Discover Romania

Romanian band Fierbinteanu wins Antonin Dvorak remix contest

Romanian band Fierbinteanu is the winner of the Antonin Dvorak music remixes contest launched by the Czech Centre in Bucharest to mark 170 years since the birth of the composer. The winning band was announced recently at a party at the Czech Center, where all the tracks that entered the competition were played. The prize is a three days trip in Prague. Over 30 Romanian musicians responded to the contest launched by the Czech Centre Bucharest in December last year, to celebrate the 170 [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on February 5th, 2012 at 02:02 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: ‘Insomniac’ by C.I.A. feat Ciprian

This week’s recommendation is dedicated to people who have trouble sleeping. It’s a hip-hop song called ‘Insomniac’ and is performed by Romanian band C.I.A. The beginning of the song – which, unlike many of Romania’s power tunes these days, is in Romanian- features the voice of Romanian TV anchor Andreea Esca, who reads a piece [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on February 4th, 2012 at 03:02 pm

0

Foreigners crowd to learn Romanian in Lisbon

Portuguese, Italian, English and Dutch who live in Lisbon recently showed an increasing interest in learning Romanian. The spring semester of the Romanian language courses organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute in Lisbon started on February 1 with a record of 75 applicants, who where divided in seven groups of elementary, intermediate and advanced. The reasons given by the new students to learn, who where not only Portuguese but also [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on February 4th, 2012 at 02:02 pm

0

The Vanishing Point that Whistles: Modern Romanian poetry published in English

Contemporary Romanian poetry will be available to English speakers, thanks to a new anthology called ‘The Vanishing Point that Whistles.’ The collection is described by critics as reflecting the hopes and fears of Romania’s transition from a communist state to an EU member over the last 20 years and is representative of the artistic revolution [...]

Published by Liam Lever on February 2nd, 2012 at 02:02 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: Gameplay by Manfellow

Our choice for this week’s song is a tune from the recently formed Bucharest band Manfellow. The song is ‘Gameplay’ and its playful rhythm makes a bright day seem even brighter. Manfellow are an alternative post-rock band founded in 2011. They won the second prize at Stufstock Festival 2011 last August – Newcomers section [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on January 23rd, 2012 at 02:01 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: ‘You give me love’ by Stefan Stan ft. Alex Velea

This week’s song is still hot from the recording studio and features Stefan Stan, the winner of the first edition of the Voice of Romania competition, that ended in December last year. Stan recorded the song together with the HaHaHa Production, recording company of his coach in the show, Romanian artist Smiley. Interest in Stefan [...]

Published by romania insider on January 17th, 2012 at 05:01 pm

0

Romanian language lesson: About sport (despre sport)

Let’s learn some names of sports in Romanian. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] fotbal – engl. football tenis de câmp – engl. lawn tennis tenis de masă – engl. table tennis golf – engl. golf ciclism – engl. cycling atletism – engl. athletics volei – engl. volley‑ball handbal – engl. handball rugbi – [...]

Published by Mona Pologea on January 14th, 2012 at 08:01 am

0

Romanian language lesson: About weather (despre vreme)

Let’s learn some usual phrases about the weather. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] vremea este frumoasă – engl. the weather is beautiful vremea este urâtă – engl. the weather is bad vremea e înnorată – engl. the weather is clouded vremea e ploioasă – engl. the weather is rainy plouă – engl. it [...]

Published by Mona Pologea on January 12th, 2012 at 02:01 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: (I don’t wanna) Think Twice by Electric Fence

This week’s song is all about dynamic beats, shouted lyrics, accordion passages and the urge to not think twice. The song ‘(I don’t wanna) Think Twice’ is performed by Electric Fence. Elena Vasile and David Ciente formed the group at the beginning of 2009 and the current line-up is Elena Vasile (lead vocals), David Ciente [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on January 10th, 2012 at 02:01 pm

0

Free Romanian class for beginners starts next week

Rolang will organize a free Romanian language course for beginners on Monday (January 9) at Rolang Shool (51, Dacia Blvd., Bucharest), from 18:30. The free Romanian course will have a total duration of 1.5 hours and foreigners who have reached the intermediate level are also welcome to join. The school will organize several free Romanian [...]

Published by Irina Popescu on January 4th, 2012 at 01:01 pm

0

Overview of 2011: Top 10 Romanian songs

Going back a few years, a select group of Romanian artists started to break into the international charts and get airplay on radio stations across Europe, as well as elsewhere in the world. Romania-Insider.com searched for the top ten Romanian songs of this year. There’s plenty more where these came from – stay tuned to [...]

Published by romania insider on December 29th, 2011 at 03:12 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: ‘These are the times’ by DJ Marika feat Badoi

DJ Marika, known to clubbing lovers for his Selectro Wednesday evenings in Expirat & The Other Side Clubs, launched a new single together with Dragos Badoi. DJ Marika – by his real name Florin Marica (in picture)- and Badoi came up with a song called ‘These are the times’, a catchy electronic music beat. In [...]

