Survival Kit: Your First Month in Romania

How to use this guide

Romanian looks hard at first — but you don’t need perfect grammar to be safe and understood in your first month. This guide gives you the practical phrases you’ll actually use, grouped by the situations you’ll meet: your first days, your first day at work, emergencies, shops, transport and daily life.

It follows the established “survival phrasebook” format used worldwide to help newcomers communicate quickly and safely — the same practical approach found in international travel phrasebooks and in humanitarian language tools created for newly arrived migrants and refugees.

How to read a phrase

Every phrase has three parts: the English (what you want to say), the Romanian (what you say out loud), and a simple pronunciation. Capital letters show the stressed part: in ah-zhoo-TOR, say the last part a little stronger. The pronunciation is an approximation to get you started — Romanians will understand you, and your accent improves with practice.

20 Words You’ll Hear Every Day

When Something Goes Wrong

On your first days it feels easier to nod and say “da” than to admit you didn’t understand. But on a worksite, a misunderstood instruction can hurt you or someone else. Good workers ask. Asking is not weakness — it is safety.

If you don’t understand

Getting Around & Polite Phrases

Getting around

Politeness that opens doors