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Kia ora koutou! Mum and I are excited to announce our new website www.kimihiaresources.co.nz. If you're looking for quality teaching resources for te reo Māori then check out our website. PLD also available on request. Ngā mihi nui :)
www.kimihiaresources.co.nz

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Please share your ideas and resources to help each other. You can add your links to the appropriate columns or start a new one if it's a new topic. If you have questions or need help, please email: onlinepld@nzalt.org.nz. Many thanks!

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Please share your ideas and resources to help each other. You can add your links to the appropriate columns or start a new one if it's a new topic. If you have questions or need help, please email: onlinepld@nzalt.org.nz. Many thanks!

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A poster competition is being run by NZALT in conjunction with Languages Week.

Please note that this competition is open to the schools of NZALT members only.

We are asking for schools to send in their three best entries this year, either by post to: Jo Hawes, Secretary NZALT

email to: secretary@nzalt.org.nz

Final entries are due before Friday 24 June.

More information on our website

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A display or showing all of the different languages that are spoken by students and staff in the school, not just languages that are taught at school

Teachers recording videos greeting students in different languages they speak

Staff given badges with what languages they speak "je parle francais etc.."

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Different languages spoken at assembly/chapel - have karakia/ prayers spoken in different languages.

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Have your library ordering and displaying a variety of books in different languages, inviting all subject areas to get involved

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Students running a market day (lunch time) representing different cultures and languages. This could be combined with Economics/ Business classes.

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Chopsticks race
Jellybean race
Pancake race
Relay game - carry glasses of water

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Tutor class video competition - singing, signing, skits, alphabets etc. -

Form class Kahoot quiz (language/culture facts)

Quiz at staff meeting (can be done with form/tutor classes too)

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Video in different languages made by students/ teachers and then show to school

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Food truck (e.g. churros, dumplings)

Selling foods (e.g. bake sales)

Involve tuck shop to offer special foods during the week

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Invite former students to share their journey. Students who continued their language. What impact has language learning had on them.

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Say hello in as many languages as possible (including community languages and Swiss German). Who knows the most?
This could also be done across form classes.

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Chinese on Monday, Spanish on Tuesday, etc. Each day at lunch time we do cultural activities.

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Acknowledge all the languages spoken at school

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Acknowledge all the languages spoken at school

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Make a video for assembly with students greeting in their language.

Posters around the school with words in different languages (hello, welcome, thank you…) and competition at the end of the week.

Student reflection on the languages they speak why it's important for them and what languages they would like to learn and why.

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A senior language student interviews bilingual students in our school about the advantages of having another language. They each start with a greeting in their native language. This is viewed at assembly.

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Speed-dating chat (originated during NZSL week)

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Speed-dating chat (originated during NZSL week)

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We set up a staff room zoom chat this year, and had a speed dating type chat, where everyone was paired up in break out rooms for a few minutes then moved around.  We asked and answered, name, where you live, what you do.  In NZSL, so basic communication skills and the same skills used repeatedly throughout the 20 mins that we had the session.  People got to meet colleagues and also new faces and practice their NZSL skills.

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EDL.ECML.AT/WHICHLANGUAGE

We all know this situation: on a bus, in a café, on the street we hear two people talking in a foreign language. And we wonder what language it is. Let's do some training here and next time this happens to you you will easily recognise it!

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EDL.ECML.AT/WHICHLANGUAGE We all know this situation: on a bus, in a café, on the street we hear two people talking in a foreign language. And we wonder what language it is. Let's do some training here and next time this happens to you you will easily recognise it!

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Make posters of celebrities of student interest and hang up in department - also good for Open Days

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Language-specific

general

see links further to right for ideas

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Students teach the class something from their own language

Teacher to teach another language other than the target language (e.g. their mother tongue, other languages learnt in the past)

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See links further to the right for ideas.

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Based on “Nelsomathix” competition: tutor groups enter team; i.e. approx 20 questions, each group answers question, brings up answer and if correct, gets next question; winner who first finishes

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Students write their reasons on heart-shaped papers

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Traditional Music performances

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create dance to tune/ sing songs in different languages (e.g. If you’re happy and you know it, Spanish Dance Video Project)

invite dance instructors, e.g. Zumba

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0:00 / 1:22•Watch full video

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If You're Happy and You Know It: Foreign Languages Week at SAS

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Sell foods of different cultures at lunch times

profits could go to Quiz prizes or badges (e.g. croissants, crepes, Wurst in bread, sushi, rice balls etc.) or charities

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Students make badges of languages they or their teachers  know/ learn and wear them beyond Languages Week.
Use simple sentences or iconic items of the language.

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Show different movies or short films in target language during lunch times

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during staff meeting/ morning briefing

general facts about languages

guess what language you are listening to

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Get staff to share their knowledge, teach a different language e.g. Italian, Lea Faka Tonga etc.

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Teachers wear badges of languages they know (students could make those prior or during the week)

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publish a word of the day from different languages

interesting languages facts (e.g. inventions, fun facts, languages quotes)

different greeting each day

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Hang up signage posters in different languages 

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Hang up signage posters in different languages 

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share proverbs/ songs (performed by students) in different languages

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Languages Committee to help organise the week: Year 13 & some year 12, interested language students (present badges at assembly)

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Languages Week: Week 7 (13 - 17 June), Term 2, 2022

More information on our website

A poster competition is being run by NZALT in conjunction with Languages Week.

Please note that this competition is open to the schools of NZALT members only.

We are asking for schools to send in their three best entries this year, either by post to: Jo Hawes, Secretary NZALT

email to: secretary@nzalt.org.nz

Final entries are due before Friday 24 June.

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Created by former ILEP, now Future Learning Solutions

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Scroll down to find your language of interest

Basic Japanese Phrases.docx

CHINESE IN A DAY - Ni Hao!

Growing up with Chinese is interesting. It is up to its 100th lesson but starting here at Number 1 with Greetings seems a better bet. There is a fair amount about why to study Chinese but it also covers interesting cultural aspects as well.

Growing up with Chinese

Do you think you know a lot about China? Try this quiz:

China Quiz

Find out about life in Chinese schools here:

School life in China

And of course you can’t go wrong with a live feed at ipanda.com to get you enthused about learning Chinese…..Pandas

Chinese phrases.docx

"The limits of my language are the limits of my world." - Ludwig Wittgenstein

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International Languages Week - A Language in a Day

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Scroll down to find your language of interest

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Scroll down to International Languages Week

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The following resources form part of the Centre for Languages teacher support, and are regularly reviewed and updated.

If there are particular resources you would like us to include, please contact us

Sign up to receive emails about upcoming, workshops, programmes and events

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The following resources form part of the Centre for Languages teacher support, and are regularly reviewed and updated. If there are particular resources you would like us to include, please contact us Sign up to receive emails about upcoming, workshops, programmes and events

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Great resources for activities, events, facts, games and self-evaluation of language skills

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Throughout Europe, 700 million Europeans are represented in the Council of Europe's 46 member states and all are encouraged to discover more languages at any age, as part of or alongside their studies. This stems from the Council of Europe's conviction that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent. Therefore, the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe.

At the Council of Europe's initiative, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 26 September - together with the European Commission.

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International Languages Week takes place this year between 25 and 29 May. This special week provides an opportunity to showcase, learn, and promote the diverse languages and cultures in our schools, communities, and nation.

This resource page has ideas and links to help you get involved.

About International Languages Week

International Languages Week is an annual event held in New Zealand to promote language and culture from around the world.

Young New Zealanders today have exposure to a huge number of international languages - more than 160 languages are spoken in our country.

Learning an international language encompasses much more than language proficiency. Knowing an international language means knowing about the culture that is the foundation of that language.

Curriculum connections

International Languages Week supports the curriculum principles of cultural diversity and inclusion, and provides an opportunity for students to explore the values of diversity, community, and respect. Students can achieve learning outcomes described in the learning languages area and make use of key competencies, especially using language, symbols, and texts and relating to others.

How can you get involved?

Some ideas for classroom programmes or school-wide activities:

Use your students as teachers
There is a high chance that you will have some students who can speak languages other than English in your school. Encourage these students to be experts during International Languages Week and support them to share their language knowledge with others in the class.

Make connections with your community
International Languages Week is an ideal opportunity to connect with your families to find out what languages are spoken in your community. Invite family members with a second language into the school as guest speakers, to read first language books, or practice conversations with students.

Discussion starter
Use the following question as a discussion starter with your class - "does the world look different in other languages?" Consider what insights and understandings are gained by learning a new language.

Celebrate the cultural diversity in your school
Hold an event where the multiculturalism of your school is celebrated. Students could plan an international day where they wear the traditional dress of their own culture and share music, customs, food, and dance. Or an International Languages Week assembly where students can showcase their greetings, customs, experiences, and stories to the rest of the school. Students could work collaboratively to make a video like this one to promote International Languages Week

Create a language resource
Develop a language resource for your school or local community. It could be a simple vocabulary picture book to help young students learn new words, or a greetings poster to encourage the use of international greetings around the school. Students might want to create a slideshow or video in an international language to welcome new migrants and inform them about your local area.

Connect with a class in an overseas country
Connect with another class in a country that speaks an international language. The Mixxer is a free educational site designed to connect language learners around the world.

Instructional series

Another great way to get your students involved in International Languages Week is to incorporate it into your reading and writing programme. The Instructional Series offers several texts that celebrate the cultural diversity of Aotearoa. Here are our top picks:

Ramadan is Coming, School Journal Level 2, August 2013
Obay's family has come to New Zealand from Saudi Arabia. The article describes his family's daily life, then focuses on the activities that occur at Ramadan.

My Name is Rez, School Journal Level 3, November 2017
Rez Gardi was born in a Kurdish refugee camp in Pakistan and came to New Zealand as a young child, with her family. This graphic text is a memoir, looking back on her life so far. She is now a successful lawyer, a worker for refugees, and was the 2017 Young New Zealander of the year.

Home - Stories from New New Zealanders, School Journal Story Library Level 3, 2018
This text tells the stories of four Avondale Intermediate students who moved to New Zealand from overseas. Interviewed by their teacher, the students share memories of what life was like in the countries where they were born (South Africa, Sāmoa, Pakistan, and Kenya), and they discuss what it's been like adjusting to life in New Zealand.

Ngatu: Keeping the tradition alive, School Journal Level 2, June 2018
Megan and Lita are cousins who belong to the Tongan community in Wellington. This article describes how every week they come together with their mothers, grandmother, and other women and girls to learn about Tongan culture and how to make ngatu (tapa cloth).

Tafoe O! School Journal Level 2, November 2018
Every Sunday, a group of Tokelau adults and children meet in Wellington to pass on cultural knowledge. Recently, artist and master carver Paulino Tuwhala guided the group through the task of carving foe (paddles), which they used to perform a tafoe (dance).

Useful resources

You might like ...

Cultural diversity principle
This section of our website draws together research, digital resources, and examples to support schools as they consider the cultural diversity principle.
Do you have a story to share about International Languages Week?

How do you explore international languages in your school curriculum?

What international language projects have your students been involved in?

We would love to hear from you. Drop us a line at nzcurriculum@tki.org.nz. We will publish the best teaching and learning ideas on this resource page.
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International Languages Week takes place this year between 25 and 29 May. This special week provides an opportunity to showcase, learn, and promote the diverse languages and cultures in our schools, communities, and nation. This resource page has ideas and links to help you get involved.

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Collated by former National Coordinators

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Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

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Is there a way of transcribing sign languages?

Yes, sign languages can be transcribed in a number of ways. There is no standardised way of transcribing sign languages but often the Hamburg Notation System (HamNoSys) is used, which uses certain symbols to describe the handshape and movement of the sign. Another system that works in a very similar manner is SignWriting. Additionally, 'glossing' is often used, whereby signs are translated into capitalised words showing facial markers and grammatical information on top of the word or as prefixes. For more information please visit: http://www.signwriting.org/, or http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/37183/sample/9780521637183web.pdf (chapter on 'conventions'), or http://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/projects/hamnosys.html.

Where could I best find out more information about sign languages and how could I learn one?

It is best to contact your National Deaf Association to find out more where sign language classes take place and to know more about the national sign language. Information on all Deaf Associations in the EU can be found online on the website of the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) (map). More information is also available on the website of the World Federation of the Deaf.