Published by romania insider on December 28th, 2011 at 01:12 pm

0

Romanian language lesson: Future Tense

The Future Tense is formed with the auxiliary verb “to want” and the infinitive form of the verb without the particle “a”. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] The auxiliary verb forms are: Eu voi Noi vom Tu vei Voi veți El / ea va Ei / ele vor Verbs in the Future [...]

Published by Mona Pologea on December 28th, 2011 at 09:12 am

0

Over 50 Romanian books translated in 18 countries in 2011

A total of 55 Romanian books have been translated and published in 18 countries this year through the programs developed by the National Book Centre of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), namely the ’Translation and Publication Support Program (TPS)’, ‘20 authors’ and ‘Publishing Romania’ program. Romanian books have been translated this year in Austria, Bulgaria, [...]

Published by Irina Popescu on December 21st, 2011 at 04:12 pm

0

Romanian language lesson: Past Tense (compound perfect indicative )

The compound perfect indicative is formed with the auxiliary verb “to have” and the past participle of the verb. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] The auxiliary verb “to have” has the following forms: Eu am Noi am Tu ai Voi ați El / ea a Ei / ele au The compound [...]

Published by Mona Pologea on December 19th, 2011 at 01:12 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: ‘Lasati-ma sa trec, sunt artist!’ by Mes Quins

This time we have a song by Mes Quins, a band considered one of the most interesting newcomers on the Romanian electro-synth-pop scene by press and fans after their first single, ‘Printeso’ (Princess). ‘Lasati-ma sa trec, sunt artist!’ (Let me go, I am an artist!) is a satirical song about creative types that take themselves [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on December 16th, 2011 at 02:12 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: ‘Fire’ by East Roots

This week’s song is performed by East Roots, a Romanian reggae band, and it’s called ‘Fire’. It has a positive vibe – as reggae songs usually have- and a rythhm that is likely to catch on the Romanian club scene. East Roots band was founded in 2009 and brought a new sound that combines drum & bass, reggae, ska and dancehall with sitar and pan flute. The band’s [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on December 13th, 2011 at 03:12 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: ‘Eskimo’ by Kumm

Romanian band Kumm’s ‘Eskimo’ is all about catchy beats and lyrics that stick in your head and put a smile on your face right after you listen to it. Kumm’s indie-alternative ode to feeling good is the second single from their upcoming sixth album, which is as yet unnamed. The first single was ‘Foul Play.’ Kumm [...]

Published by Alexandru Camburu on December 1st, 2011 at 12:12 pm

0

Romanian writing talent set for London book launch

Three local writers will attend an event to launch English versions of their books at London’s Canary Wharf. Organized by the publisher, Profusion, the event on Wednesday November 30 will showcase three Romanian stories from the Profusion Crime series. Writing in the crime genre the writers, George Arion, Bogdan Hrib and Oana Stoica-Mujea, depict different sides [...]

Published by Liam Lever on November 29th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: ‘This time’ by Cuantune

Romanian Nu Jazz band Cuantune has released a new song that easily made it into our Romanian song section. Their new tune, called ‘This time’, has a new video as well (listen to the song and watch the video below). You could mistake Cuantune for an international band, their sound is really good and most [...]

Published by romania insider on November 27th, 2011 at 10:11 am

0

Romanian language lesson: Phonetic alternations in verbs in the Present

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Vowel and consonant alternations occur very often in various verbs in the present tense paradigm. The most common vowel alternations are: a – ă: sar/sări (I jump – you jump) ă – e: văd/vezi (I see – you see) o – oa – u: pot/poate/putem (I can – [...]

Published by romania insider on November 25th, 2011 at 01:11 pm

0

Romanian song of the week: Sonata in La Minor by ROA (Rise of Artificial)

Romanian band Rise of Artificial (ROA) has launched a new song and a video that we choose to feature in this week’s Romanian song article. The video of the song ‘Sonata in La Minor’ premiered on Tuesday on Music Channel. If you’ve listened to their previous well known song ‘Ne place’ (We like it), you’ll [...]

Published by romania insider on November 22nd, 2011 at 06:11 pm

0

Romanian-born writer wins Swiss Book Prize 2011 with “Jacob decides to love” novel

This year’s Swiss Book Prize 2011 went to Romanian-born Catalin Dorian Florescu, for his novel “Jacob beschliesst zu lieben” (Jacob decides to love). The Swiss Book Prize is a literary award that goes to the best out of 60 novels from 40 publishers, chosen by a jury on behalf of the Swiss Booksellers’ Association. The [...]

Published by Irina Popescu on November 22nd, 2011 at 05:11 pm

0

Romanian language lesson: Neuter nouns. Forming the plural

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]A neuter noun refers in general to a thing or an inanimate object. The neuter nouns are masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural. A native speaker of Romanian knows that an inanimate word takes in the singular the masculine numeral “un” and in the plural the [...]

Published by Mona Pologea on November 10th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

0

Romanian songs of the week: Lala Song and Azi NU, by Grasu XXL feat Guess Who

When we started researching for this week’s Romanian song, we had just one tune in mind, but we ended up adding a second one, played by the same Romanian artists: Grasu XXL and Guess Who. The latter is an artist that seems to have gained popularity. You might have heard his song ‘Tot mai sus’ [...]

Published by romania insider on November 9th, 2011 at 05:11 pm