Is Romanian pronunciation hard for English speakers?

Less than most languages. Spelling is phonetic: one letter, one sound, with very few exceptions, so once you know the rules you can read new words correctly. The only truly new sounds are ă (like the a in 'about') and â/î (a sound made further back in the mouth, with no English equivalent).

What is the difference between â and î?

None in sound: both spell the same vowel. The difference is only where they are written. î is used at the start and end of a word (înainte, a hotărî), â inside it (pâine, român). In compounds the î of the second word stays (neînțeles). The words român and România always take â.

How do I type ș and ț correctly?

Add the Romanian (Standard) keyboard on your computer or phone. On most phones you can also long-press s and t. Make sure you get ș and ț with a comma below, not ş and ţ with a cedilla, which are a different, older pair of characters.

Romanian pronunciation: ă, â, î, ș, ț and the rest

Q: Where does the stress go in Romanian words?

Romanian has no written stress marks, and stress can fall on different syllables: casă and carte are stressed on the first syllable, frumos and telefon on the last. Most words are stressed on the last or second-to-last syllable. The safest habit is to learn each word with its audio.

One letter, one sound

Romanian spelling is phonetic. Unlike English, where though, through and tough all sound different, a Romanian letter keeps its sound wherever it appears. Most letters sound much as they do in Italian or Spanish. What you need to learn is short: five special letters, the letters c and g before e and i, and two vowel pairs.

Every word below has native audio. Press play, then say it yourself.

The five special letters

ă: the "uh" sound

ă is the relaxed vowel in the English about or sofa. It is very common, especially at the end of feminine nouns.

casă/ˈka.sə/
house, home
apă/ˈa.pə/
water
țară/ˈt͡sa.rə/
country

â and î: one sound, two spellings

â and î spell the same vowel. English has nothing like it: say the i of bit while pulling your tongue back, lips relaxed and unrounded. î is written at the start or end of a word, â inside it.

înainte/ɨ.naˈin.te/
forward, before
pâine/ˈpɨj.ne/
bread
român/roˈmɨn/
Romanian (man)
mâine/ˈmɨj.ne/
tomorrow

ș: "sh"

ș sounds like sh in shop.

ușă/ˈu.ʃə/
door
școală/ˈʃko̯a.lə/
school

ț: "ts"

ț sounds like ts in cats, even at the start of a word.

țară/ˈt͡sa.rə/
country
mulțumesc/mul.t͡suˈmesk/
thank you

Written correctly, ș and ț carry a comma below the letter. The look-alikes ş and ţ, with a cedilla, are different characters from older keyboards and fonts; they still appear online, but they are not correct Romanian.

c and g: hard or soft

Before e and i, c and g go soft, as in Italian. To keep them hard before e or i, Romanian adds an h.

Spelling	Sounds like	Romanian
ce, ci	ch in church	zece, cinci
che, chi	k in kit	chelner, chirie
ge, gi	j in jam	minge, inginer
ghe, ghi	g in get	ghete, ghid

zece/ˈze.t͡ʃe/
ten · ce = ch
cinci/t͡ʃint͡ʃʲ/
five · ci = ch
chelner/ˈkel.ner/
waiter · che = k
chirie/kiˈri.e/
rent · chi = k
minge/ˈmin.d͡ʒe/
ball · ge = j
inginer/in.d͡ʒiˈner/
engineer · gi = j
ghete/ˈɡe.te/
ankle boots · ghe = hard g
ghid/ɡid/
guide · ghi = hard g

h, j and r

h is always pronounced, a little stronger than in English: hartă, hotel.
j is the sound in measure and vision, never the English j: joi, mesaj.
r is a short tap of the tongue, as in Spanish or Italian.

hartă/ˈhar.tə/
map
joi/ʒoj/
Thursday
mesaj/meˈsaʒ/
message

Two vowel pairs: ea and oa

ea and oa are glides, said as one syllable: ea starts like a short e and opens to a; oa starts like a short o and opens to a.

cafea/kaˈfe̯a/
coffee
fereastră/feˈre̯as.trə/
window
noapte/ˈno̯ap.te/
night
soare/ˈso̯a.re/
sun

The whispered final i

An i at the end of a word, after a consonant, is barely heard: it softens the consonant before it rather than adding a syllable. Luni is one syllable, not lu-ni.

luni/lunʲ/
Monday
marți/mart͡sʲ/
Tuesday
ești/jeʃtʲ/
you are

Notice also that ești starts with a small y sound. A few very common words beginning with e do this: eu (I), el (he), ea (she), este (is).

Stress: learn it with the word

Romanian writes no stress marks, and stress is not fixed: casă and carte are stressed on the first syllable, frumos and telefon on the last. Most words fall on the last or second-to-last syllable. Learn each new word with its audio and the stress comes with it.

carte/ˈkar.te/
book
frumos/fruˈmos/
beautiful
telefon/te.leˈfon/
phone