We would like to thank Mark Wheatley and Annika Pabsch from the European Union of the Deaf (EUD - www.eud.eu) for their substantial contribution to this section.

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European Day of Languages > Facts > FAQs on sign language

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Is there a way of transcribing sign languages? Yes, sign languages can be transcribed in a number of ways. There is no standardised way of transcribing sign languages but often the Hamburg Notation System (HamNoSys) is used, which uses certain symbols to describe the handshape and movement of the sign.

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Language Trivia for a variety of languages

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Language Trivia for a variety of languages

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European Day of Languages > Facts > Language Trivia

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European Day of Languages > Facts > Language Facts

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Here are the ANSWERS for this quiz.

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Here are the ANSWERS for this quiz.

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Here are the ANSWERS for this quiz.

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Selection of activities across languages 

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Selection of activities across languages 

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Selection of activities across languages.docx

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You know all about anime, you've sung karaoke to JPop tunes, and you've dined to your heart's content on sushi and sashimi. Indeed, Japanese culture has certainly made its mark internationally - but how much do you know about its language? Did you know about its complex system of honorifics? Or that Japanese speakers make up less than 2% of the world population, but almost 10% of Internet users? Keep reading for more fun linguistic trivia about the Japanese language.

Image via fetchcomms / Wikipedia
1. Verbs aren't conjugated.
This one's a relief to Japanese learners: verbs aren't conjugated for person or number, so once you've learned the base verb, you don't have to memorize tons of pesky derivatives. Instead, you can focus your attention on the complexities of the notoriously difficult Japanese writing systems.
2. Japanese bears no relation to any other major language.
Unlike English, which is closely tied to Romance (e.g., Spanish, French) and Germanic languages (e.g., German), Japanese is not closely related to any other major language. In fact, until recently, it was classified as a language isolate, meaning that it is completely unique among all current world languages. Since then, linguists have found common roots between Japanese and Ryukyuan languages, which are indigenous languages spoken in southern Japan.
3. The Japanese word for "Japan" means "Land of the Rising Sun".
The word "Japan" is a foreign word - Japanese people call their country にほん ( Nihon) or にっぽん (Nippon), which roughly translates to "Land of the Rising Sun".
4. Almost 10% of Internet users speak Japanese.
Japanese is the 9th most-spoken language worldwide, but it's the third-largest language on the Internet, behind English and Spanish. Even though Japanese speakers represent less than 2% of the world population, they make up almost 10% of Internet users.
How good is your Japanese? Put your skills to the test with this 5. The Japanese language evolved in the 6th century from the Yamato people. free online level test 6. Japanese features loanwords from languages all over the world. and find out! 7. Homophones abound.
Around 1500 years ago, the Yamato people set up the first dynasty in what is now known as Japan. Their language eventually evolved into modern Japanese as we know it today.

Japanese contains a vast amount of 外来語 ("gairaigo", loanwords from other languages). However, these don't just come from English. Some words like テレビ ("terebi") derive from English. Indeed, other languages are present too: パン ("pan", bread) come from Portuguese pão, and アルバイト ("arubaito", part-time worker) comes from the German word Arbeit (work).
8. Honorifics abound, too.
If you thought that English has a lot of homophones (words that mean different things but are pronounced the same), try studying Japanese! All eight characters below are pronounced shin, but they mean totally different things: God, to advance, to believe, new, true, stretch, heart, and parent, from left to right.
9. Japanese is one of the fastest spoken languages.
Image via James Japan

Japanese makes extensive use of honorifics, which involve adding suffixes to words in order to show various degrees of respect. Different honorific suffixes are used for peers, children, guests, elders, colleagues, teachers, and more!

A recent study compared the speed (in syllables per second) at which native speakers of various languages talk. Japanese topped the list at a rip-roaring 7.84 syllables per second! For comparison, English is spoken at a comparatively snail-paced 6.19 syllables per second.

You may be a blackbelt in karate or a connoisseur of manga, but we're guessing you didn't know about Japanese loanwords from Portuguese, or the eight distinct meanings of "shin"!

There's a lot more to Japanese than just the fun trivia on this list. If you want to learn more, consider taking tailor-made classes from a native Japanese speaker. Whether you want to learn face-to-face or via Skype, Listen & Learn's course and package options will have something for you. Contact us to find out more information and to kick your Japanese skills into high gear!

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9 Surprising Facts About the Japanese Language - Listen & Learn

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You know all about anime, you've sung karaoke to JPop tunes, and you've dined to your heart's content on sushi and sashimi. Indeed, Japanese culture has certainly made its mark internationally - but how much do you know about its language? Did you know about its complex system of honorifics?

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8 Fascinating Facts About the Japanese Language

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Put the kettle on and settle down in your comfiest chair.
It's time for a 休憩 (きゅうけい) - break.
We want to help you improve your fluency in whatever language you're interested in.

From tips and tricks to full-on lessons, we want to help you get the most out of your language-learning journey.

But it's equally important to take breaks once in a while.

Instead of teaching the Japanese language, in this post we'll be teaching all about the Japanese language.

We found some super interesting and unique facts about the language of Japan that you probably didn't know.

Check these out!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. There's very little evidence of Japanese prehistory.

Historians believe that Old Japanese and 琉球語派 (りゅうきゅうごは) - Ryukyuan languages, the indigenous dialects of the Ryukyu islands off mainland Japan, were derived from travelers that came from Asia and various Pacific Islands nearby during the 弥生時代 (やよいじだい) - Yayoi period around 200 BC.

Unfortunately, there's little to no evidence of this as fact.

We just don't know very much about Japan during the Yayoi period at all. Anthropologists have deduced that the earliest recorded text that contains writing similar to 漢字 (かんじ ) - kanji wasn't found until around the 8th century.

How the language developed before that is truly a mystery!

2. The Japanese language is only recognized as the official language of Japan.

Of course, Japanese is the de facto language of Japan, and it's also the only place where Japanese is the official language.

However, that doesn't mean Japan is the only place where the language is spoken!

Japanese is recognized as a minority language in the Republic of Palau, where the island state of Angaur speaks primarily Japanese. As of 2010, around 1% of Californians and 15% of Hawaiian residents speak Japanese as well.

3. While many Asian languages are tonal, Japanese is not.

A "tonal" language is one that uses less distinct syllables and unique words, opting for the use of inflection to differentiate between words.
Japanese isn't a tonal language.
This is actually pretty odd, since many East Asian languages are tonal in nature: Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai, for instance, all rely on tone to convey meaning. Considering its location, it's interesting that Japan didn't adopt a similar language system.

For the Japanese learner, especially one that grew up speaking a Latin or Germanic language, this is a welcome relief. Tones can be very difficult for some learners to get used to.

Like all languages, though, Japanese does have a certain rhythm and cadence to its words and sentences. The best way to learn the unique music of the Japanese language is by listening to authentic speech.

4. Japanese is one of the most fast-paced spoken languages in the world.

This is, of course, a bit hard to measure.

Speakers of any language have their own dialects, accents and personalities that affect how quickly they speak. (We all have that one friend, am I right?)

A group of French linguists conducted a recent study and tackled the task of measuring average language speed the best they could.

Interestingly enough, Japan has a spoken syllable rate of nearly eight syllables per second. That beats out Spanish, French and Italian.

However, there are some more interesting takeaways from the study.

While Japanese has the fastest spoken rate, it also has the lowest amount of information density per second.

That means that while a lot of stuff is being said, not a lot of information is being given. (Which is not too surprising when you think about it-it takes almost all eight syllables just to say "not.")

In contrast, they found that Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese and English had the highest rates of information shared per second while maintaining some of the slowest spoken syllables per second. Languages are amazing, aren't they?

5. The Japanese language boasts a specific alphabet system for writing foreign words.

We've already established that Japanese is a pretty unique language.

But when two worlds collided and the Japanese were presented with new information and languages through international exposure and trade, it wasn't a matter of just learning a word in its native tongue.

Many words in Japanese are adopted and "Japanified" into the language so that it's easier for Japanese people to say them. Similarly, many pronouns and names in English and other foreign languages were tweaked to be easier to say in Japanese.

To accommodate this, the Japanese alphabet 片仮名 (かたかな) - katakana was officially adapted for this new need.

Daring as far back as 951 AD, katakana was originally used by Buddhist monks to annotate Chinese writing for Japanese readers -sort of like furigana is used for foreign and young readers today.

Over time, it became a way for Japanese officials to communicate with foreign traders and is used to this day to denote foreign or borrowed words (unless they come from China), onomatopoeia and foreign names.

When it was originally conceived, katakana contained many different symbols to represent each syllable sound and was primarily used by men.

Today, the katakana system consists of 48 unique syllables and is an accepted part of the language, used by everyone. Thank goodness for that!

6. Despite popular belief, Japanese has no genetic relation to Chinese.

We know that 漢字 (kanji) is adopted from Chinese characters and used as a Japanese writing system. We also know that Japanese "borrows" quite a few phrases and words from Chinese.

The Japanese language as a whole, however, isn't derived from the same language family as Chinese and has no genetic relation to it whatsoever.

In fact, Japanese is considered one of the most unique languages in the world with no direct derivative language that birthed it. Other such languages include Sumerian, Korean and many Native American languages.

How crazy is that?

7. ローマ字 (ローマじ) - Romaji, a.k.a. the romanization of Japanese words, has interesting origins.

One would think romaji would have come about during trade relations and early interactions with European countries in the 16th century. This, however, is not entirely the case.
Romaji has its roots in Christianity.
Romaji was developed in the 1500s by a Japanese Catholic who wanted to help European missionaries evangelize and promote their Jesuit religion in Japan without having to learn the complex character systems of Japanese.

The oldest form of Japanese romanization is based on Portuguese.

Later on, as more and more people began to visit Japan, romaji became refined as a tool for aiding non-Japanese learners verbally sound out Japanese characters.

The first Japanese-English dictionary to feature romaji was published by James Curtis Hepburn in the 1800's. Hepburn is also the namesake of the romaji writing system we use today: Hepburn Romanization.

8. Japanese is the ninth most commonly spoken language in the entire world.

Around 130 million people speak Japanese. It's the most space-concentrated of all the most-spoken languages, with a vast majority of its speakers living exclusively on the island of Japan.

This seems to be changing, however. People outside of Japan are becoming more and more interested in learning the language.

In fact, the number of people learning Japanese outside the country in schools went up over 9% from 2009 to 2012. People are more interested in Japanese culture and thus want to learn the language.

That's why you, reader, are here, isn't it?

Bonus fact: English is the only foreign language taught in Japanese middle schools.

Okay, so this isn't so much of a language fact as a cultural one, but we thought it was too interesting not to include:

While many language options are available in Japanese colleges, English is taught as a second language in Japanese middle and high schools and is a requirement for Japanese students. This integration took place sometime around the 1600's.

Like English speakers learning Japanese, English is especially difficult to learn for the native Japanese student due to vastly different grammar and writing systems.

Just a little reminder when you find yourself struggling: If you were able to master your own language, you can master Japanese, too!

Did you find a fact or two that surprised you on this list? Japanese is such a unique language with an even more unique history. If Japanese is the language you've chosen to learn, you've made a great choice!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Emily Casalena is a published author, freelance writer and music columnist. She writes about a lot of stuff, from music to films to language.

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8 Interesting Facts About the Japanese Language You Didn't Know

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Put the kettle on and settle down in your comfiest chair. It's time for a 休憩 (きゅうけい) - break. We want to help you improve your fluency in whatever language you're interested in. From tips and tricks to full-on lessons, we want to help you get the most out of your language-learning journey.

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Published on : 17/08/2020

by : S.R.

Amazing Japanese

Japanese is a fascinating language for a Westerner, made up of multiple ideograms, many homophones and a grammar far very different from other languages. Discover many curiosities that will charm lovers of Japan!

3 / There are four alphabets in Japanese. First, there were the Chinese characters or kanji, which were introduced between 4th and the 6th century via Korea. H iragana is used to write particular grammatical particles and verb endings, and katakana is used for foreign words. Finally, romaji, or the Roman alphabet, is also used in Japan.

