What language is spoken in Bucharest?

Romanian is the easternmost Romance language, closer to Italian than to any Slavic neighbor. You'll hear it on the streets of Centru Vechi and think "that sounds almost like Portuguese filtered through Budapest." The Latin roots show clearly in written form. "Mulțumesc" (thank you) carries a Latin skeleton under those Slavic-looking consonant clusters. The alphabet is Latin with 5 added characters. Ș sounds like English "sh," ț like "ts" in "cats," and the two circumflexed vowels (â and î) produce the same sound, a tight "uh" from the back of the throat that has no English equivalent. To be fair, pronunciation is more forgiving than French or Mandarin. Romanian is largely phonetic. What you see on a Bucharest menu or street sign, you can sound out, and locals will understand your attempt even if the vowels drift.

English works well in Bucharest's center, but the proficiency map is uneven. Staff at hotels along Calea Victoriei and waiters in the Lipscani old-town restaurants handle English fluently. So do most Bolt and Uber drivers under 40. The barista at Origo Coffee in Centru Vechi will discuss single-origin beans in confident English. Step into a Mega Image convenience store in Militari or Drumul Taberei, though, and you'll likely get blank stares. Romania scored "high proficiency" on the 2024 EF English Proficiency Index, ranking 15th in Europe, but that average skews toward Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca. At the Obor farmers' market, where vendors sell brânză de burduf (smoked cheese with a sharp, smoky bite, wrapped in fir bark) and zacuscă by the jar, pointing and smiling covers the gap. The generation split matters most. Romanians born after 1990 grew up with English-language internet, subtitled Hollywood films (Romania never dubbed, unlike Hungary or Germany), and mandatory English from primary school.

You need fewer than 10 Romanian phrases to cover daily interactions in Bucharest. "Mulțumesc" (mool-tsoo-MESK, thank you), stressed on the second syllable, gets a visible warm reaction from everyone, including gruff cab drivers idling at Gara de Nord. "Vă rog" (vuh ROG, please) is the universal softener. At any restaurant in Floreasca or Dorobanți, "un vin roșu, vă rog" (a red wine, please) and "nota, vă rog" (the bill, please) handle 80% of your table Romanian. Mind you, "mersi" (from the French "merci") works as casual thanks among younger Bucharesters in Centru Vechi, while "mulțumesc" is the safe formal default. "Bună ziua" (BOO-nuh ZEE-wah, good day) is the polite opener with strangers, shopkeepers near University Square, and anyone over 50. Among friends and young bar staff, "salut" (sah-LOOT) works like the Italian "ciao." "Cât costă?" (kuht KOS-tuh, how much?) is the one phrase you'll use daily at Obor market and in any taxi without a meter.

Google Translate handles Romanian well, and the offline Romanian pack downloads in under 50 MB. The camera mode reads menus and signs at maybe 85% accuracy. That said, most restaurants in the Lipscani and Piața Universității areas carry English menus without you needing to ask. At the Palace of the Parliament, built starting in 1985, English tours run at fixed times and fill faster than the Romanian-language slots. Street signs in Bucharest use the Latin alphabet with those 5 diacritics, so you can read Metro station names at Piața Unirii or Aviatorilor without a phrasebook. Metro announcements play in Romanian only, but the station names come through clearly. One thing that tends to surprise visitors. French still carries weight among older Bucharesters. Romania modeled itself on France during the interwar period, and educated locals born before 1970 often speak better French than English. If your French is decent, try it with a silver-haired waiter at Casa Capșa on Calea Victoriei, opened in 1852. You might get a longer, warmer conversation than English would prompt.