Thread: Moldovan, anyone?

Triton, what is the difference between Romanian and Moldovan language in using sunt/s

Originally Posted by Niamh

Someone told me love but I could only assume twas then about the ponciest love ever =))

If I get it right from my dictionary, "ponce" means gay.
Than that's not true. There is not even a hint at homosexuality in this song. It's just about love.

Originally Posted by pisces

Originally Posted by Niamh

Someone told me love but I could only assume twas then about the ponciest love ever =))

If I get it right from my dictionary, "ponce" means gay.
Than that's not true. There is not even a hint at homosexuality in this song. It's just about love.

Tis the origin aye, but I mean the video. Means flamboyant {not flamboyantly gay, just plain old flamboyant} e.g. pink shirts and the aeroplane!

And another (and not the last ) question to Triton: how does it feel like for native Romanian speaker to read texts without diacritics (diacritics are often omitted in web pages)? I suppose that it should sometimes create ambiguity at word level. For an instance, when terminal "ă" changes to "a" to form a definite article ("casă" -> "casa"), the article will be lost.

Originally Posted by pisces

how does it feel like for native Romanian speaker to read texts without diacritics (diacritics are often omitted in web pages)? I suppose that it should sometimes create ambiguity at word level

I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not a Romanian speaker. My native language is Russian and I'm not very good at Romanian. I mean, I understand what they say on TV and radio, I can read and I can support a simple conversation, but I wouldn't say that I really know Romanian. And you know what, even for me it's not that difficult to read without diacritics (though I would prefer a "normal" text, of course). So I guess for the native speakers there's no problem at all. In case of ambiguity the meaning of the word (and its grammatical form) can be understood from the context. Beginners, on the other hand, must experience huge troubles reading such texts.

Originally Posted by Niamh

what is Dragostea Din Tei about? Someone told me love but I could only assume twas then about the ponciest love ever =))

Here's an English translation: http://www.catteacorner.com/dragosteadintei.htm
As you can see there's not too much sense in this song. And it's not that translation is bad (although there are some minor mistakes), it just doesn't make any more sense in Romanian either. Maybe it's about love. Maybe it's about linden trees. Or cellphones, for that matter. You decide.

Originally Posted by Niamh

Btw, what's Chisinau {forgive spelling} like? Overpopulated? Beautiful? Small?

There's nothing wrong with your spelling. It's okay to spell "Chisinau" in English. Chisinau is the only big city in Moldova. Officially estimated population size is 750-800 ths, but I think the real numbers are higher. Small if compared to the giants like Moscow or London, but a real megapolis by Moldova's standards. There are some nice buildings and parks, couple of churches and monuments, but frankly speaking Chisinau is not the place to be called a big tourist attraction.
Here's a site about Chisinau in three languages (English, Russian and Romanian): http://www.kishinev.info/
And here are some more pictures of the city: http://www.travel-images.com/moldova.html

[quote=pisces]
what is the difference between Romanian and Moldovan language in using sunt/s

Hincesti- know where that is?? Cheers for all the info btw =))

Originally Posted by Niamh

Hincesti- know where that is?? Cheers for all the info btw =))

It's in Moldova, 36 km from Chişinău. Once (or maybe more than once) I drank wine which was made in H

Originally Posted by Triton

Beginners, on the other hand, must experience huge troubles reading such texts.

I do experience such troubles in fact

Сочувствую. You should try to find the sites that use diacritics. There are some on the net, not too many of them unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Niamh

Cheers for all the info btw =))

You're welcome

Originally Posted by Niamh

Hincesti- know where that is??

Pisces is right, H

Unless my age does come to prevent me, theres a chance I'd be doing a two week stint at an orphanage there. Is it all industrial? Poor? Btw, we only recently {end of January I fink} converted to kilometres, could you tell me the distance in miles per chance?? Do you like Moldova?

Moldova is probably the poorest country in Europe, bar none. Even Ukraine is rich by comparison.
I'm never one to dissuade people from going places (it's never as black as it's painted, as they say) - but do a lot of reading and research and get good information before you go. Oh I think 1 mile = 1.6km roughly. 36/1.6=23milesish

Originally Posted by waxwing

Moldova is probably the poorest country in Europe

It is. Majority of the population lives below the poverty line.

Originally Posted by Niamh

Is it all industrial? Poor?

I don't know much about Hincesti, but I can tell you for sure that it is poor, cos this can be said about any place in Moldova, and the smaller the place is the lower is the level of live there. In rural areas people are simply on the verge of surviving.

The only place that is relatively "rich" is the capital, Chisinau, were most of the money resources and buisnesses are concentrated (and that's the typical situation for many former Soviet republics).

The only thing I know about "industry" in Hincesti is that there's a winery in the town.

Originally Posted by Niamh

Do you like Moldova?

No, I don't. Moldova is not really the best place to live in.

Originally Posted by Niamh

Unless my age does come to prevent me, theres a chance I'd be doing a two week stint at an orphanage there.

"Outreach Moldova"?

Originally Posted by Triton

Originally Posted by Niamh

Unless my age does come to prevent me, theres a chance I'd be doing a two week stint at an orphanage there.

"Outreach Moldova"?

How did you know? Are they well known? Are they going to steal my money and sell me as a sex slave to a Bottajikwangostanian hermaphrodite?