Kanji Dictionary

ashitaka96

6 / Reading proper names differs from reading common names! Indeed, in addition to the reading on-yomi and kun-yomi there is a so-called nanori reading exclusive to proper names, and which may (or not) influence the reading of the name. So if the surname Takahashi 高橋 is pronounced " taka-hashi ", that is to say the kun-yomi reading of kanji, the feminine first name Nozomi 希 uses the nanori reading! A maze in which even the Japanese can get lost!

7 / Japanese has a large number of common words with Chinese. This is due to the influence that Chinese culture had on Japan.

The "first calligraphy of the year" ceremony

JNTO

11 / The figures in Japanese are followed by a counter specific to the type of object being counted. So if we refer to 2 books, we write 二冊 ni-satsu or "two books" while when if we mention 2 cars, we write 二 台 ni-dai or "two machines".

12 / Numbers in Japanese also have an on-yomi reading and a kun-yomi reading. The first is the most used, to count most objects or living things. The Japanese reading is applied to the number of days or if there is no specific counter.

Kanji numbers 1 to 10

Ph.L

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15 Interesting Facts About the Japanese Language | Japan Experience

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Published on : 17/08/2020 by : S.R. Japanese is a fascinating language for a Westerner, made up of multiple ideograms, many homophones and a grammar far very different from other languages. Discover many curiosities that will charm lovers of Japan! 3 / There are four alphabets in Japanese.

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Interesting Korean Language Facts

If you’re thinking about learning Korean it’s always good to know a little about the origins and history of the language you are learning. Here, Cactus Language offers up our most interesting Korean language facts:

1. Korean is one of the world’s oldest living languages

Korean is spoken by nearly 80 million native speakers worldwide. There are several different theories, linking the origins of the Korean language with Japanese, Chinese and even Tibetan, though most linguistics classify Korean as the largest language isolate in the world. The earliest historical records of the language implicate that there were two different languages spoken in Korea and it was only in the 7th century that the Silla dialect became the dominant language in all of Korea. Due to the separation of the two countries North and South Korea have evolved distinct vocabularies, pronunciations and grammar.

2. Korean Pop Culture has become immensely popular in the last decade

K-Pop bands such as BTS, G-Dragon and Red Velvet which have gained huge international popularity, with fans travelling from overseas to see them in concert and sold out world tours. K-Pop is characterised by a mixture of Western sounds with an Asian performance. The most popular singles even come with their own choreography, including a key dance move, that fans can learn at home. The most well-known Korean dance move is from Psy’s Gangnam Style. As of 2018 the music video has a whopping 3 Billion views on YouTube and is one of the most watched YouTube videos of all time.

3. Korean has some famous tongue twisters

One of the most famous Korean tongue twisters is: “Kanjang kongjang kongjang-jang-ǔn jang kongjang-jang-igo toenjang kongjang kongjang-jang-ǔn kang kongjang-jang-ida” it can be translated to “The factory manager of the soy sauce factory is factory manager Chang and the factory manager of the soybean paste factory is factory manager Kang.”

4. Hangul is one of the youngest alphabets worldwide and linguists love it

Hangual is often described as being the “most perfect phonetic system” with an alphabet that fits the language like a glove. That is partially because the shape of the letters actually mimics the shape of your tongue while pronouncing them. The language is so popular with native speakers that both South and North Korea have a national holiday to honour their language.

5. Verbal humour is frowned upon in Korea

Humour is a deeply rooted in the culture of a county and in the UK we are used to primarily verbal humour, such as puns and sarcasm. In Korea, that is mostly frowned upon, as there are strict social expectations to convey respect and deference, especially towards elders and superiors. Therefore Korean humour is mostly based on physical jokes, and there are many Korean variety shows and game shows, the most popular being “Running Man”, “Knowing Bros” and “We got Married”. In those shows the contestants are put into unusual situations and the comedy just seems to happen naturally. The game shows can be fun to watch even if you have just started learning Korean, as most jokes are emphasised by sound effects and cartoons.

Korean Courses

An excellent way to improve your Korean language skills is by taking a group Korean language course with Cactus. We offer Korean languages courses online and face-to-face in over 10 locations across the UK.

Private Tuition

Cactus offers a range of options for Korean private tuition. You can choose one-to-one classes if you prefer online and tailored Korean lessons that suit your schedule and location. For more information please visit our private tuition and corporate language training division.

Korean Immersion Courses

An excellent way to improve your language skills is by taking an Korean immersive language course in the country where the language is spoken. Cactus offers courses in many locations across South Korea.

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Korean Language Facts : Interesting Facts about the Korean Language

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Korean Language Facts - Want to know more about the Korean language? Find our top 5 interesting facts about Korean here. Take our free online level test.

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6 Fascinating Facts About the Korean Language

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We’re putting the spotlight on the Korean language. Here are 6 fascinating facts about Korean, its alphabet, and its history.

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South Korea isn't huge: it's the 109th-largest country in the world. But despite its small physical size, it's made quite an impact internationally. Its automobiles such as Hyundai and Kia are sold all over the world; its catchy K-Pop tunes are gaining traction worldwide; and its delicious cuisine can be found in restaurants throughout the globe. But how much do you know about the Korean language? Do you know what "Seoul" means? Or the unique way of saying "Swiss army knife" in Korean? Continue on to find out the answers to these questions and more.

1. Korean is a language isolate

Although some linguists have posed that Korean is in the "Altaic" language group and is thus related to languages like Turkish and Finnish, this theory has been largely discredited. Instead, Korean is more commonly classified as a language isolate, which means it shows no significant link to any other existing language on Earth.

2. Its vocabulary is heavily influenced by Chinese

Korean is a language isolate and has a completely different grammar from Chinese. But due to the historical connections between the Chinese and Koreans, up to 60% of Korean words are of Chinese origin. About 35% are purely Korean, and 5% are loanwords from various other languages.

3. Verbs always come last in Korean sentences

English is an SVO language, meaning that the word order is always Subject, Verb, and then Object. Korean, on the other hand, is an SOV language, meaning that the verb is always the final element in the sentence, and comes after the object.

4. There are two different counting systems

In Korean, small and large numbers use different vocabulary. One counting system uses native Korean vocabulary and is used for saying your age, counting objects, and expressing the hour when telling time. This system goes up to 99. The other system is of Chinese origin and is used for expressing the minutes when telling time, as well as several other measurements such as distance, money, and dates. It's also used for numbers above 99.

5. The language spoken in North and South Korea is different

Due to the extensive time that the two countries have been separate, the North and South Korean languages have evolved to have distinct vocabularies, pronunciations, and even grammatical rules.

6. There are seven levels of respect built into the language

Like Japanese , Korean has a complex system of honorifics, which involves different verb endings and vocabulary depending on the relationship you have with the person you are addressing. In North Korea, the highest honorific form is reserved especially for the Great Leader, who has his own verb ending, 옵 ("op").

7. In Korean, Seoul means "capital city"

Seoul is the capital of South Korea, and with a population of over 10 million, it's a major metropolitan hub. In Korean, Seoul simply means "capital city" - quite a literal name for the city!

8. Korean had no alphabet until the 15th century

Though the Korean language has existed for well over a thousand years, its alphabet (called hangul) wasn't formalized until the 15th century. Before that, written Korean used Chinese characters.

9. The word for "Swiss Army Knife" comes from an American TV series

The iconic TV series followed a secret agent who always carried a Swiss Army Knife. This term stuck in Korea, where a maekgaibeo-kal refers to his ever-present knife. Though "kal" is a native Korean word, "maekgaibeo" clearly derives from the protagonist's name.

Even if you're a master at K-Pop karaoke or you've watched every Korean horror movie in the book, you probably didn't know that telling time in Korean involves two entirely different number systems!

Of course, there's plenty more to learn about Korean than how to tell time. As Korea's international presence continues to grow, now is a better time than ever to learn the language spoken by almost 80 million people worldwide. Korean, with its complex honorifics and unfamiliar script, is especially challenging for English speakers, so you should seriously think about taking tailor-made courses from a professionally trained native speaker. Send us a quick inquiry to learn more about how to learn Korean as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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9 Surprising Facts About the Korean Language - Listen & Learn USA

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South Korea isn't huge: it's the 109th-largest country in the world. But despite its small physical size, it's made quite an impact internationally. Its automobiles such as Hyundai and Kia are sold all over the world; its catchy K-Pop tunes are gaining traction worldwide; and its delicious cuisine can be found in restaurants throughout the(...)

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24.2k 4 July 2018 at 08:07 3 minutes to read

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Korean is one of the hardest languages to learn. It is also one of the world's youngest. Created during the 15th century by a local king, it was created to increase literacy. Linguists praise the language for its unique structure.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Quick—list the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Korea! Yes, the Winter Olympics are sometimes held there. Indeed, it is part of a peninsula just south of the other Korea. It is also the 11th largest economy in the world. And while Korean is not one of the most spoken “immigrant” languages, sizable communities exist in big cities all over the world. There are 76 million native speakers. That makes Korean the 17th most spoken language. Learning Korean, however, is not easy. The language is an almost complete “isolate”. In other words, it does not share many similarities with other languages. It is believed to have come from the Jeju language.

1: KOREAN IS HARD FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS TO LEARN

Korean is hard to master. The reasons? A very different word order, an elaborate honorifics system which determines the endings of verbs, and a mind-blowing array of nouns and verb endings in general. The good news? Picking up the basics is pretty easy. The alphabet at least is easier than Chinese. It has no tones. It also has no gender, number agreements, or articles to learn (like French or German).

2: KOREAN HAS ITS OWN SCRIPT

Hangul is the name of the Korean alphabet. It was created in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great. Before then, Koreans used the Chinese alphabet and characters (called Hanja). This was difficult for commoners to master, and thus, Hangul was created for the purpose of literacy. There are 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Letters are grouped together in syllable blocks.

raker / Shutterstock.com

3: DOES KOREAN SHARE SIMILARITIES WITH OTHER LANGUAGES?

The Korean language belongs to the Altaic language family. It is related to Turkish, Mongolian, and Manchu (a Chinese dialect). In terms of grammar, Korean is closest to Japanese. It also shares many words of Chinese origin. As such, learning Korean will give you a head start on learning Japanese, as well as some Chinese vocabulary.

4: THE LANGUAGE IS “BRILLIANTLY DESIGNED”

Hangul is one of the youngest alphabets in the world, but apparently took its cues from the best. Linguists love Korean. They describe it as the “most perfect phonetic system devised”, with an alphabet that fits the language like a glove.

5: THE SHAPE OF THE LETTERS MIMIC YOUR TONGUE

When you look at the shape of the letters, they mimic what your tongue is doing to pronounce them.

6: SPECIAL NOUNS AND VERB ENDINGS INDICATE FORMALITY

Formality, politeness, and status are a big deal. Special nouns and verb endings are used to show respect to the person you’re talking to. This is also one of the reasons that international businesses need skilled Korean translators. Nuances are very important in this language.

7: KOREANS OFTEN USE COMMUNAL PRONOUNS

Koreans often used shared pronouns like “we” or “us”, rather than “me” or “I”. This comes from the communal nature of Korean culture and society. Learning how and when to use the difference is a subtle nuance that takes years for outsiders to understand.

Keith Homan / Shutterstock.com

8: THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF NUMBERS

There are two kinds of counting systems. One system uses native Korean. It is used for all numbers under 99, for counting objects, expressing time, distance, dates, and for talking about age. All other numbers over 100 are derived from Chinese.

9: THERE ARE DISTINCT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH KOREAN

There is also starting to be a language drift between North and South Korea. The two countries have evolved different vocabularies, pronunciations, and grammar rules.

10: THERE IS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY IN HONOUR OF THE LANGUAGE

There is actually one thing that both North and South Korea can agree on; they love their language so much, they created a national holiday to honour it. In both countries.

YUQO HAS THE SKILL TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR KOREAN TRANSLATION TASKS

At Yuqo, we have skilled translators available to help with your Korean translation needs. Whether it’s business documents, web campaigns, or the script for your newest game, we can help you reach global audiences! Contact us today for a quote.

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10 fun facts about the Korean language - Yuqo

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Korean is one of the youngest languages in the world, is hard to learn, and is described by linguists as a nearly perfect language.

