so many compliments about my accent that I start to believe them... it must be nice. Even on the phone apparently my voice is wow to some people. Often they would speak to me longer ( you know clients at work) just so they can hear me speak. But I am told I don't speak with a Romanian accent at all! But more with Italian or/and French! Nobody guesses ever where I come from.

As for you cata246, Joan is pronounced with a H in between Jo and an! so is more like Johan whereas Joann is pronounced quick but with an A and no H this time and accent on ann!
For sheet and shit or breast and breath hahaha! Come on, it's huge difference they end with st and th!!! Mile apart. Trust me there are huge differences between pronunciations! I rarely get it wrong these days -badteeths- adteeths-

Ah well, hope some day the languages I know will come to rescue, as for now I don't need them! But I know I'll use them in the future and for sure during my trips abroad.

Hey Annie,
No offence taken, and thanks for your observation as I totally understand it.

But never forget we people are so different that it occurs to me what might be easy for some people might be in the same time totally alien and extremely difficult to others.
I remember I had been asked at first to repeat myself a couple of times but not anymore since a very long time. I am finding it easy so it's difficult for me to say what was hard for me at first because quite frankly I forgot... but I take your point and should have probably said nothing.

When I thought about writing on this thread I actually answered to something bambuzal said. It was the only reason why I commented coz his words made me smile.

As for me saying I am always right. It was a remark ( joke ) that's all. And it's not a Romanian trait at all but totally western ( English ). There is something like this going on in the UK and it's hard to explain but I'll try. It’s something that's going on (war-at figurative) in the UK between husband and wife or men and women fighting who's wrong and who's right. We women think/ say we're always right and never wrong but men get it wrong and never right, and men think they are always right and never wrong but women always get it wrong and never right.
But I see you don’t get it so forget it I said it. And I still like you even so you wanted to get back at me for what I said to you in a different thread. Sorry if you're upset with me coz I didn't mean it personally but if you're still mad I take it back...

But forget I said anything. I can't comment on what's difficult at first to learn English because I can't remember what was difficult for me.
-staycool- taycool-

Pronounciation - it's quite different from the romanian language and doesn't seem to have a rule, i.e the french would pronounce (ai) as (e), and so on but in english the phonetic is all over the place. That's my opinion anyway and after 20 years there are still some words I struggle to pronounce correctly. Hope this helps.

Annie
Sorry, and I hate to say you see, in my case ( 10 years in UK only ) honestly I don't find many words which I can't pronounce anymore!
I guess is because I am entirely with English speaking people around me and since many years I only ever speak Romanian now on this forum and/or 1-2 a year on the phone!
Trust me, there are many people who can live in a given country ( i.e. England ) all their adult lives who never learn English, or if they do is only the very basics. And that happens because they don't interact often enough with the people from that country but instead hold on tight to their own traditions and language. There are many examples I can give you ( people like many Indians but strangely enough even Romanians! ) I tell you why I know it, many years ago I was working in London and on my day off went to the London Zoo. That day I overhear an old couple speaking Romanian, so I ask them politely if they are Romanian and so on, making conversation. I found out, they were here since 50 years!!! Originally from Cluj, but he didn't speak very well English and took offence when I switched to English, as I thought after 50 years they must understand English better and would prefer it!!! He even said he hated it and wanted me speak Romanian instead! Honestly, it is true... I was perplexed then and still am now!!!

I find it insulting to any given country, I believe the country you reside in disserves to be treated with respect and they should in my opinion learn English after so many years in here!!! I find it appalling that some people chose England as their country yet never adopt English traditions and especially language! People like the ones who even keep dressing in their birth country's traditional clothing i.e. Indians, Pakistanis and many muslims. If they want to live here they should dress like us! When/if I go to Iran I have to cover up!!! Same in Egypt when I went and, Morocco and so on... But this is my honest opinion.

