The fastest way to learn Romanian is to spend most of your study time on Romanian you can mostly understand. That kind of Romanian is called comprehensible input. What you read and listen to should change as you improve, so the plan below shows what to do at each level and how to split an hour of study.
What to Do at Each Level
Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.
- Level 1
I'm just starting out or know only a few words.
Read and listen 35 min. Review 15 min. Speak 10 min.
Read the free Duostories stories about everyday moments, such as ordering a coffee, and listen to each one twice. Then watch a short lesson from Learn Romanian with Nico and say a few lines out loud.
- Level 2
I can handle simple exchanges.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 10 min. Speak 10 min.
Hide the translation and look up only the words that stop you. Listen to the easiest stories on the Romanian Weekly Podcast with the text open, and retell each one in a few sentences.
- Level 3
I follow conversations on familiar topics.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 5 min. Speak 15 min.
Watch Acum înțeleg!, where a Romanian teacher talks about life in Romania, with the subtitles on, and then listen once more without reading along. Talk about what you heard for longer.
- Level 4
I understand most content but miss some nuance.
Read and watch 45 min. Review 5 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch the Comprehensible Romanian talks from Learn Romanian with Vlad. Each week, watch a news report from Recorder and read along with its Romanian subtitles.
- Level 5
I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch the free Romanian films on Cinepub, and read articles about things you like. Look up only the words that block the story.
- Level 6
I read at near-native level.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read Romanian novels, watch shows and the news on TVR+ from Romania's public broadcaster, and talk about them for their own sake.
Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Romanian?
Romanian takes about 24 weeks of full-time classes, or 552 class hours, to reach professional fluency, according to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. That puts Romanian in its first group, the languages it calls close to English, with Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French.
| Language | FSI group | Full-time weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Romanian, Italian | Category I | 24 |
| German | Category II | 36 |
| Russian | Category III | 44 |
| Japanese | Category IV | 88 |
Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca teaches foreign students Romanian in a preparatory year of two 14-week terms, at 25 class hours a week. Students start from zero and reach A2 after the first term, or 350 hours, and aim for B2 by the end of the year, after 700 hours. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:
| Study per week | Babeș-Bolyai A1–A2 (350 hours) | FSI professional fluency (552 hours) | Babeș-Bolyai A1–B2 (700 hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3½ hours | About 23 months | About 3 years | About 3¾ years |
| 7 hours | About 11½ months | About 18 months | About 23 months |
| 14 hours | About 6 months | About 9 months | About 11½ months |
| 28 hours | About 3 months | About 4½ months | About 6 months |
These are class hours, so treat them as a rough guide. FSI students also study on their own for 17 hours a week, and time you spend understanding Romanian on your own counts too.
What Slows Learners Down
- Word Lists AloneRomanian adds “the” to the end of a noun, so casă is “house” and casa is “the house.” A word list shows one form, so learn nouns from the sentences you read.
- Reading Without ListeningRomanian spelling doesn't show which part of a word to stress, and copii means “children” or “copies” depending on the stress. Listen to everything you read.
- Content Far Too HardA Romanian film where you know one word in five teaches you very little.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Romanian app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Romanian, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our Romanian app comparison covers courses, tutors and speaking apps too.
Can I learn Romanian in three months?
You can learn enough Romanian to order food and introduce yourself. At 14 hours a week, three months is about 180 hours, which is about half of Babeș-Bolyai University's first term, the one that takes students from zero to A2.
How much should I study Romanian each week?
Aim for three to five hours a week of Romanian you understand, in sessions of at least 15 to 30 minutes. A longer session lets you get lost in a story, which teaches more than five minutes a day, and steady time each week matters more than a daily streak. Our post on deep sessions over daily streaks explains why.
Is Romanian hard for English speakers?
No, by the Foreign Service Institute's measure. It is one of the quickest languages on its list, at 24 weeks, and Spanish and French take 30. Most of the time goes into noun endings and verb forms, which you pick up fastest from Romanian you understand.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (FSI language categories)
- Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Letters, Romanian Language Preparatory Program for Foreign Citizens, study plan from 2025–2026 (two 14-week terms, 25 hours a week, 700 class hours)
- Babeș-Bolyai University, Department of Romanian Language, Culture and Civilization, study programs (A2 after the first term, B2 by June)
- Wikipedia: Romanian alphabet (31 letters, five with added marks; cópii and copíi)
- Wikipedia: Romanian grammar (the definite article at the end of the noun)
