Learn Romanian for Free from Portuguese – PBC Languages
Brazilian Portuguese speakers learn Romanian with natives at PBC Languages: small classes, free 1-to-1 exchanges, real practice, no gimmicks.
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Starting from Brazilian Portuguese gives you a real head start with Romanian vocabulary. Words like "salariu", "an" or "ora" land almost intact from Latin, and basic sentence order (subject-verb-object) works the same way you're used to. "A fi" behaves close enough to "ser" that early conversations about who you are and where you're from move fast.
The sounds are where things slow down. Romanian has "ă" (a flat, central vowel with no equivalent in Portuguese, as in "casă") and "â"/"î" (as in "România" itself), both of which Portuguese speakers tend to flatten into a normal "a" or "i" out of habit. The "ț" sound (like "ts" in "preț") also doesn't exist in Portuguese and needs deliberate practice, since your mouth wants to turn it into a soft "t" or "s". Add to that Romanian's unpredictable stress — Portuguese has fairly reliable stress rules, Romanian doesn't — and the first weeks are mostly about retraining your ear.
The structural trap is the article. In Portuguese you say "o menino" (the boy); in Romanian the article glues onto the end of the word: "băiat" becomes "băiatul". You'll also run into a light case system — genitive and dative endings change nouns and articles ("cartea băiatului", the boy's book) — something Portuguese simply doesn't have. Where you'll move fast: recognizing vocabulary and following basic conversation. Where you'll need patience: producing correct endings and telling apart words that look like old friends but aren't.
Words you will actually hear
| Here | Elsewhere | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| carte | carta | "Carte" means book in Romanian, not letter. "Carta" in Portuguese is a letter you send — easy mix-up the first month. |
| mare | mar | "Mare" means big/great in Romanian. In Portuguese "mar" is the sea. Same letters, unrelated meaning. |
| foarte | forte | "Foarte" means very in Romanian ("foarte bine", very good). "Forte" in Portuguese means strong. Close spelling, different job in the sentence. |
| masă | massa | "Masă" is a table in Romanian. "Massa" in Portuguese is dough or pasta. Both sound similar but you'll set a "masă", not eat one. |
| gol | gol | Identical spelling, different meaning: in Romanian "gol" means empty or zero; in Portuguese it's a goal in football. Context saves you here. |
| prieten | parente | "Prieten" means friend in Romanian. "Parente" in Portuguese means relative. They sound close enough to trip you up in casual conversation. |
| salariu | salário | Genuine cognate, same meaning: salary. One of the easy wins when reading Romanian for the first time. |
| an | ano | Both mean year and come from the same Latin root. Numbers and dates in Romanian will feel familiar early on. |
| ora | hora | Both mean hour/time. Telling time in Romanian is one of the first things that clicks without much effort. |
| rochie | roupa | "Rochie" means dress specifically, while "roupa" in Portuguese means clothes in general. The words sound close enough to help you guess the topic, even if the exact meaning narrows. |
How it works here
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Sign up and say your level
Two minutes. If you do not know your level, we place you in the first class.
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Pick a class or an exchange
Classes are led by a native teacher. An exchange is with another member: half the time in their language, half in yours.
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Join by video, nothing to install
From your phone or your computer. If you cannot make it, cancel and get your place back.
Questions about this
How long does it take to hold a basic conversation in Romanian coming from Portuguese?
Comprehension usually moves faster than speaking, since a good chunk of vocabulary overlaps with Portuguese. Producing correct sentences takes longer because of the suffixed article and case endings, which have no equivalent in Portuguese. How fast you get there depends entirely on how often you show up to classes and exchanges, not on a fixed timeline.
Is the 1-to-1 exchange actually free?
Yes. You're matched with a Romanian speaker who wants to practice Portuguese, and you split the session: half an hour in Romanian, half an hour in Portuguese. Nobody pays anybody — you're both trading practice time.
What level of Romanian do I need before joining an exchange?
You need enough to sustain a short conversation without relying on your partner to carry it, roughly A2. If you're a complete beginner, start with the small-group classes to get the basics of "a fi", articles, and simple structures before jumping into 1-to-1 exchanges.
How exactly is the exchange time split?
Every session is thirty minutes in Romanian and thirty minutes in Portuguese, with a clear switch halfway through. That way both people get equal speaking time in the language they're practicing, instead of one side dominating the conversation.
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