Citizenship Romanian Language Exam common mistakes
Citizenship Romanian Language Exam · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In Reading Comprehension, the candidate answers from general knowledge or from the topic of the text rather than locating the sentence that supports the answer, so the choice sounds plausible but contradicts a detail in the passage.
Under time pressure candidates skim the title and first lines, recognise a familiar theme (health, transport, school), and import assumptions from outside the text. The exam deliberately includes distractors that match the theme but not the passage.
What to do instead
Train a locate-then-answer routine: read the question stem first, underline the key word, scan the passage for that word or a synonym, and place a finger or cursor on the exact sentence before reading the options. For every chosen option, say aloud which line of the text proves it; if no line proves it, reject it. Practise with short texts where two options are thematically true but only one is textually supported.
In Reading Comprehension, the candidate misreads negation and double negation in Romanian (nu, nici, niciodată, nu numai... ci și, fără) and selects the opposite of what the text says.
Romanian frequently places nu before the verb and uses nici/nicio alongside it, and constructions like nu numai... ci și invert the expected emphasis. Learners whose first language marks negation differently scan past the particle and process only the positive predicate.
What to do instead
Build a negation drill: take ten short sentences, rewrite each in the affirmative and negative, and mark the scope of nu with brackets. In the exam, circle every nu, nici, fără and niciun before answering. Learn the fixed pairs nu numai... ci și (not only... but also) and nu... decât (only) as single units, and test yourself on questions phrased as 'Care afirmație este falsă?' where negation is the whole task.
In Listening Comprehension, the candidate writes the answer while the audio is still playing, misses the next two sentences, and then cannot reconstruct them because the recording is played once or twice only.
Candidates treat listening as dictation and try to capture every word. Writing competes with listening for attention, and Romanian fast speech with linked sounds (e.g. într-o, n-o) makes word-by-word capture impossible anyway.
What to do instead
Adopt selective note-taking: before the audio starts, read the questions and note the information type needed (a time, a price, a place, a reason). During the first listening, write only keywords, numbers and arrows; leave blanks. Use the pause or second listening to complete answers. Practise with one-minute Romanian audio at natural speed, taking notes in symbols and abbreviations only, then answering without replaying.
In Listening Comprehension, the candidate confuses numbers, times and dates spoken in Romanian (douăzeci și unu vs douăzeci și unulea, ora trei vs ora treisprezece, întâi vs unu) and records the wrong figure.
Romanian distinguishes cardinal and ordinal forms and uses both 12-hour and 24-hour clock references, and similar-sounding pairs (șaisprezece/saizeci, șaptesprezece/șaptezeci) are acoustically close. Candidates hear a number, recognise it as 'a number', and write the first one that fits the context.
What to do instead
Memorise the tricky pairs explicitly: șaisprezece/șaizeci, șaptesprezece/șaptezeci, optsprezece/optzeci, and the ordinal markers -lea/-a (al doilea, a doua). Drill with audio that states prices, platform numbers and appointment times, and write digits immediately. In the exam, if two numbers are possible, mark the item and decide on the second listening rather than guessing at once.
In Writing, the candidate produces a text that is grammatically reasonable but does not perform the required task: a formal request written without the required elements (subject line, greeting, closing formula) or an opinion essay with no stated position.
Candidates prepare grammar and vocabulary but not text-type conventions, and under exam pressure they write whatever comes easily instead of checking the task instructions for required components, register and length.
What to do instead
Keep a one-page checklist per text type. For a formal email or cerere: subject, formula of address (Stimate domn/Stimată doamnă), clear request, justification, closing (Cu stimă) and signature. For an opinion text: thesis in the first lines, two arguments with examples, conclusion. Before writing, spend two minutes listing the required components and tick them off afterwards. Practise writing the same content twice, once formal and once informal, to feel the register difference.
In Writing, the candidate writes a long text with correct ideas but repeated agreement, article and diacritic errors (un problemă/o problemă, doi ani/două zile, să fie/sa fie), which lowers the language score even when the content is good.
Learners draft for content and never re-read for form, and Romanian noun gender, plural agreement and the diacritics ă, â, î, ș, ț are easy to omit when typing or writing quickly. The cedilla forms ş/ţ are also often confused with the correct comma-below forms.
What to do instead
Reserve the last five minutes for a targeted correction pass in a fixed order: noun-adjective agreement, verb endings, articles, then diacritics. Keep a personal error list from practice texts and check only those items. Learn the high-frequency patterns (problemă is feminine; zile and săptămâni are feminine; numbers doi/două agree with the noun) and write with the correct comma-below ș and ț characters so the text is unambiguous.
In Speaking, the candidate memorises a monologue and freezes or derails when the examiner asks a follow-up question that does not fit the script.
Preparation focuses on producing a prepared text rather than on interaction, and the candidate has not practised responding to unscripted questions about their own answers, which is what the interaction part of the test measures.
What to do instead
Practise a three-part pattern for every topic: a 60-second monologue, then answer five unpredictable questions on the same topic, then ask one question back. Record yourself and note where you stall. Build a small set of repair phrases (Puteți repeta, vă rog? / Adică... / Cum să spun...) so a gap becomes a managed pause rather than silence. Prepare topic vocabulary, not full sentences.
In Speaking, the candidate reads answers from notes with flat intonation and long pauses, or switches into another language when a Romanian word is missing.
Reading written sentences aloud produces unnatural rhythm and prevents eye contact, and the habit of filling gaps with a stronger language is deeply ingrained from real conversation.
What to do instead
Use keyword cards only, never full sentences, and practise speaking from five words per topic. Train fluency with two-minute timed monologues on familiar themes (family, work, city, daily routine) where you must keep talking using simple structures. Agree with yourself a Romanian fallback for unknown words: describe it (un lucru cu care... / o persoană care...) instead of switching language. Record and check pause length and intonation.
In Grammar and Vocabulary, the candidate confuses the subjunctive with the indicative after conjunctions and modal verbs (trebuie să fie vs trebuie este; pentru că este vs pentru că să fie) and misuses the two infinitive-like forms.
Romanian uses să + subjunctive far more than other Romance languages use their equivalents, and learners transfer patterns from their first language. The short infinitive (a fi, a merge) and the supine (de făcut) add further confusion.
What to do instead
Learn the trigger list as a rule: trebuie să, pot să, vreau să, doresc să, este important să, înainte să all take the subjunctive with să. Contrast with că and pentru că, which take the indicative. Drill with transformation exercises: rewrite ten indicative sentences after trebuie să and ten after pentru că, and check the verb form each time. Learn the supine separately as a fixed pattern after de (mașină de spălat, am terminat de citit).
In Cultural and Civic Knowledge, the candidate answers from vague impressions about Romanian institutions and symbols and confuses similar facts (the three colours and their order, the date of the national day, which institution does what).
This domain is often left to the final days and studied by skimming lists, so facts blur together. Candidates also assume that general European knowledge transfers, when the question asks specifically about Romanian arrangements.
What to do instead
Build a one-page fact sheet organised by category: state symbols (blue, yellow and red in vertical bands; the national day on 1 December), form of government and head of state, Parliament's two chambers, the role of the Government and the courts, and citizenship rights and duties. For each entry write one sentence explaining it in your own words, then test yourself by covering the answers. Where you are unsure of a detail, verify it against an authoritative source rather than guessing.