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Chinese is one of the two world languages with over a billion speakers. It is the most used mother tongue on the planet with over 900 million native speakers and more learning it as their second (or more) language. Let's take a look at 10 facts you should know about this complicated and very different language.

1. Chinese is the most used mother tongue.

China has many minority groups that speak their own unique languages and dialects but Mandarin Chinese is still the most used language in China.

While the Internet has sealed the place of English as the most used (second) language, Chinese (Mandarin) still holds the top position as the most used mother tongue. In 2010, the number of Chinese native speakers totaled 955 million people. Just think of how many more people you'd be able to talk to after learning some Chinese!

2. It's Considered One of the Hardest Languages to Learn

Multiple factors blend together into making Chinese one of the hardest languages to learn for native English speakers. With a different writing system, different grammar, and even different pronunciation style and sound, there are not many things English and Chinese have in common.

People who wish to study Chinese must put in years of work to reach fluency and even then it is rare to achieve native-like proficiency. Typically, you must learn 3,000 characters in order to be considered fluent enough to read the morning newspaper. However, the language consists of tens of thousands of characters that make ultimate fluency a daunting task.

Further complicating the issue is the fact that the written forms of Chinese words give no clues on the pronunciation and must be learned separately. With over 67% of the words being made up of two or more characters, you can see how it earns the title as one of the most difficult languages to learn.

Watch more videos about Chinese culture stories.

3. Chinese Has Different Calligraphy Styles

Artists work diligently to perfect the art of their calligraphy.

There are five traditional forms of Chinese calligraphy: Seal Character, Official Script, Formal Script, Running Script, Formal Script, Running Script, and Cursive Hand. These are considered classical arts and representative of Chinese art styles.

The most popular calligraphy style is the Seal Character style developed by the Han people. It first appeared during the Zhou Dynasty (1045 - 221 BC) and is still popular among calligraphy artists today.

4. Chinese Has The Most Similar Sounding Words

Thanks to its unique sound system, Chinese is filled with similar sounding words. This makes it quite difficult for non-native speakers to differentiate between words and sound combinations. When you add in the tones we will discuss below, it adds up to make Chinese one of the most difficult languages to listen to and understand. Since we have not been exposed to these similar sounds, it is often impossible for English speakers to pick out the differences.

5. It's the Only Modern Pictographic Language

These 3 mountain peaks show how the character 山 came to be.

Reminiscent of hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt, Chinese is the only extant pictographic language .

The Chinese language was developed using images, which means in its simplest form it resembles a game of Pictionary. Many (not all) of the Chinese characters we use today come from ancient drawings of the items they are meant to describe. This can be very helpful for those learning Chinese for the first time. A common example is the word for mountain "shan, 山." The three points of the character are meant to resemble the three peaks of a mountain ridge.

6. Chinese Handwriting Is the Most Unrecognizable

While most of us in the West have a hard time recognizing the handwriting on our prescriptions, the Chinese struggle with handwriting in almost every situation. This is due to the large variation in writing styles and the changes that occur between typed text and handwritten characters.

For example, the most used character (de, 的) has a very neat structure when typed here but becomes almost unrecognizable (a couple of loops) when scrawled at speed by native speakers of Chinese. Because we learn from books where clearly fonted text is used, making the transition to reading handwritten Chinese is incredibly difficult for language learners.

7. Chinese Is One of the Oldest Languages Still in Use

A man draws characters carefully with a brush and water in the park.

The origin of Chinese comes from the discovery of the famous Oracle Bones and what is believed to be the earliest samplings of Chinese script. These bones date from the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). With such a rich history, Chinese has obviously undergone many changes and influences due to wars and cultural shifts. However, the language has taken these all in stride and continued to grow.

8. Chinese Is a Tonal Language

If you are an English speaker first learning Chinese, the most difficult part may very well be the five tones. Since Chinese is a tonal language, the meaning of your words can change drastically based on the tone you use to pronounce them.

For example , the syllable ma can have multiple different meanings depending on whether you speak it using the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth (neutral) tone: mā má mǎ mà ma. This can cause some serious errors for Chinese learners. You don't want to slip up and call your mother (妈, mā) a horse (马, mǎ).

9. Chinese characters can be broken down into simpler components.

The most complicated Chinese character "biang" has 11 component parts.

Chinese characters are mostly made up of building blocks called radicals, which have 1 to 17 strokes. Radicals and strokes must be written in order: usually left to right and top to bottom.

For example: In the character for 'feeling' 情, there are three radicals: 1) 忄 'heart', 2) 丰 'plentiful' , and 3)月 'moon'. Changing the first radical in 情 makes different words like 请 ('to ask') or 清 ('clear').

The Chinese government simplified Chinese characters shortly after the beginning of the People's Republic era (1949), reducing strokes per character by an average of around 33%. Traditional characters are still used for ceremonial wording in China, and are still standard in Hong Kong and Taiwan. E.g., simplified 请 (10 strokes) is from traditional 請 (15 strokes).

10. Borrowed Words from English Might Sound Familiar

When you're walking around China, you might be surprised at the amount of words you're able to pick up quickly. Thanks to an increase in exposure to Western culture, Chinese has many loanwords, or words borrowed from English, in use today. Some examples include: kafei (咖啡 /kaa-fay/) = coffee, shafa (沙发 /shaa-faa/) = sofa, and qiaokeli (巧克力 /chyaow-ker-lee/) = chocolate.

12 Things You Probably Didn't Know about the Chinese Language

The world's most natively-spoken language, Chinese, still remains a mystery to the West. When learning a little more than "Nihao!" one begins to discover the oddities hidden within this ancient language: what makes it practical, what makes it poetic, and what makes it intriguing.

1. Ancient Chinese characters were used 3,000 years ago.

Chinese has become more angular over the millennia: for example 日 ('sun') once was a circle with a dot in the middle.

How do we know what ancient Chinese looked like? Surprisingly, the best evidence comes from millennia old carvings on oracle bones once used in practicing divination.

Interested in seeing oracle bones in person? See The Museum of Chinese Writing in Anyang.

2. There's a theory that some Chinese is "Biblical".

Some believe that the people of China may be the fated "lost tribe of Israel" based on "Biblical narratives" in some Chinese characters. While the critics are more than just a few, the analysis does provide an interesting theory.

For example: Does the 'garden' character (园) refer to the Garden of Eden... two (二) people (儿) in an enclosure (囗)?

3. Chinese Characters aren't exclusively used in Chinese.

Japan adopted Chinese in their writing system because they needed a written language, and similar usage made its way to other bordering countries like pre-colonial Vietnam as well as historic Korea.

4. "Chinese" is really hundreds of dialects/languages.

We generally take Chinese to be synonymous with Mandarin, but Mandarin is one of hundreds of Chinese languages still actively spoken in China. Chances are, that unless a person comes from Beijing, they speak at least one other dialect.

5. How is Chinese written? Every stroke in sequence.

Chinese is traditionally written top to bottom in columns, and from right to left... avoiding wet ink was a challenge for right handers!

Chinese writing has a prescribed stroke order, usually working left to right and top to bottom. There are twenty-plus types of strokes and 1 to 64 strokes are needed to make up a Chinese character. Each stroke must be written correctly and in order for recognition on character writing software.

For example, for 口 you can't just draw a square with one stroke: you must start with a down stroke on the left, then a left-to-right-and-down stroke for the top and right sides, then a left-to-right stroke at the bottom.

6. The most complicated Chinese character is biang.

Biang has a total of 57 strokes.

Like the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious of the Mandarin world, biang is an unofficial character. Not only does the dizzying number of strokes dwarf just about any other, biang needs to be written twice! The word occurs in the famous Shaanxi region biangbiang noodle dish ( biángbiáng miàn). Biang is an onomatopoeia for the sound of noodles slapping against the chef's table.

[𪚥 (zhé 'verbose') and 𠔻 (zhèng 'flourishing') each have 64 strokes: equal most, but both repeat a radical four times, so aren't really so complicated.]

7. New words are awkward to add to rigid Chinese.

The inherent rigidities of Chinese (a set of pictographs instead of an alphabet) makes naming new things a bit difficult. When computers first arrived, they used what was already in their arsenal to create a name: 'electric brain'.

Badminton is affectionately called 'feather ball', giraffe a 'long-necked deer', and what is a lobster to the Chinese? A 'dragon shrimp', of course!

The other way to add new words is by phonetics, but there are only 400 or so syllables used in Chinese, so a not-so-near (or unrecognizable) phonetic fit typically occurs. Foreign names always use this method: e.g. Donald Trump is Tangnade Telangpu (/tung-naa-der ter-lung-poo/)!

8. Chinese is typed by turning syllables into characters.

You may wonder how people in China type characters on a keyboard, and no, there isn't a giant one with thousands of keys (though there are keyboards for the 20-or-so strokes)!

Pinyin, the alphabetization of Mandarin, can be typed on any keyboard and software displays a long list of corresponding characters for each syllable (most commonly used first thankfully!) - a bit like messaging on a number keypad.

Type "nihao" and you'll get the following options: 你好拟好你尼泥...

9. Chinese has 1,000s of 4-character idioms!

There are many Chinese sayings, and the largest percentage have four characters. A common one to learn first shows indifference: "horse horse tiger tiger" (mǎmahūhū). It's just one of thousands. "Just a drop in the bucket" in English, but "nine cows one hair" in Chinese.

10. Chinese has no articles, verb inflections, or plurals.

Articles ("a", "an", and "the"), verb changes with tense and person, and plurals are not found where Chinese characters are used. It makes the language much easier to pick up, but also means mastering English is tricky for Chinese users...

In Chinglish: Article ("a", "an", and "zee"), verb change wiz tense and person, and plural not found where Chinese character use. It make language much easier pick up, but also mean master English is tricky for Chinese user. (There's no "th" either.)

11. There's also no word to say "yes" in Chinese.

How to say "yes" in Chinese isn't straightforwardlike sí in Spanish. Standard Mandarin replies use the verb or adjective in the question for assent:

- "Can you help me?" - "Can."

- "Is it clear?" - "Clear."

However, a nasally en is used for a less formal affirmative.

12. Tonal Chinese can be understood without tones.

Mandarin's five tones are important, but for the most part you can get by without them. Sure, you might make the mistake of saying 'death' instead of 'four'. However, Chinese words generally come in character pairs, so if you botch the tones, don't worry, the combination and the context will usually save you the embarrassment.

So go ahead, tell people you're going to Shanghai in Chinese (wǒ qù Shànghǎi) - they'll know you don't mean you're going to hurt someone (wǒqù shānɡhài)!

When Chinese is sung the troublesome tones vanish altogether!

Want to Try Out Your Chinese? Come to China!

See the best of China with our tours.

If you're learning Chinese, or simply fascinated with one of the world's oldest languages, there's no better way to experience it than taking your own Chinese excursion with China Highlights.

Peruse our tour ideas to see the wonders of Chinese culture and history come to life. For an in-depth experience of the Chinese language and more, let us create a custom tour built to fit your needs. See the China you're most curious about up close and personal.

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Chinese Language Facts: 10 Basic, 12 Surprising

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Chinese is one of the two world languages with over a billion speakers. It is the most used mother tongue on the planet with over 900 million native speakers and more learning it as their second (or more) language. Let's take a look at 10 facts you should know about this complicated and very different language.

