U01 · 5 of 7 vowels match Ukrainian (a e i o u ≈ UA а е і о у). Only two need work — and one of them you already own from Russian. Click any command to copy it, then run it in a terminal at the repo root to hear it (neural voice; add nothing else).
| Letter | Sound | Your anchor | Examples | Hear it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| î / â | [ɨ] | RU ы — exact match. UA и is close but laxer — trust the Russian anchor here. |
în, între, când, mâine, română | scripts/speak.sh "în, între, când, mâine, română" |
| ă | [ə] | RU unstressed о — «молоко» opens with exactly this vowel. EN backup: the first sound of about, said clearly. Relax the whole mouth. |
casă, mamă, fără, măr, apă | scripts/speak.sh "casă, mamă, fără, măr, apă" |
Spelling rule, not sound rule: î at word edges (în, a hotărî), â inside the word (când, română). Same sound.
| Pair | Meaning shift | Hear the contrast |
|---|---|---|
| fata / fată | the girl / a girl — final -a vs -ă IS the definite article (U05 preview!) | scripts/speak.sh --slow "fata. fată. fata. fată." |
| râu / rău | river / bad — [ɨ] vs [ə] side by side | scripts/speak.sh --slow "râu. rău. râu. rău." |
| in / în | flax / in — [i] vs [ɨ], the RU и/ы contrast exactly | scripts/speak.sh --slow "in. în. in. în." |
| Spelling | Sound | Anchor | Example | Hear it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ce / ci | [t͡ʃe / t͡ʃi] | UA че / чі | ce, cine, cinci | scripts/speak.sh "ce, cine, cinci" |
| che / chi | [ke / ki] | UA ке / кі | chelner, chiar | scripts/speak.sh "chelner, chiar" |
| ge / gi | [d͡ʒe / d͡ʒi] | UA дже / джі | ger, girafă | scripts/speak.sh "ger, girafă" |
| ghe / ghi | [ge / gi] | UA ґе / ґі | gheață, ghid | scripts/speak.sh "gheață, ghid" |
| oa | [o̯a] | fast "оа", one syllable | soare, oameni | scripts/speak.sh "soare, oameni" |
| ea | [e̯a] | fast "еа", one syllable | seara, mea | scripts/speak.sh "seara, mea" |
ș = UA ш, ț = UA ц — direct matches. For native confirmation of any word: forvo.com/word/<word>/#ro or youglish.com/pronounce/<word>/romanian.