Learn Romanian: Afară bate vântul. - The wind blows outside.

Romanian word order is very flexible. While you will often see Subject-Verb (like in English), it is very common to put the verb before the subject. This often happens when starting a sentence with a location word like afară (outside). You could say Vântul bate afară, but Afară bate vântul sounds very natural.

Doesn't the verb bate normally mean "to beat"?

Yes, the basic meaning of a bate is "to beat" or "to strike." However, Romanian uses this exact same verb to describe the wind blowing. So, bate vântul literally means "the wind beats," but you should always translate it as "the wind is blowing."

Where is the word for "the" in this sentence?

In Romanian, the word for "the" (the definite article) is attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front. The base word for "wind" is vânt. To say "the wind", you attach the ending -ul to make vântul.

The English translation says "blows", but can this also mean "is blowing"?

Yes! Romanian does not have a separate "-ing" tense for things happening right now. The present tense verb bate means both "blows" (in general) and "is blowing" (at this very moment). Given the context of looking outside, "The wind is blowing outside" is a perfect translation here.