The US Ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, and members of the embassy's team shared some of their favorite words in Romanian on the occasion of the Romanian Language Day, while employees of the French Embassy tried to pronounce an original phrase.

The moments captured on video footage of the diplomats speaking Romanian were shared on the official Facebook pages of the two embassies.

Among the favorite expressions of members of the US diplomatic mission team in Bucharest are "Vindeti castraveti gradinarului " (literal translation - Sell cucumbers to the gardener, meaning - con a con artist, editor's note), "o bagheta magica" (a magic wand) or "asa si asa" (so and so). A "very useful" word is "habar n-am" (I have no idea), say the embassy representatives.

In preparation for missions abroad, US diplomats have the opportunity to study the languages of their host countries at the State Department Foreign Service Institute, where they are taught by native speakers. At the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, many US diplomats continue their studies through the Embassy's language program, and learning Romanian enhances their knowledge of the country and its culture and makes them feel at home, the diplomatic mission shows.

Also on Romanian Language Day, employees of the French Embassy, including Ambassador Nicolas Warnery, tried to pronounce an original phrase.

"Happy Birthday to the Romanian Language! Let's celebrate together the richness and uniqueness of this beautiful language! Did you know that Romanian is the only European language in which it is possible to create a sentence using only vowels? 'Oaia aia e a ei, o iau eu.' (That sheep is hers, I'll take it, editor's note). Do you think our diplomats can pronounce it correctly?" embassy representatives said on Facebook, showing a video showing attempts to pronounce these words.AGERPRES(RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)