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China is the most populated country in the world, and as such, it's a major player in international industry, economy, and politics. Although you've surely heard of (or even visited) Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, do you know anything about the language that's spoken there? For example, did you know that Chinese has no verb tenses, no distinction between singular and plural, and no alphabet? Here's a crash course in the world's #1 most spoken language.
1. One in six people speaks Chinese.
With over a billion native speakers, about 15% of the world's population speaks Chinese as their mother tongue. That's more than Spanish, English, French, and German - combined!
2. There is no alphabet.
The Chinese writing system is notoriously difficult for English speakers to master, as it does not contain a segmental alphabet. Instead, it consists of thousands of standalone characters. However, Chinese can be transcribed into Roman characters by using pinyin, removing some of the burden on the learner that comes with memorizing thousands of individual characters.
3. Nouns don't have a singular/plural distinction.
Unlike English, in which plural nouns are marked with an -s, Chinese nouns retain the same form regardless of whether or not they are in singular or plural form.
4. Different tones can drastically change a word's meaning.
Chinese is a tonal language, meaning that a word's pitch can affect its meaning. For example, wǒ xiǎng wèn nǐ - in which "wen" is spoken with a falling pitch - means "I want to ask you". But wǒ xiǎng wěn nǐ - in which "wen" rises and falls in pitch - means "I want to kiss you". Yikes - that's not a mistake you want to make!
5. It's an official UN language.
Chinese joins English, Arabic, French, Russian, and Spanish as one of the six official UN languages.
6. There are over 20,000 distinct Chinese characters.
The Chinese language contains a vast amount of characters - and some advanced dictionaries place the number is even higher! But rest assured: about 98% of written Chinese consists of the same 2,500 characters, so you can successfully read the newspaper even if you can "only" identify about two or three thousand.
7. Verbs aren't marked for tense.
Chinese verbs aren't modified for tense like they are in English and many other languages. Instead, adverbs like "before" and "after" indicate temporal relations. This allows you to focus more on other, more pressing issues, such as memorizing 2,500 different characters.
8. The Chinese writing system is over 3,000 years old.
Of all languages spoken today, Chinese has the most ancient writing system. Indeed, Chinese characters have been found engraved in animal bones that date from 1600 BC! In contrast, the Latin alphabet didn't originate until almost 1,000 years later, in the 7th century BC.
9. The word "Mandarin" comes from Sanskrit.
The English word "Mandarin" originally referred to an official of the Chinese empire. It comes from the Portuguese word mandarim, which is derived from the Malay word menteri, which in turn originates from the Sanskrit word mantrin, which means "minister". Among Chinese speakers, Mandarin Chinese is often called Guóyǔ (国语), which means "national language", or Pǔtōnghuà (普通话), which means "common speech".

China is a hugely important economic hub, and now you know a little more about the language that's spoken by a sixth of the world's population.

As China's international presence continues to grow, now's a better time than ever to learn Chinese. Find the prospect of memorizing 20,000 characters to be a bit daunting? Don't go at it alone: let a qualified, native-speaking Chinese language teacher show you the ropes. Send us a quick inquiry for more information about Chinese classes in your area.

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9 Surprising Facts About the Chinese Language - Listen & Learn USA

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China is the most populated country in the world, and as such, it's a major player in international industry, economy, and politics. Although you've surely heard of (or even visited) Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, do you know anything about the language that's spoken there?

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Every year, on the 20th of April, the United Nations celebrate World Chinese Language Day. According to the UN, the purpose of this observance is "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization."

With that in mind, here are ten facts about the Chinese language (languages, really) for World Chinese Language Day.

Mandarin Chinese, the most common Chinese dialect, is the most widely spoken language in the world.

There are over 800 million native Mandarin speakers. Around the world, one out of five people speaks the language.

Mandarin is the official language of China. (It's also referred to as Standard Chinese or Putonghua.) But that doesn't mean Mandarin is the only language in China. Far from it! While the many varieties of spoken Chinese are often called "dialects," many of them are different enough to be languages in their own right.

When you look at all of the Chinese languages together, the number of speakers becomes even more staggering: about 1.2 billion native speakers, or around 16% of the world's population.

While spoken Chinese languages and dialects vary across the country, written Chinese has only slight regional variations.

That's because the Chinese characters are logograms. They represent words or phrases rather than sounds. As such, they transcend most of the variations in speech found across China. That said, there are some dialectal differences in written Chinese, particularly with Cantonese and Hakka.

Mostly, these differences are apparent in informal writing between friends or online. However, written Cantonese is sometimes used in adverts in Hong Kong, especially in Hong Kong's Metro.

Chinese writing has over 50,000 characters.

That said, only about 20,000 of them are used today. Meanwhile, it only takes about 2-3,000 characters to read a newspaper.

Most Chinese adults can recognise around 8,000 characters without pulling out a dictionary.

Written Chinese is over 3,000 years old.

The oldest Chinese characters that have been found to date are fragments of characters carved into animal bones and turtle shells from the Shang Dynasty. These bones are called "oracle bones," and they were used for divination. Soothsayers carved questions into the bones and then burnt them until they cracked. The pattern of the cracks was believed to indicate the answer.

Simplified Chinese is used in mainland China and Singapore.

Simplified Chinese was developed by the Chinese government in the 1950s to encourage literacy.

However, Hong Kong never quite got with the program. They still use the more complicated traditional Chinese character set. Otherwise, formal written Cantonese is quite similar to written Mandarin. However, there may also be some differences in grammar and vocabulary if the document in question is written in informal, colloquial Cantonese.

The Chinese languages are tonal languages.

Mandarin is a tonal language, as are the other languages and dialects used in China. Mandarin has four basic tones and then a fifth neutral tone. Be careful, as getting the tone wrong can change the meaning of a word in ways you wouldn't expect!

The first Chinese Language Day was held on 12 November 2010.

The date was moved to 20 April in 2011. The 20th of April corresponds with the "Rain of Millet" (Guyu) in the Chinese calendar. As such, it celebrates the legendary Chinese historian Cangjie, who is credited with inventing the Chinese characters. According to the tales, when he did so, "the deities and ghosts cried and the sky rained millet."

The myths also say he had four eyes and four pupils, but take that with a grain of salt.

Chinese became an official UN language in 1946.

However, it wasn't used as a working language until 1973 for the General Assembly and 1974 for the UN Security Council.

The following English words come from Chinese:

Brainwashing: a literal translation of the Chinese 洗腦

Catsup: A pidgin English version of the Cantonese 茄汁, which means "tomato sauce."

Tea: An Anglicised version of the Hokkien 茶

Tycoon: A Sino-Japanese word that means "great nobleman."

Typhoon: comes from either Hokkien, Cantonese or Mandarin, all of which have similar pronunciations.

Chinese is one of the most difficult languages to learn.

Chinese is one of the most important languages for businesses and individuals alike. Unfortunately, it's also one of the hardest languages for English speakers to learn.

For example, according to the United States Foreign Service Institute, it takes most English speakers over 2,200 hours of time in a classroom to learn Chinese.

Are you looking for Chinese translation services? Read our beginner's guide here!

At K International, we can help with quality, reliable Chinese translations that you can feel comfortable with. We'll ensure the translation is exactly what you need to reach your target audience. Plus, we have an in-house design team ready and waiting to smooth the transition from one language to another. Contact us today - we'd love to hear from you!

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Every year, on the 20th of April, the United Nations celebrate World Chinese Language Day. According to the UN, the purpose of this observance is "to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization."

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Interesting French Language Facts

If you're thinking about learning French it's always good to know a little about the origins and history of the language you are learning. Here, Cactus Language offers up our most interesting French language facts.

Cactus offers French courses online and in the UK, French immersive language courses and private French classes.

5 French Language Facts:

1. French is a Romance language

The French language derived from Vulgar Latin. Both Gaulish, a Celtic language which was spoken in ancient Gaul before the Roman invasion, and Old Frankish also left their mark on the French language. In 1539, Francis I of France made French the official language for the administration.

French started to be standardised from the 17th century onwards, with the creation of the Académie française in 1634, and its structure has little changed since then. During the 17th century, French became the lingua franca of Europe and spread worldwide as France expanded its colonial empire, influencing many other European languages on the same occasion.

2. There are around 220 million French speakers worldwide

80 million of French speakers are native speakers. French is an official language in 29 countries, such as France, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Congo, Mali, Senegal, and it is spoken on every continent. It is the European Union's fourth most widely spoken mother tongue. The number of French speakers is expected to reach 700 million by 2050, mostly in Africa.

3. French has a great number of homophones

Homephones are words sharing the same pronunciation but with different spellings and meanings. This makes it easier to create tongue twisters. Some of the most famous examples include:

Si mon tonton tond ton tonton, ton tonton sera tondu. - If my uncle shaves your uncle, your uncle will be shaved.

Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse, sont-elles sèches ? Archi-sèches. - The archduchesses socks, are they dry? Very dry.

Cinq chiens chassent six chats. - Five dogs hunt six cats.

As-tu vu le vert ver allant vers le verre en verre vert ? - Did you see the green worm going towards the green glass glass?

Ces six saucissons-secs-ci sont si secs qu'on ne sait si s'en sont. - These six dried sausages are so dry that we don't know if they are.

4. About 45% of modern English words are of French origin

After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, French became the language of the aristocracy and administration, which resulted in a great number of French words and expressions being incorporated into English. Over the centuries, French remained a major language influencing modern English.

5. Along with English, French remains an influential language in the diplomatic world

Many international institutions have French as one of their official languages, including the United Nations, the European Union, the International Olympic Committee, the Red Cross, and Médecins sans Frontières. Many international courts also use French as an official language.
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More Information on Cactus French Language Courses

Are you looking to learn French? These French language facts will help you on your way to start learning the language. For more information on any of our French language courses, or just general advice on language learning, please contact us or call us on 01273 830 960. Our multilingual team will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Useful links if you are interested in French language facts:

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French Language Facts | Interesting Facts about French Language

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If you're thinking about learning French it's always good to know a little about the origins and history of the language you are learning. Here, Cactus Language offers up our most interesting French language facts. Cactus offers French courses online and in the UK, French immersive language courses and private French classes.

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FluentU French | French Language and Culture Blog

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There are tons of silent letters. For some unknown reason, nouns have genders. You've already memorized all the lyrics to "Lady Marmalade."

What else is there to know?

I can guarantee there's plenty you're not aware of.

There are tons of interesting, strange and fun facts about the French language and how it's used across the world.

We'll show you 15 of our favorites to remind you what makes the French language so unique and boost your motivation to keep learning it.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Facts About French Around the World

Americans have native French speaking neighbors at home:

Growing up in the southern states of America, I was constantly told that we needed to learn Spanish, because more and more people were immigrating from Central America.

While I won't dispute the value of learning Spanish, as I've grown older, I've started meeting way more Francophones around the country than I ever expected to as a kid.

You may not be surprised to hear that some Louisianians speak a dialect of French. But how about locals of North Dakota? And Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont? Oh, and Missouri and Michigan?

That's right, there are people from all these states who speak various vernaculars of French.

While surprising, it actually makes sense. Several of those states were founded by the French. And New England French is a spin-off of Canadian French, because Canada is those states' upstairs neighbor.

Who knew you could find French speakers all over America?

French is the official language of 29 countries:

Let's list all the countries where French is an official language. France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada... Uh, I'm out.

Did you know French is the official language of Senegal? And Djibouti?

How about Madagascar and Vanuatu? (Let's be real, would you even know where to find Vanuatu on a map?)

Not to mention, there are several dependent entities all over the world where locals speak French. For example, French Guiana is in South America but is a department of France with representation in the French government, similar to how Hawaii is a U.S. state. That's right-the French language has made its way to South America!

Pronunciation changes all around France:

It's easy to think of French pronunciation as splitting into three main groups: European French, Canadian French and African French.

But it isn't that simple.

In reality, even within France, not all French dialects are alike!

Just as people from Mississippi speak differently than those from New Jersey. Or someone from London sounds different than their friend from Liverpool.

For example, in Lyon, you'll hear what's considered to be the classic French accent. In Marseille, you'll hear a thick twang. Of course, the Parisian accent is quite posh.

2. Facts About Spoken and Written French

Your favorite celebrities speak French:

When I think of Bradley Cooper, I think of a goofy (although talented) pretty boy. But did you know he actually speaks French?

Pretty impressive!

So does Joseph Gordon-Levitt, aka Tom from "(500) Days of Summer." Swoon!

Even Serena Williams speaks the language. I don't see how the biggest tennis star in the world finds time to master a second language!

Famous stories were originally written in French:

I've always adored the musical "Les Misérables," and the 2012 movie remake with Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman rekindled the entire world's love for the show.

As amazing as the film is, the story was originally a freakishly long book by French author Victor Hugo.

Remember the epic film "The Count of Monte Cristo?" That movie was originally a book by Alexandre Dumas, the title in French being "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo."

Those are a couple classics you might have already known were written in French. There are more surprising stories, though.

How about "Beauty and the Beast?" And "The Tales of Mother Goose?"

Those came as a bit of a shock to me!

French wasn't always spoken in France:

Pop quiz: What's a romance language?

Answer: It's a language derived from Latin.

