Lost in Romanian Translation? Not If You Know Latin!
Romanian might sound mysterious at first but it actually has a lot in common with languages like French, Italian, and Spanish. That’s because Romanian comes from Latin, the ancient language spoken by the Romans. For kids learning Romanian, this Latin connection makes many words easier to recognize and remember.
Latin Is Hiding in Everyday Words
Even if a child has never studied Latin, they may already know similar words from English or other Romance languages. For example:
- mamă (mother) comes from Latin mamma
- lup (wolf) comes from lupus
- lumină (light) comes from lumen
These connections make Romanian feel familiar even for beginners. It’s like unlocking a secret code!
How It Helps Language Learners
When kids learn that one root word can connect to many languages, they feel more confident. It builds their vocabulary and helps them guess new words based on patterns.
Programs like Dinolingo’s language courses support this by teaching themed vocabulary with plenty of repetition and context. Kids naturally start noticing how words relate across languages.
Try These Fun Activities
Language Family Tree
Draw a tree showing Romanian, Spanish, French, and Italian as branches from Latin. Add example words on each branch to compare.
Root Word Detective
Give kids Romanian words with Latin roots and let them guess the English meaning—or vice versa!
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