Romanian is a Romance language belonging to the Eastern branch of the Romance-speaking world, sharing similarities of vocabulary and grammatical structures with Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese due to their common Latin origins. It is the official language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova and it is spoken by roughly 29 million people, within the territorial borders of these countries and in diaspora. Approximately 11.5-14.6% of Romanian vocabulary is of Slavic origin. Daco-Romanian is the language spoken north of Danube in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian are spoken by stable communities in the countries surrounding Romania (Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine). 

More about the fascinating, though not widely-known history of Romanian language at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVkRh7mEe0

For a short history of the Latin origins of the Romanian people, check out: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/trajan-column/article.html

Courses:

At UNC Romanian is offered in a two-course sequence both available to for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to heritage speakers. ROML 461 and 462 are Accelerated language courses which fulfill the Global Language Requirement and can also be taken independently as electives. https://languageplacement.unc.edu/home/romanian/

 If you would like more information, contact Dr. Letitia Guran. (by email at lguran@email.unc.edu)

Employment opportunities:

Taking Romanian would open interesting job opportunities in diplomacy, international institutions associated with the European Union and NATO, as well as in schools, universities, NGOs. It would also allow you to delve into the history, literature, and culture of one of the most interesting areas of the European world, situated at the cross-roads of the Roman Empire, the Balkans, which interacted for long stretches of the time with the Byzantine and Slavic worlds, with the Turkish empire, the German crusaders, and, during modernity with “the west” through Romania’s most (in)famous figurehead, Vlad Țepeș/“Dracula,” the medieval ruler of Wallachia. If you are interested in comparative linguistics and comparative studies, including film, the two Romanian courses we offer are a great gateway for those.  

Click on a class for more information or visit UNC’s catalog page.

Explore more:

If you plan to travel to Romania, here are some useful links:

Bucharest aerial tour:

Historic monuments in Bucharest:

Painted Churches of Moldavia—UNESCO Heritage site:

Transylvania, one of the most visited regions of Romania:

https://romaniatourism.com/transylvania.html

Study Abroad

The Department of Romance Studies strongly encourages all of its students, and especially its majors and minors, to participate in a study abroad experience. Study abroad opportunities are available in a variety of locations for a summer term, a semester, or a full year.

Research

The Department of Romance Studies offers a gateway for research in the Humanities, including the various fields that make up Romance Studies. Research activities include the Honors Thesis, summer research fellowships, or engaging in mentoring projects with professors which lead to opportunities to present papers at conferences or for publication in the University’s undergraduate research journal.

Independent Studies

Independent studies courses (FREN 395, ITAL 395, PORT 396, or SPAN 395) allow students to undertake research on topics that are not available through normal course offerings. Independent studies courses may not be offered simply because a student cannot get into a class or due to difficulties a student may have in their scheduling of classes.

Awards & Honors Societies

Romance Studies has multiple awards and maintains three chapters of National Honor Societies for its students.