French is a romance language, so can you guess what language they spoke in France before French? Yep, Latin!

During the Iron Age, France was part of the region of Gaul, where people spoke Latin.

L'académie française (The French Academy), a council for the French language, was established in the 1600s, which was a huge step forward in developing the French language. However, most locals didn't speak French until after the French Revolution. Different regions spoke their own patois, resulting in confusion and lack of communication.

After the revolution, the government stepped in and decided French would be the common language.

3. Facts About French Letters

There are no genuinely French words that use the letter "w:"

I know, I know, when you learn the alphabet in the first week of French class, you learn the letter "w." It's hard to forget, because the letter makes the hilarious sound "doo-bluh-vay."

But have you noticed the letter "w" doesn't appear in a single French word? There are borrowed words like wagon (the French use it as the normal word for a train car) and western.

Think about proper nouns in English that begin with the letter "w." Now translate them to French.

Wales is le pays de Galles. Warsaw is Varsovie. The French have successfully avoided the letter "w!"

"E" is the most common letter in French:

It makes sense that "e" is the most used letter in the language. Think about all the common words with this letter.

Je (I), elle (she), au revoir (goodbye), merci (thank you). "E" is everywhere!

Not to mention, four of the language's five accent marks can be used with the letter "e," more than any other letter in the French alphabet. That's a lot of opportunities to use "e!"

Try having a complete conversation in French without using the letter "e." Can you do it?

Letter names don't sound like letter pronunciations:

Think about the letter "h" in French. When you say it by itself, it sounds like "ahsh." It's definitely one of the most fun French letters to sing in the alphabet song!

But when you say the letter "h" in a word, it's usually silent.

The letter "z" is another good example. The letter itself sounds like "zedd." (Yes, like the famous record producer!) But in a word, it's usually pronounced the same way we say it in English unless it's used in a verb conjugation.

This distinction occurs in most languages, but with each new tongue you learn, it's still surprising and tricky to master.

4. Facts About French Words

Many English words are French:

You may be aware that certain words you use in everyday conversation are actually French. For example, café, bourgeois and hors d'oeuvre. (Well, okay, you probably don't say hors d'oeuvre every day. But you get the picture!)

However, there's a slew of common words you probably never realized are actually French.

Do you see that woman's silhouette?

Do you like being brunette?

Are you going to R.S.V.P. to that party? R.S.V.P. stands for répondez s'il vous plaît (please respond).

How about the word depot? Office Depot, The Home Depot... It's everywhere!

But false friends abound, too:

Yes, there are many English words that are French. But there are also plenty of French words that sound like they should translate to a certain English word, but they don't. These terms are known as faux amis (false friends).

The false friend that always makes me laugh is le bras (arm). I can't help but think of a woman's bra.

In fact, my mother once attended a conference where the keynote speaker was a French man. He was bilingual and gave his speech in English. But he slipped up in one crucial moment. When he wanted people to raise their hands, he declared into the microphone, "Okay, all you ladies out there, raise your bras!"

Classic.

Some other common false friends are la librairie (bookstore, not library), gentil (kind, not gentle) and actuel (current, not actual). And that's just the beginning!

FluentU is your best bet to learn French words the way native speakers actually use them.

FluentU takes real-world videos-like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks-and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the French language and culture over time. You'll learn French as it's actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive subtitles.

You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with FluentU's adaptive quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you're learning and play the mini-games found in the dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

As you study, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you're learning and uses this information to give you a 100% personalized experience.

It gives you extra practice with difficult words-and reminds you when it's time to review what you've learned.

Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play stores.

Counting involves a lot of math:

Counting in French seems simple enough. Until you hit the number 70, which translates to soixante-dix (sixty-ten). Then you keep counting up. For example, 74 is soixante-quatorze (sixty-fourteen).

Eighty translates to quatre-vingts (four-twenties). Eighty-five? Quatre-vingt-cinq (four-twenty-five).

Ninety? Quatre-vingt-dix (four-twenty-ten). Ninety-seven is quatre-vingt-dix-sept (four-twenty-seventeen).

I'm not sure why the French decided to make numbers this difficult. Maybe they wanted to keep their math skills sharp.

5. Facts About Learning French

It's one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn:

I know learning French seems challenging sometimes. Heck, after reading all those numbers, it might seem impossible!

In reality, if English is your native language, French is one of the easiest languages to pick up. Both languages have Latin roots, so there are a number of similarities.

You don't have the added challenge of learning characters when you write, as you do with many Asian languages. And you don't have to learn tones when you speak as you would with, say, Mandarin.

French is a good second language for polyglots:

Want to become multilingual? Between global business and travel opportunities, there are plenty of reasons to learn three or more languages.

Because French is relatively easy to learn, it's a good choice for your second language. Once you've mastered an easier language, you can transition into learning something like Russian or Japanese as your third or fourth language.

Learning French will help you take standardized tests:

Whether you're taking the SAT, ACT or GRE, you might want to learn a little French beforehand.

Learning a foreign language, especially a Latin-based one, helps you become aware of language. As a result, you're more likely to crush the reading, writing and vocabulary sections of standardized tests.

Watch out, college, here you come!

Francophone Missourians. Complicated math. Bras. There are so much strange and interesting fun facts to know about the French language!

I'll bet your French textbook doesn't seem so boring now, does it?
Laura Grace Tarpley is an editor at FluentU. She loves tinkering with crossword puzzles and playing with her puppy, Tuna. Follow her on Twitter @lgtarpley.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn French with real-world videos.
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Is That a Fact? 15 French Language Fun Facts That'll Surprise and Enlighten You

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There are tons of silent letters. For some unknown reason, nouns have genders. You've already memorized all the lyrics to "Lady Marmalade." What else is there to know? I can guarantee there's plenty you're not aware of. There are tons of interesting, strange and fun facts about the French language and how it's used across the world.

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Calling all linguaphiles, trivia buffs, students, teachers, and world travelers - you probably already know that a country's language carries many clues about its history, culture, and values. Understanding the intricacies can often make it easier to learn a language, also, since you'll likely recognize patterns, or how certain language relate to each other.

The Spanish language in particular is really cool to learn about, as you'll see in this post! We got help from our tutors to compile a list of a whopping 50 interesting facts about the language of Spain, as a way to test your own knowledge.

But first, a few FAQs you should definitely know...

Where is Spanish used?

When you think about Spanish speakers, you likely think about Spain and Mexico. But actually, Spanish is the offical language for more than 20 countries - including Cuba, Argentina, Chile, and Nicaragua.

It's also worth noting that it's not the ONLY language spoken in Spain. Other official languages of Spain are Galician, Basque, and Catalan.

Who else speaks Spanish?

It's no wonder that many students, business professionals, and travelers choose to learn Spanish - it's estimated that almost 400 million people worldwide speak the language! Moreover, being bilingual has tons of benefits.

Not only that, but it's becoming one of the most widely-spoken second languages in the world.

Ok, now test your knowledge!

The infographic below showcases the most interesting facts we found. See how many of them you already know, and then scroll down to learn even more about the Spanish language!

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Spanish Grammar & Syntax

If taken literally, the word la persona (person) is feminine, even though it may refer to a man or a woman.[1]

Nouns that end in -a are usually feminine, but if they start with an a, they take the masculine article el to avoid the combination of the two same vowels (i.e. Spanish speakers say el alma instead of la alma). Still, the word remains being feminine.[2]

Many words have completely different meanings depending on what syllable is stressed. For example, la mamá (stressed on the second syllable: the mother), la mama (stressed on the first syllable: the breast).

Spanish has two different verbs that mean "to be" in English: ser and estar. The first one is for permanent states (such as personality features of a person; Yo soy alto [I am tall]) and the second one is for temporary states (such as the location of something; Yo estoy en casa [I am at home]).

Even though nouns ending in -o are usually masculine, la mano is a feminine word.

Many nouns are spelled the same but change meanings if they're used with a different grammatical gender. For example, el cometa (the comet) and la cometa (the kite); el cura (the Catholic priest) and la cura (the cure); el pendiente (the earring) and la pendiente (the slope).[3]

Different from English, Spanish has a relatively free word order, and variations of the Subject-Verb-Object order occur much more often than in English. For example, the sentence "Juan wrote a book" can be said like "Juan escribió el libro," "El libro escribió Juan," "Escribió Juan el libro," and even "Juan el libro escribió," or "El libro, Juan escribió" for some literary effect.[4]

In most parts of the Spanish-speaking world, there's a familiar-informal 2nd person singular pronoun (usually tú) and a formal 2nd person singular pronoun for unknown, older, or important people (usted).

In the Rioplatense variety, the pronoun tú is never used; vos is used instead as the informal-familiar 2nd person singular. In some other countries, such as Ecuador, both tú and vos coexist, but the second one has a social connotation and is considered a highly uneducated (and even lowly) way of addressing others.[5]

Exclamations and questions in Spanish need to begin with an "opening" exclamation mark (¡) or question mark (¿). These punctuation marks do not exist in other languages, except some minority languages in Spain.

Considering the three moods (Indicative, Subjunctive, and Imperative), there are 17 tenses in Spanish.[6]

Spanish has two different versions of the imperfect subjunctive that coexist in modern Spanish (Pretérito Imperfecto del subjuntivo), one with -ra endings and one with -se. Most native speakers use either form interchangeably. For instance, the words amara or amase ([if I] loved).

Spanish Pronunciation

Spanish is a very phonetic language. If you know how a word is spelled, you can surely know how it's pronounced.

If you know how a word is pronounced, you cannot be sure of how it's spelled.

Letters b and v sound the same in Standard Modern Spanish (this simplification took place between the 15th and 17th century). Between vowel sounds, they're pronounced like a soft b, in which the lips don't touch. This last sound doesn't exist in English.[7]

Until the early 18th century, the letter x was used to represent the x sound, like the Scottish word "loch." After that, it was replaced with the letter j to represent the same sound. For example, the word caja (box) used to be spelled like caxa.[8]

The letter c, when it appears before the letters e and i, is pronounced differently by speakers in Latin America and Spain. The former pronounce it like an s, whereas the latter pronounce it like th in "the."

There are plenty of homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently) in Spanish that cause native speakers difficulties in learning how to write. Popular examples are hacia (towards) and Asia (Asia), and hola (hello) and ola (wave).

Even though the letters y and ll sound slightly different in most parts of Spain and Latin America, in Rioplatense Spanish, the variety spoken in the most populated areas of Argentina and Uruguay sound like "sh" in English. For example, baya (berry) and valla (fence) sound like bah-shah.

Despite being one of the most common words in the language, the word yo (I) can be pronounced in at least four different ways depending on the location of the speaker.

The letter y can behave as a consonant at the beginning of syllables (onset), or as a vowel at the ending of syllables (nucleus). For example, yo (y is a consonant), hoy (y has a vowel sound).[9]

Spanish Vocabulary

There are words in Spanish that cannot be translated in one word in English. An example is empalagarse (to feel sick because of too much sweetness in food, but also figuratively, as in romantic situations).[10]

Another word that cannot be translated in one word is sobremesa (after-dinner conversation).[11]

Around 8% of Spanish vocabulary is of Arabic origin.[12] Within numerous expressions of casual Spanish conversation, there often exists a strong likeness to Arabic expression. Probably most well-known is the interjection ¡Ojalá!, which is derived from the phrase law šá lláh, meaning "if Allah wills [it]."[13]

There are 30,500 words that contain all of the vowels (a, e, i, o, u).[14]

New verbs can be easily created by adding the suffix -ear at the end of the words. This is how modern technology-related words have been invented from English words; for example, escanear (to scan)[15] and tuitear (to send tweets).[16]

A very common phrase in Spanish that's literally translated into "holding someone's hair" (tomarle el pelo a alguien) means to mock someone with false compliments or promises.[17]

In Argentina, there's a group of slang words called vesre. They come from the Spanish word for "reverse" (revés) after moving around a few letters. Just as the word vesre, other words are made by switching around letters. These words are now so common in Argentina that they may be used more than the "real" word. For example, garpar (Standard Spanish: pagar, English: to pay) or toga (Standard Spanish: gato, English: cat).[18]

Many English words have been adapted to Spanish in the 20th century and have become everyday vocabulary. For instance, fútbol (football), suéter (sweater), pulover (pullover), and overol (overall).[19]

There are two phrases in Spanish that can be translated to "I love you": Te amo and te quiero. The first one is said between lovers or closely-related family members. The second one is mostly friendly and typically not romantic.

