Through our Romanian lessons we look to facilitate the cultural integration of the learners, by integrating in the courses not only simple etymologies, but also historical, literary, and cultural arguments.
“Corb la corb nu scoate ochii” it´s a Romanian proverb that refers to the idea that people should not harm or take advantage of others within their own group or community. It emphasizes the importance of unity and solidarity, and the idea that members of a community should work together to support each other, rather than competing against each other or causing harm to one another. It encourages people to show loyalty, trust, and mutual respect towards others in their group, and to avoid actions that could harm the interests of the community as a whole.
The first Romanian to put a large portion of Romanian proverbs and sayings on paper was Iordache Golescu. He was a Romanian boyar, scholar, and statesman, the son of the great ban Radu Golescu, in the 1800s. Golescu left behind a manuscript of 854 pages, which included 16,350 types of proverbs, collected from folklore, entitled “Parables, Advice, True Words and Stories, Collected by His Excellency Iordache Golescu, Son of the Late Ban Golescu, Including Numerous Proverbs, Thoughts, and Histories.”
Many of the wise words collected by Iordache Golescu from Romanian villages hundreds of years ago are still known and used today. Ethnologists claim that, at that time, proverbs not only reflected Romanian reality but were also considered rules of conduct. “As part of traditional folk culture, proverbs metaphorically and concisely shape human experience, constituting a significant part of social representations. They were a means of expression for people, but even today, although in a more reduced or adapted form to media contexts and requirements, they are often used as a means of communication. Specific to oral culture, proverbs have been the subject of the oldest collections of folklore,” writes ethnologist Ion Cuceu in the 2006 Dictionary of Romanian Proverbs.