Romanian Practice - A Journey of Belonging

The Invitation

You live here. You work here. Romania is your daily reality, maybe even becoming home. But sometimes the language dances away from you. The cultural rhythms feel unfamiliar. The way people think, organize, take care of things - it can be puzzling, occasionally frustrating, often beautiful in ways that are hard to explain.

This journey is for Dutch people living in Romania who want to:

• Practice Romanian in a safe, judgment-free space
• Understand the cultural context behind the words
• Connect more deeply with colleagues, neighbors, the place itself
• Ask questions about Romanian thinking, customs, the "why" behind how things work
• Build bridges between Dutch directness and Romanian warmth
• Feel more at home in a place that's still teaching you its language

This started with my colleagues. Dutch people who chose Romania, who are building lives here, but sometimes struggle to cross that invisible bridge between understanding and truly connecting.

What Happens

We gather. We speak Romanian - slowly, patiently, with lots of translation and explanation. We practice real conversations: ordering at the restaurant, talking with the landlord, understanding jokes, navigating bureaucracy, expressing what you really mean.

But we also talk about the why:

• Why do Romanians say yes but mean maybe?
• Why is "family" spoken about so differently here?
• Why does everything take longer than planned (but somehow still gets done)?
• Why the particular relationship with rules, with time, with promises?
• What does "noroc" really mean beyond just "cheers"?

We create space for questions you might feel silly asking elsewhere. We practice the language through the lens of culture. We help you understand not just what Romanians say, but how they think.

And most importantly: we help you see that struggling to connect isn't a failing - it's the normal, beautiful, messy work of building a life across cultures.

Who This Is For

This is for you if:

• You're Dutch (or Dutch-speaking) living in Romania
• You understand some Romanian but want to practice speaking
• You're tired of Google Translate being your main conversation partner
• You want to understand Romanian culture, not just Romanian words
• You feel isolated by the language barrier
• You're curious about why things work the way they do here
• You want to connect more authentically with Romanian colleagues and friends
• You're building a life here and want it to feel more like yours

You don't need to be fluent. You don't need to be "good at languages." You just need to want to try.

What You Need

• Willingness to speak imperfectly (this is where learning lives)
• Curiosity about another way of seeing the world
• Patience with yourself and the process
• Questions - all the things you've wondered but didn't know who to ask
• Stories - your struggles, confusions, funny misunderstandings
• Openness to discovering that "different" isn't "difficult," just... different

No textbooks. No homework (unless you want it). No tests. Just conversation, practice, cultural exchange, and the slow building of bridges.

How to Join

This journey starts when you reach out. There's no fixed schedule yet - it forms around the people who need it.

Express your interest:

1. Go to the Contact page
2. Tell me a bit about yourself:
   • How long you've been in Romania
   • Your current Romanian level
   • What you're hoping to gain
   • What feels most challenging about connecting
3. We'll talk - maybe one-on-one first, maybe gather a small group
4. Together we'll find a rhythm that works (weekly? biweekly? evenings? weekends?)

Once we have a few interested people, we'll arrange our first gathering. From there, it grows as it needs to.

The Philosophy

Language isn't just words - it's a way of thinking, feeling, being.

When you learn Romanian in Romania, you're not just learning vocabulary. You're learning how to be here. How to navigate the unspoken rules. How to understand why your Romanian colleague said yes but you sense they meant no. How to participate in the particular magic of "degeaba" conversations over coffee.

You're learning how to belong.

This is maintenance mode learning: not racing toward fluency, not preparing for an exam. Just consistently, gently building the bridges that help you feel more at home. Some weeks you'll attend. Some weeks you won't. The journey continues either way, waiting for you when you need it.

Mistakes aren't failures - they're the curriculum. Every "am dor" instead of "îmi este dor" is a small adventure in understanding how Romanian thinks differently than Dutch. Every confusion about when to use formal vs informal is a window into Romanian social culture.

Community makes courage. It's easier to try when others are also trying. To laugh at your mistakes when everyone's making them together. To ask "but why?" when you're surrounded by people who also want to understand.

A Note on Cultural Exchange

This journey runs both ways. Romanian culture has much to teach about warmth, flexibility, finding joy in small moments, the art of "somehow it works out." Dutch culture brings directness, planning, efficiency, saying what you mean.

Neither is better. Both have wisdom.

We'll learn from each other, bridge our differences, and maybe discover that feeling foreign is just the first step toward feeling like you belong.

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"Nimeni nu știe limba română perfect - nici măcar românii. We're all just doing our best to understand each other. That's the whole point."

Ready to begin? → Express Interest