There isn't a verb in Spanish that can be literally translated to "like." Me gusta la pizza can be literally translated to the approximation: "The pizza is pleasing to me."

English and Spanish share plenty of similarly-written words that don't mean the same. They're called "false friends" and learners of Spanish should be aware of them to avoid difficulties. For example, embarazada means "pregnant" in English and not "embarrassed."

The Language of Spain - Culture and History

Spanish is the 2nd most-spoken language as mother tongue. The number of speakers of Spanish as a first language is almost 399 million.[20] The language with the highest number of native speakers is Chinese with 1.2 billion people.[21]

Spanish is the 3rd most-used language on the Internet, with 256.8 million users.[22]

The use of Spanish on the Internet has grown 1,312.4% from 2000 to 2015.[23]

Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.[24]

Spanish is the official language in 22 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.[25]

Spanish is expected to be the first language of 50% of the population of the United States within 50 years.[26]

There's a Spanish-based creole language spoken in the Philippines called Chabacano (poor taste, vulgar). It's the sole and most extensive Spanish-based creole language that still exists in Asia or Oceania.[27]

Based on estimates from Census data, the Hispanic population in the US will grow to 132.8 million in 2050.

People who speak Spanish may call it español (meaning: it comes from Spain), or castellano (meaning: it comes from Castilla, Spain), and many people use both words interchangeably.[29]

In 1492, the same year when Columbus arrived in America, the first grammar of Spanish was published by Elio Antonio de Nebrija.[30]

Spanish was the major diplomatic language until the 18th century.[31]

In 1713, the Real Academia Española was founded. It established authoritative criteria for the sanctioning of neologisms (newly coined words) and the incorporation of international words. Spanish grammar was formalized during this period.[32]

In present-day Spanish, September may be spelled septiembre or setiembre. However, the latter is considered a vulgar or informal version of the earlier one because of the dropping of sounds. Contrary to popular belief, the word setiembre is the "originally Spanish" word, since until the 17th century there was no agreement in spelling and the "p" was not pronounced.[33]

Some words that begin with "f" in other Romance languages, begin with "h" in Spanish. This makes such difference a unique development for the Spanish language. For example, ferrum (Latin: iron) and hierro (Spanish: iron); falar (Portuguese: to speak) and hablar (Spanish: to speak); figlio and fumo (Italian: son and smoke) and hijo and humo (Spanish: son and smoke).[34]

The letter ñ is the only Spanish letter of Spanish origins.[35]

Beginning in about the 12th century, Spanish scribes (whose job it was to copy documents by hand) used the tilde placed over letters to indicate that a letter was doubled. This resulted in the Latin word annus to be spelled año in Spanish.[36]

The first written records in Spanish are the Glosas Emilianenses and they date back to 964 A.C.[37]

The first Literary piece that was fully written in Spanish was "El Cantar de Mio Cid," which dates back to the 13th century and whose author is unknown.[38]

Sources

[1] http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=persona
[2] http://www.spanishgrammargenius.com/why_do_i_use_masculine_article_with_feminine_word.htm
[3] http://spanish.about.com/od/nouns/a/double_gendered.htm
[4] http://spanish.about.com/od/sentencestructure/a/word-order-in-spanish.htm
[5] http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/86107/Ennis.pdf
[6] http://www.rae.es/diccionario-panhispanico-de-dudas/apendices/modelos-de-conjugacion-verbal
[7] Lapesa, R. (1981). Historia de la lengua española (9th ed.). Madrid: Gredos. pp. 422. [8] Lapesa, R. (1981). Historia de la lengua española (9th ed.). Madrid: Gredos. pp. 423. [9] http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/phonology/syllable/syll_structure.html
[10] http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=empalagar
[11] http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=sobremesa
[12] http://people.math.sc.edu/rorabaug/docs/ArabicInfluence.pdf
[13] http://people.math.sc.edu/rorabaug/docs/ArabicInfluence.pdf
[14] http://www.solosequenosenada.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/palabras_con_todas_las_vocales_sin_qu_ni_gu.txt
[15] http://dle.rae.es/?id=G9JTupB
[16] http://dle.rae.es/?id=asr6h3K
[17] http://lema.rae.es/drae/srv/search?id=9sxZRrtuiDXX2EHANeeY
[18] http://www.speakinglatino.com/argentine-slang-in-reverse-vesre/
[19] Lapesa, R. (1981). Historia de la lengua española (9th ed.). Madrid: Gredos. pp. 458. [20] http://www.ethnologue.com/language/spa
[21] http://www.ethnologue.com/language/zho
[22] http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm
[23] http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm
[24] http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/official-languages/
[25] http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/countries_by_languages.htm
[26] http://artsandscience.usask.ca/languages/languages/spanish/
[27] https://www.academia.edu/5922616/Chabacano_The_Case_of_Philippine_Creole_Spanish_in_Cavite
[28] http://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html
[29] http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=castellano
[30] http://www.optimnem.co.uk/learning/spanish/language-history.php
[31] http://www.optimnem.co.uk/learning/spanish/language-history.php
[32] http://www.optimnem.co.uk/learning/spanish/language-history.php
[33] Lapesa, R. (1981). Historia de la lengua española (9th ed.). Madrid: Gredos. pp. 390. [34] http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/staff/letchfoa/comparison/comparison2
[35] http://spanish.about.com/cs/historyofspanish/f/tilde_origins.htm
[36] http://spanish.about.com/cs/historyofspanish/f/tilde_origins.htm
[37] http://www.mecd.gob.es/dctm/ministerio/educacion/actividad-internacional/consejerias/reino-unido/tecla/2005/mayo/20-05-05b.pdf?documentId=0901e72b80b7eb9c
[38] http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/portales/cantar_de_mio_cid/

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50 Fascinating Facts About the Spanish Language [Infographic]

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Calling all linguaphiles, trivia buffs, students, teachers, and world travelers - you probably already know that a country's language carries many clues about its history, culture, and values. Understanding the intricacies can often make it easier to learn a language, also, since you'll likely recognize patterns, or how certain language relate to each other.

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You may think you know everything there is to know about the Spanish language-after all, Spanish is all around us.

Spanish is a language that's on the rise.

It's a beautiful language with a wide global influence on business and culture.

It's spoken in many diverse areas of the world, so Spanish speakers benefit from being able to communicate with all kinds of people in all types of situations in Spanish-speaking countries and beyond.

However, despite its ubiquity, you might still be surprised by some cool details about the Spanish language.

Here are some interesting facts about the Spanish language that will arouse your curiosity.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. Over 400 million people speak Spanish

Spanish is the mother tongue of an estimated 400-450 million people, making it the world's second most spoken language.

Spanish only falls in second place behind Chinese, which is spoken by over a billion people and far outranks any other language.

Spanish surpasses English in its number of speakers, as English comes in third place with 335 million native speakers around the world.

2. There are 21 countries that have Spanish as the official language

Spanish enjoys official language status in 21 countries across Europe, Africa, Central, South and North America, making it a very important global language.

Not only is it the main language for these 21 sovereign states, it also serves as a key language in a handful of dependent territories.

For many people in these places, it's the only way to communicate and all official correspondence and documents are in Spanish. Spanish is also used in schools to teach the curricula.

Since English is spoken in 112 countries, the English language is the most widespread in terms of the number of countries that speak it. French is second with 60 countries speaking the language and Arabic is third, with 57 countries who communicate in Arabic.

Sure, Spanish only comes in fourth place in this aspect, but that still results in making it one of the most significant languages in the world. Many international companies and organizations, including the United Nations, have adopted Spanish as one of their official languages.

3. Spanish is a Romance language

Spanish belongs to the Indo-European languages, which include French, English, Russian, German, the Slavic and Scandinavian languages as well as various languages in India. Indo-European languages initially spread across Europe and many areas of South Asia before reaching other parts of the world through colonization.

The name "Indo-European" has a geographical meaning relating to the languages' most easterly reaches in the Indian subcontinent and their most westerly reaches throughout Europe.

Spanish is further classified as a Romance language, along with Catalan, Italian, French, Portuguese and Romanian.

You probably already knew about Spanish being a Romance language on some level, but the importance of this goes deeper than you might expect. All these intercontinental connections give Spanish a distinct advantage. Knowing its roots in and relationships with other languages can help you better understand Spanish linguistically, historically and culturally.

4. Spanish has Latin origins

The Spanish language derives from a particular type of spoken Latin. This dialect developed in the central-northern region of the Iberian Peninsula following the 5th-century demise of the Western Roman Empire.

From the 13th to the 16th centuries, Toledo developed a written language standard and Madrid followed suit through the 1500s. During the last 1,000 years, the language has become more widespread, moving south towards the Mediterranean.

It was subsequently adopted by the Spanish Empire and, just as importantly, in the Spanish colonies established on the American continents.

5. Spanish has two names: Castellano and Español

Spanish speakers often refer to their language as español as well as castellano, which is the Spanish word for "Castilian."

The terms applied can differ from region to region, and they can also reflect political and social views. In English, the term "Castilian Spanish" can be used to refer to individual dialects of Spanish spoken in the northern and central parts of Spain. Occasionally, the term is used more loosely to refer to the Spanish spoken in Spain, as opposed to Latin American Spanish.

6. Spanish is a phonetic language

Most people know a few words of Spanish, such as tapas, siesta, cava and tortilla. Spanish has also borrowed a few words from English, such as los jeans (jeans) and el hotel (hotel).

There are, however, some big differences between English and Spanish. For instance, there's the fact that Spanish is a phonetic language. This means that you pronounce letters consistently and each letter represents a certain sound. This also means that Spanish is a fairly simple language for novices to learn, especially when it comes to spelling and speaking.

The links between sounds and letters mean that there usually aren't any spelling surprises.

Of course, you won't get off that easy. There are a few other tricks for native English speakers to master.

As Spanish originates from Latin, it has gendered language- masculine and feminine words and articles. The genders of adjectives must agree with their accompanying nouns, as well as the articles of those nouns.

Spanish enjoys more tenses and a greater variation in verb parts compared to English. It also has three ways to address people: tú being the informal "you," usted being the formal "you," and vosotros being the informal, plural version of tú (much like "you all" or "y'all") in Spain. These all have an effect on verb forms, possessives and pronouns.

7. The Royal Spanish Academy is "in charge" of the language

The Royal Spanish Academy is officially responsible for being the custodian of the Spanish language. It has its home in Madrid and operates numerous language academies through the Association of Spanish Language Academies in the 21 other countries that speak Spanish.

The Academy began its life in the 18th century and since then has published dictionaries and grammar rule books, which have been officially adopted in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.

The Academy prides itself on inventing the use of the inverted question and exclamation marks, which are unique to the Spanish language. Another unique feature it's responsible for is the letter ñ, which was introduced to the alphabet during the 18th century.

8. There are many regional nuances of Spanish

We know that Spanish descended from Latin and spread from the Iberian Peninsula to Latin America through colonization.

It's fascinating to know that there are more than a few discrepancies between the Spanish of Spain and that of Latin America. There are also countless differences in the Spanish language within Latin America itself!

That being said, the relatively minor vocabulary, grammar and punctuation differences aren't terribly extreme, and communication is still very easy. You should be able to travel the Spanish-speaking world with "neutral" Spanish and manage communication with nearly anybody.

The differences originally arose because the colonies developed somewhat independently from one another, and even from Spain itself.

Since communication was limited, with no telephones, airplanes, emails, WhatsApp or Skype, some elements of older Spanish were retained and others abandoned. Plus, you'll find that many regions have invented their own unique vocabulary, slang, accents and language usage quirks over time.

A good example is the way vos is used in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. This is used in the Spanish from Spain, and so it was transferred to the Americas. As alluded to before, vosotros means "you" or "you all," and thus is the second-person plural in Spain, as it was originally intended to be used. However, vos is now used as a polite, second-person singular pronoun in the above three countries.

Spain has long since stopped using it in this way, but if you visit Buenos Aires you're quite likely to be asked "¿de dónde sos?" (where are you from?) as opposed to "¿de dónde eres?".