So I don't know, I felt like saying this right now. But don't get me wrong, I don't mind if people say what they feel like. And Annie your opinion did count to me so, thanks.
adou-

Alana, I'm glad you didn't take it as an offence as none was intended - as for who's right i had to laugh because although it sounds naff and without being a feminist women are always right it just take a while for men to admit it or belive it.

Anyway, I was only just commenting on your comments for the sake of commenting if you know what I mean - I wasn;t picking on you - you just happen to touch on much more subjects.
Take care,

Annie xx

Hey Annie,
No offence taken, and thanks for your observation as I totally understand it.

But never forget we people are so different that it occurs to me what might be easy for some people might be in the same time totally alien and extremely difficult to others.
I remember I had been asked at first to repeat myself a couple of times but not anymore since a very long time. I am finding it easy so it's difficult for me to say what was hard for me at first because quite frankly I forgot... but I take your point and should have probably said nothing.

When I thought about writing on this thread I actually answered to something bambuzal said. It was the only reason why I commented coz his words made me smile.

As for me saying I am always right. It was a remark ( joke ) that's all. And it's not a Romanian trait at all but totally western ( English ). There is something like this going on in the UK and it's hard to explain but I'll try. It’s something that's going on (war-at figurative) in the UK between husband and wife or men and women fighting who's wrong and who's right. We women think/ say we're always right and never wrong but men get it wrong and never right, and men think they are always right and never wrong but women always get it wrong and never right.
But I see you don’t get it so forget it I said it. And I still like you even so you wanted to get back at me for what I said to you in a different thread. Sorry if you're upset with me coz I didn't mean it personally but if you're still mad I take it back...

But forget I said anything. I can't comment on what's difficult at first to learn English because I can't remember what was difficult for me.
-staycool- taycool-

Not at all, after all we are all entitled to our own opinions and we should all appreciate them when we give/get them... it's very easy to misunderstand things said here as we don't get the facial expressions or intonation -kiss- iss-
As for touching many subjects, what the heck the English section is/has been quiet for some time and thought why not stir up things... -inthesun- nthesun- make a bit of noise. Besides I am happy to interact with you guys/girls and am ecstatic to have come across the forum (thanks to famous google), it makes me feel I guess closer to home. (Ro will always be called home for some reason, although it is not and probably never will be anymore for me).

p.s.: I am not by far feminist... I secretly prefer dealing with guys only (in business at least) anyway as I believe they do a better job than women. (and I am an exception obviously -shamed2- hamed2- but women are usually slow at work and emotional whereas guys are usually strong, very good at what they do and whenever/wherever/whatever they seam to know the answers...) But as I said the "I'm always right" was a joke which I knew bambuzal will get it. It's a laugh, men and women say it! I say it to my hubby and he says it back to me... it's fun and we laugh.
i5-

I also stumbled upon another romanian website which I like - it's very similar to yahoo in a way as it has forums, answers, etc - the site is: www.eva.ro

I like it anyway and it helps me practise my romanian as it's getting rusty - a bit like me I suppose.....hmmmm I have some good moments too lol

Annie -inthesun- nthesun-

Not at all, after all we are all entitled to our own opinions and we should all appreciate them when we give/get them... it's very easy to misunderstand things said here as we don't get the facial expressions or intonation -kiss- iss-
As for touching many subjects, what the heck the English section is/has been quiet for some time and thought why not stir up things... -inthesun- nthesun- make a bit of noise. Besides I am happy to interact with you guys/girls and am ecstatic to have come across the forum (thanks to famous google), it makes me feel I guess closer to home. (Ro will always be called home for some reason, although it is not and probably never will be anymore for me).

p.s.: I am not by far feminist... I secretly prefer dealing with guys only (in business at least) anyway as I believe they do a better job than women. (and I am an exception obviously -shamed2- hamed2- but women are usually slow at work and emotional whereas guys are usually strong, very good at what they do and whenever/wherever/whatever they seam to know the answers...) But as I said the "I'm always right" was a joke which I knew bambuzal will get it. It's a laugh, men and women say it! I say it to my hubby and he says it back to me... it's fun and we laugh.
i5-