Romanian Status Quo

My first reaction when I started learning little things in Romanian was that it was a strange language, and I found it unlikely I would ever gain a true mastery of the language as opposed to simply having passive knowledge of it. I figured I would become fluent in Italian first before ever thinking about diving seriously into Romanian.

Over the years, I did gain that passive knowledge of the language I sought, knowing more about it than actually being able to speak or write it, or understand it in its spoken form; I could make the claim that I knew some Romanian, but could not say anything about actually speaking it. Fast forward to this year, and the tables have turned: Italian has now taken the place in the back burner, and Romanian holds the spotlight. Indeed, knowing other Romance languages, actually understanding Italian isn't hard per se; so that, in itself, isn't truly an achievement. Perhaps because it is so similar to Spanish and Portuguese, it's not challenging to a person like me to work with Italian; I can carry a conversation, watch the news, and understand 100% of what is said to me. Yet, I don't feel challenged.

I have said on a couple of occasions that I view the various Romance languages as one unit, one major language spread across these European regions with officially recognized dialects. Now, that isn't far from the truth because it is the truth: ultimately, they all derive from one language, Latin. But when I speak one Romance language, and then, I start speaking another one, I truly feel I'm speaking one language, a version of modified Latin in each case, and with each new language, I simply have to adapt to the regional and dialectal differences.
I am often asked why I don't study "more important languages", like German or Chinese, instead of "wasting my time" with Romanian. My answer is simply that Russian, Greek, or Japanese don't interest me, and, even if I tried to learn them, my progress would be close to non-existant because my motivation to study them just isn't there. Anyone who has studied a language knows how important that element is to achieving fluency: motivation. My motivation is to master the Romance branch of languages, although in my mind, like I stated, I am truly focusing on one major language.

Other polyglots have told me, at times, that they would find it not only confusing to manage so many similar languages but also boring; they tell me that they seek variety in the languages they choose to learn. I am more impressed being able to converse in Romanian, a "little language that could", that I would ever be if I could do the same in Chinese, for example, or any other language recognized and studied around the globe. Indeed, I would rather master this one branch of languages, the Neo-Latin one, than know bits and pieces of several language families without truly mastering one. Going back to my statement about seeing the Romance languages as one single unit: for me, improving on one Romance language means that I'm indirectly improving on all the others.

Now, why focus on Romanian, and not the more widely spoken one, some would say more useful, Italian? As I said above, and this is also the reason I didn't quite work any further with Catalan: being able to understand Italian, I feel my knowledge of the language is sufficient (and also because it all comes to this limited resource in our lives: time). If asked, for instance, to write something in Italian or Catalan, or to translate from those languages, I could do it. The keyword being could; not something I would set out to do (in a formal or professional setting, that is). When people ask me what languages I speak, I list Portuguese, Spanish, and French; I would never say that I speak Italian, though I may add that I know some.

If I had the choice, the language I would be attempting to master would be Latin; that is, aiming to speak it with fluency like a modern language. While I consider myself proficient in Latin, it would be difficult to gain the same fluency that one would achieve with a modern language. Outside of a few academic circles, Latin isn't used as a spoken medium of communication, making opportunities to practice it extremely scarce. These are the same reasons I only have a passive knowledge of two other languages that have interested me at some point, Romansh and Occitan. Not being the national languages of any country, their status as regional idioms means even native speakers are hard to find because, even if they come from the region where these languages are spoken, people are more proficient in, and prefer, the national language.

And so, we arrive at Romanian. Certainly, at first, for me, Romanian was that mysterious language, some Slavic-Latinate mix I never saw myself learning. Today, Romanian poses that challenge that I sought in Latin, Romansh and Occitan; it's the oddball in the family, the language with its many quirks that stands out among the rest. While relatively a minor language, it is the official language of a nation, with mass media and millions of native speakers that proudly use it everyday; this is something that neither Romansh, Occitan or Latin have. It meets all the criteria perfectly: Romance language, check; different enough from its siblings, check; plenty of opportunities to use it, check. It completes the circle of Romance, and mastering it is an achievement of mine. 

Where I stand now is that I can speak, write and understand Romanian at a very advanced level. I have been meticulously focusing on it for the past year, surrounding myself with it, reading books, listening to the news, and, most importantly, finding native speakers to talk to. Being aware of my linguistic capabilities, all it would take is a few months living in Romania to claim fluency; and visiting Romania is something that I envision doing.

To some people, Romanian is a Balkan language spoken in some unknown area of Eastern Europe. After having studied it, I can assure you that its Latin roots are indisputable; they are evident in its grammar and vocabulary all over. If Balkan Slavic and Latin could hypothetically be put in a vacuum, Romanian is exactly the result I would expect; the real-life by-product of this fusion is almost too perfectly balanced. Imagine that... Latin with Slavic influences. While I'm sure that anyone who reads this blog is aware of that fact, it doesn't truly sink in until you've been in close contact with the language.

Seeking to explain my fascination with Romanian, this was a preface to some entries that I will be writing reviewing aspects of the language, very likely involving my liking of manele. Looking back, it seems my thoughts about this Balkan-Romance language have not changed: I felt the same knowing only the basics than I do now, speaking it and using it actively. The reasons for learning it are numerous, besides those listed above, there are its speakers, Romania's interesting culture and rich history, and the mysticality attached to the legendary limba vampirilor, language of the vampires.