LICEUL TEHNOLOGIC DE SERVICII „SFANTUL APOSTOL ANDREI” PLOIESTI

GRUNDTVIG LEARNING PARTNERSHIP„PROMOTING ENGLISH AS MEANS OF

COMMUNICATION IN EUROPEAN ADULT EDUCATION”

(GRU - 13 - P - LP - 253 - PH – ES)

MATERIAL CREATED FOR THE ENGLISH LESSONS ORGANIZED WITH THE ITALIAN ADULT STUDENTS BYPROF. ANDREI SORINA MONICA

APRIL 2014

MEET ROMANIA, THE LAND OF FAIRY TALES

ROMANIA ON THE MAP OF EUROPE

SINCE 2007 ROMANIA IS PART OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

THE 9 REGIONS OF ROMANIA

FLAGS OF ROMANIA AND ITALY

ROMANIAN CLIMATE

• The highest temperatures: +44.5°C (in the South)

• The lowest temperatures:

-32.5°C (2 years ago)

• The highest peak: Moldoveanu – 2544 m

• Ploiesti is situated at half distance between Bucharest and the Carpathians

ROMANIA HAS 4 SEASONS

• Winter

• Summer

• Autumn

• spring

NATURAL BEAUTIES – AMAZING LANDSCAPES

THE CARPATHIANS11 NATIONAL PARKS AND 7 NATURAL PARKS

WILD ANIMALS PROTECTED BY THE LAW

6 SALT MINES FROM WHICH SALT HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FOR 1000 YEARS

• Constant temperature +12°C

• Popular tourist attractions

• Recommended by doctors for lungs diseases and weak immune system

• Constant humidity

A GREAT NUMBER OF FAMOUS CAVES IN ROMANIA

GLACIAL LAKES, THERMAL LAKES, VOLCANIC LAKES, MINERAL WATER SPRINGS

Famous resorts

MUDDY VOLCANOES AND MUD GOOD FOR HEALTH

THE BIOSPHERE RESERVATION OF DANUBE DELTA

• Tourists from all over the world visit it every year

• Difficult to live there in winter

FAMOUS AND BEAUTIFUL PLACES

BUILT BY PEOPLE

THE MERRY CEMETERY FROM SAPANTA

• It became an open-air museum and a national tourist attraction

• It is famous for its colorful tombstones with naïve paintings describing in a poetic and original manner the people who are buried there and scenes from their lives

THE MONASTERIES FROM THE NORTHERN PART OF ROMANIA – PART OF UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE

THE 7 VILLAGES WITH FORTIFIED CHURCHES FROM TRANSYLVANIA

• Enlisted as UNESCO world heritage sites

• Built in the 13th century as defensive works within which people could take shelter from the invaders (the Ottoman Empire)

• Prince Charles has properties here and his foundation is involved in the restoration of many historical monuments

MEDIEVAL CITIES FROM TRANSYLVANIA

FAMOUS CASTLES • The Bran Castle

(Dracula’s Castle)

• Savarsin Castle (the residence of the Romanian king, Michael I)

• The Huniad Castle

• Peles Castle (build by the first king of Romania who was of German origin) is 150 years old

CITADELS

BUCHAREST

• The Houses of Parliament is the second biggest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon from the USA

• It has 1100 rooms

THE CHURCHES WITH WOODEN TOWERS FROM MARAMURES AND

BUCOVINA

POPULAR TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS

TRADITIONAL CLOTHES, DANCES AND SONGS

CALUSARII

• Calusarii ritual is inscribed on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

• The dancers called Calusari are invested with supernatural powers and while dancing they protect people from the female demons

• They also bring luck, health and happiness to people watching them dancing

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTlmPgaXdoM#t=81

CHRISTMAS CAROLING

• Ancient tradition preserved in the countryside areas;

• Children mostly go caroling: in big groups they go from house to house to sing songs about Christmas (the birth of Jesus);

• In exchange for their singing, they receive nuts, apples, sweets, bread or money;

SACRIFICING THE PIG

• Strong pagan tradition remained till nowadays in traditional country life – before Christmas

• Pigs were sacrificed to feed the sun with their blood in order to help him become stronger, fight against winter and bring spring

• This custom resisted along with the Christian one in collective memory

PAINTING EGGS ON EASTER• Painting eggs on Easter is an ancient tradition

• It is performed with wax and different natural colours

• It’s a tradition preserved at the countryside

• On Easter Day, people knock eggs and say “Jesus has risen!” and “He has risen indeed!”

SPRING TRADITIONS

• Watering the girls

• Cooking pastries in the memory of the martyrs who were killed in the first Christian centuries

FIRST MARCH AMULETS

• It is an ancient tradition celebrated at the beginning of spring

• Women and girls wear March Amulets to let people know spring is coming and to be happy and lucky

• The red string symbolizes the blood and life and the white one – the purity

TRADITIONAL FOOD

COMMON INTERESTS OF PEOPLE FROM ROMANIA AND ITALY

COMMON ANCESTORS - THE LATINS FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE

THEY CONQUIRED OUR TERITORY AND MIXED UP WITH THE NATIVE POPULATIONS FORMING THE ROMANIAN NATION

THE TRAJAN’S COLUMN FROM ROME

• Presents scenes from the 2 Dacian wars the Roman Empire had in order to conquer our teritory • 101-102 aC• 105-106 aC

ROMANIAN AND ITALIAN LANGUAGES HAVE LATIN IN

COMMON AS A COMMON ROOT

• Romanian has inherited a number of about 2000 lexical items from its ancestral language, Latin (45% of the usual language).

• It’s easy for Romanians and Italians to understand each other’ languages

ITALIAN CUISINE IN ROMANIA

ROMANIAN AND ITALIAN PEOPLE PRESERVE TRADITIONAL COSTUMES AND DANCES

BOTH NATIONS LOVE FOOTBALL

THANKS FOR WATCHING!

MATERIAL CREATED BY

PROF. SORINA MONICA ANDREIROMANIAN COORDINATOR AND TEACHER OF ENGLISH