Romanian Language, Culture and Civilization

About

Founded by the renowned linguist Alexandru Rosetti in the ‘60s, in Sinaia, and coordinated for several years by professor Boris Cazacu, the University of Bucharest Summer School is the oldest academic initiative in Romania meant to promote Romanian language and culture abroad. For more than half a century, the University of Bucharest Summer Courses have gained recognition and prestige due to the participation of many reputed Romanian and foreign professors and academicians, as well as of distinguished scholars and artists.

Our Intensive Romanian Language Courses are designed using the communicative approach to language teaching, which means that vocabulary and grammar notions will be constantly put in relation with interactive purposes. In other words, our goal is not to insist on the theoretical knowledge of grammar, but on the students’ ability to communicate in everyday life. At the same time, the students will become familiar with the main speech acts (how to formulate apologies, thanking, congratulating, complimenting, giving advice, expressing an emotion, etc.) and with the Romanians’ cultural manner of speaking. In line with the European Language Passport, our courses focus on the four language skills: listening, speaking (spoken interaction, spoken production), reading, and writing.

The Romanian language courses are taught by professors from the University of Bucharest, academics, and specialists in linguistics and communication, having a high degree of national and international experience in teaching and testing Romanian as a foreign language. Students will be divided into three or four groups (A1, A2, B1-B2, C1), according to their level, which will be initially tested.

A. Intensive Romanian Language Courses
Level A1-A2 (beginners) aims at the acquisition of basic phonetic, grammatical and lexical structures, integrated in everyday conversational topics (i.e. ‘Pleased to Meet You’, ‘What time is it?’, ‘On the Street’, ‘At the Supermarket’, ‘At the Market’, ‘At a Restaurant’, ‘At the Bank/Exchange Office’, ‘Weather. Climate’, ‘At the Station’, ‘At a Hotel’, ‘On the Phone’, ‘Hey, taxi!’, ‘My House’, ‘Family’, ‘Daily Schedule’, ‘At the Postal Office’ etc.). By the end of the course, the student will be able to interact in everyday, specific situations.

Level B1-B2 (intermediate) aims at improving grammar and at extending and refining vocabulary. The topics are to be extended based on the study of literary texts of average difficulty, of nonliterary texts (mainly journalistic), and on listening classes (excerpts from radio and television broadcasts). The student will become an independent speaker, improving his abilities of understanding and producing texts.

Level B2-C1 (advanced) aims at improving and refining grammar, vocabulary (synonyms, antonyms, specialized terminology, characteristics of spoken Romanian), phraseology, and stylistic registers of contemporary Romanian. The topics are to be widely extended based on the study of literary texts of increased difficulty, of nonliterary texts (according to the students’ interests) and on listening classes (excerpts from radio and television broadcasts). The student will become an experimented speaker, able to attain the native speaker levels of proficiency (C2).

B. Lectures on Romanian Culture and Civilization

The Lectures on Romanian Culture and Civilization are given in Romanian by academics, specialists in culture, artists and are addressed to advanced students. Hence, for students in Level B2-C1, 3 twice a week, the course programme runs from 9.30 to 13.30 and includes 3 class hours – Romanian language course, and 1.30 class hours – Lectures on Romanian Culture and Civilization.

C. Workshops

Students can choose one of the following workshops, running twice a week from 17.00 to 18.30 (the scheduled hours can be modified according to circumstances):

1. Intensive listening (for advanced leaners): a very useful activity for advanced students and conference interpreters, which aims at improving the understanding of authentic oral texts.

2. Romanian Roots in (Traditional) Dance and Theatre (upper intermediate): a truly creative workshop which helps you express yourself through gesture and mimics and learn Romanian using dance, games and improvisational exercises.

3. Romanian Customs and Folklore Traditions (lower intermediate): a workshop destined to those interested in traditional culture, in folklore and ethnographical aspects.

4. Multimedia workshop (beginners): the workshop is conceived as an appendix to the A1 (beginners) classes. During the workshop, the students will listen to both standard textbook recordings and to fragments of real radio or TV shows. Based on these samples, the students will learn, analyze and acquire new linguistic structures.

Course leader

Director of the Summer Courses Dr. Alexandru Nicolae, lecturer https://www.unibuc.ro/despre-ub/ub-astazi/profesori-ub/17288/nicolae-alexandru/ Executive director of the Summer Courses Dr. Ionuț Geană, lecturer http://www.lingv.ro/index.php?option=c

Target group

People with a keen interest in Romanian language, culture and civilization.

Course aim

The courses aim to provide participants with fluency and language competence in Romanian.

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