9. Arabic influenced Spanish

Arab armies started to conquer the Iberian Peninsula in 711, bringing Arabic art, architecture and language to the region. Arabic gradually mixed with old Spanish to become the language spoken today.

When Spain expelled the Arabs in 1492, the language retained some 8,000 Arabic words. Apart from Latin, Arabic is the largest contributor to Spanish. Many words that you already know in Spanishcome from Arabic, such as el alfombra (carpet), la almendra (almond) and la almohada (pillow).

When you travel through Spain, you'll come across many place, region and historic site names that come from Arabic, such as La Alhambra.

10. The earliest Spanish texts were written over 1000 years ago!

Las Glosas Emilianenses (Glosses of Saint Emilianus), written in 964, were long thought to be the first written Spanish texts that survive today. They consist of Spanish and Basque notes made on a religious Latin manuscript.

The unknown author is thought to have been a monk at the Suso monastery. In 2010, however, the Real Academia Española announced that the first examples of written Spanish exist in 9th-century medieval documents known as the "Cartularies of Valpuesta," from the Burgos province.

11. Spanish is poetic and has long sentences

When you translate from English to Spanish, your text is likely to expand by 15-25%. This isn't because Spanish words are longer than English words (and they're definitely not as long as German words can be).

The reason for this expansion lies in the fact that Spanish is more detailed, poetic and expressive. It thus uses more words to describe something that English would probably sum up in just one word.

For example, the phrase en el sentido de las agujas del reloj literally means "in the direction of the needles of the clock," but in English we would simply say "clockwise." Spanish doesn't have a word for "clockwise" and has to use the aforementioned phrase!

12. The demand of learning Spanish is increasing

Spain has always been a popular travel and foreign study destination. Studying Spanish in schools and universities has also grown in popularity. These days the language is becoming very popular in Asia, signifying its importance in global economic markets.

The use of Spanish online has risen by an incredible 800% in recent years and this means it's the third most popular language on the Internet, not far behind Mandarin and English.

An estimated 18 million students are currently studying Spanish as a foreign language. Forecasts indicate that, in a few generations from now, 10% of the world's population will understand Spanish-whereas the number is currently 6%. That's a big leap coming!

These fascinating facts about the Spanish language reveal the language's long heritage as well as its importance and growth in the world today.

Hopefully this will be a good incentive to people of all ages and from all kinds of backgrounds to learn Spanish, and to enjoy the many benefits that speaking Spanish can bring!
Samanphy is currently based in London, coming from Hong Kong. Along with speaking Cantonese, Mandarin and English, she has been learning Spanish since 2010, lived and worked in Spain before and is a fluent speaker. She is working in the marketing department at Livety.com.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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Fast Facts About Spanish: 12 Things You Didn't Know About Español - FluentU Spanish

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You may think you know everything there is to know about the Spanish language-after all, Spanish is all around us. Spanish is a language that's on the rise. It's a beautiful language with a wide global influence on business and culture.

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Spanish Language Trivia

• There are between 450 and 500 million Spanish speakers worldwide, with 40 million of those living in Spain, 360 million in Hispanic America, and more than 35 million in the United States.

• This makes Spanish the second most spoken language in the world after Mandarin Chinese and above English.

• Spanish is the third most used language on the Internet, after English and Mandarin Chinese.

• Mexico has the most Spanish language speakers in the world, with over 112 million speakers.

• Spanish is one of the six official languages of the UN.

• Equatorial Guinea is the only African country to have Spanish as an official language, having once been a part of the Spanish Empire.

• There are 24 countries in the world with Spanish-speaking populations, including the U.S.

Did you know… the U.S. does not have an official national language, though English is the de facto language?

¿Sabías que… los EEUU no tiene un idioma oficial, aunque el inglés es el idioma de facto?

To learn about the history of the Spanish language, check out our article About the Spanish language.

To find out how to say language in Spanish, check out our article on Language in Spanish.

To see Spanish language words of Arab origins, check out our article on Arab words in the Spanish Language.

To see Spanish language words of Indigenous origins, check out our article on Indigenous words in the Spanish Language.

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SpanishDict is the world’s largest online Spanish-English dictionary, translator, and reference tool.

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A1 - Trivia questions about the Spanish language

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Trivia questions about the Spanish language. Fun facts about the Spanish language

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All work and no play makes Hans a dull boy.

Up to your bleary eyeballs in German articles and long compound nouns?

Or maybe you’re just starting your German journey and feeling a bit overwhelmed.

It helps to remember that the German language can be fun, too!

We’ve collected some of our favorite German fun facts to spark your curiosity in the language. They’ll remind you what makes this such an interesting and valuable language to learn, even when the going gets tough!

So sit back, take a breather and relax with these interesting German language fun facts.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

1. German Is the Most Common Native Language in the European Union (EU)

With more than 100 million native speakers, German is the most common native language spoken in the EU. There’s even a push on to make German one of the working languages of the EU.

It’s not surprising that it’s so common, given that it’s the only official language in three countries (Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein) and ranks as an official language in another three (Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium).

German also ranks highly as a national minority language in yet another four countries (Poland, Denmark, Italy and Hungary).

See the country profiles on the BBC Languages page for more information on each.

2. German Has Its Own Letter Called the “Sharp S”

While German shares mostly the same alphabet as English, it does have a special letter: ß. This letter is known as the scharfes “s” (sharp “s”). It looks almost like a capital B, but it’s definitely not.

It’s actually a short-form for the consonant blend “sz” known in German as Eszett. Interesting to note—it was 2017 before this unique letter ever got a capitalized version, ẞ.

Speaking of which…

3. German Writing Got a Major Overhaul in 1998… and Again in 2006!

In German, this overhaul is known as neue Rechtschreibung (new correct writing). The main goal of the overhaul was to standardize spelling and punctuation across all German-speaking countries.

Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein all signed onto the changes in Vienna in 1996, whereas Luxembourg did not. It did however adopt the reforms more gradually.

Key areas of change included:

Capitalization: Specifically, when using second person pronouns such as du (you, singular informal) and ihr (you, plural informal) a capital letter was no longer necessary. This was amended in 2006 to allow for a capital letter in personal correspondence. All nouns are still capitalized.

Spelling: It’s more common now to see words spelled with a double or triple “s” as opposed to ß. For instance, muß (must) has become muss and ißt (eat) has become isst.

Not every German ß had to go. Those in common words such as Straße (street) and groß (big) got to stay. Mainly, those that followed a long or voiced vowel got to stay.

The triple “s” now comes into play when before there would’ve been a ß followed by “s,” as in Schlossstaße (Castle Street). Prior to the writing reforms, this was written as Schloßstraße. But since the “o” in the first syllable is short, it has had to change to “ss.”

4. German Time Is Always Looking 30 Minutes Ahead

The half-hour mark in German refers to the next hour coming up, not the previous one as is the case in British English.

For example, halb neun is 8:30, not 9:30. You take it literally as “half nine” meaning 30 minutes before 9:00. This is quite different than “half nine” in British English, which would be 9:30, or the similar “half past nine” in American English.

So when you use h alb referring to time in German, you have to think of the hour coming up, not the one that just passed.

Need some tips for how to do that? Here’s a great link for telling time in German.

5. One German Word Can Carry Many Meanings, so Be Careful!

It happens even with short, simple words like groß. It can mean “big” or “fat,” depending on the context.

This one has gotten me into trouble at least once. I was trying to say how shocked I was that my cousin had grown so big and tall: “Du bist so groß.” (“You are so big.”)

She and her family took it to mean “fat.” Oops! That didn’t go over so well with the relatives.

As I indicated with my hand how tall she was (vertically), and repeated the same sentence, they figured out my true meaning. Whew!

Himmel is another German word that has given me trouble. This one has several meanings. It can refer to the sky, heaven or sometimes even the atmosphere. Whereas in English we differentiate between these meanings, in German you have to rely much more on the context.

6. German Nouns Follow More Rules Than English Ones

In German, all nouns are capitalized. No exceptions. Doesn’t matter if it’s in the middle of a word or at the end. It still has to start with a capital.

For example, take a simple sentence, Das Buch steht auf dem Tisch. (The book is on the table.) Easy to find the nouns. Notice that Buch and Tisch are both capitalized.

Not only are all nouns capitalized in writing, but they also all take a grammatical gender. Yes, even in spoken German. Nouns can be masculine, feminine or neuter.

So for example, “knife” is das Messer (neuter), “fork” is die Gabel (feminine) and “spoon” is der Löffel (masculine). Most people would think that the knife, being the big guy, would be masculine, but it’s not. This is where the gender you think is the logical choice for a noun may not always be the right one.

Let’s take another example. You would think that all animals would have either masculine or feminine articles, since they’re genetically either male or female. Not so. “Dog” is der Hund (masculine), “cat” is die Katze (feminine) and “skunk” is das Stinktier (neuter). Literally, “stinky animal.”

Poor skunk, maybe no one wanted to get close enough to determine whether it was a male or female?

Same goes for the “wild boar” or das Wildschwein (literally, “wild pig”). Wouldn’t want to get too close to one of them, either!

This is where a good dictionary or dictionary app is an invaluable tool. Fortunately, a noun’s gender will be stated at the beginning of any good German-English dictionary.

7. Some German Speakers Have Trouble Understanding One Another

Standard “textbook” German is what you’d hear spoken in the north-central area of Germany. Think Hamburg. This is where they speak the language that most closely follows the grammar and pronunciation rules taught in schools and most international German courses.

But that’s not the dialect that all German speakers use, and some of them can even have difficulty understanding one another.

For many German speakers, the dialect that’s most difficult to understand pronunciation-wise is in Bavaria. My relatives tell me that when Bavarian movies are shown in the north or in other German speaking countries, they’re often shown with subtitles!

We hope you’ve enjoyed these fun facts about German. While English and German do share 60% of their vocabulary, it’s always good to know what makes a language unique and how it has evolved.

Ramona Brown Monsour is a professional writer and ESL teacher. She is the creator of the digital newsletter, “About Canada: Culture, Immigration & Lifestyle.”

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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7 Fun Facts About German That’ll Spark Any Language Learner’s Curiosity

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These German language fun facts cover everything from strange spelling rules to debates at the EU. They’ll remind you why German is so cool and worth studying!

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Germany is renowned for its famous scholars and musicians: Sigmund Freud transformed the study of psychology, Albert Einstein revolutionized our understanding of science, and Johann Sebastian Bach changed the way we think about music. And though these Germans are household names in the English-speaking world, we tend to not know quite so much about the language that they spoke. For example, did you know that German nouns have three genders, or that the first printed book was written in German? Keep reading to learn some of the top interesting facts about German.

German is the most-spoken mother tongue in Europe.

Globally, German is the 11th most-spoken language, with about 90 million native speakers. In Europe, however, it's the #1 most common mother tongue, beating out Italian, French, Spanish, and even English. About 16% of the European population speaks German as a first language.

In many Romance languages, nouns can be either masculine or feminine, which has historically caused headaches for English-speaking language learners. German further complicates the picture by introducing a neuter gender for words that are neither masculine nor feminine.

Time is counted with respect to the next hour, rather than the previous one.

If a German tells you that it is halb drei ("half three"), you might assume that it's 3:30. However, you'd be wrong: in German, you report time by counting the minutes to the next hour, so "half three" means that it's half an hour until three: in other words, it's 2:30.

Though the majority of German speakers reside within Germany, German is the official language of four other countries: Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. It's also spoken in some parts of Northern Italy, as well as in the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine.

German makes extensive use of compound words.

German is famous for having long words such as kraftfahrzeughaftpflichtversicherung, which means "automobile liability insurance". This is because German makes extensive use of compound words, which can build on each other to create monstrosities like the one shown above. For instance, Staubsauger (vacuum cleaner) consists of the noun Staub (dust) and saugen (to suck).

It's the third most commonly taught language worldwide.

German edges out Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Spanish, landing in third place among the most widely taught languages. This places German right after English and French.

The first printed book was written in German.

The Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed by way of movable type, which spawned the age of the printed book. It was finished in 1454.

The German alphabet has one more consonant than English.

German and English both make use of Roman characters. German, however, contains an extra consonant ß, which represents a double-S. ß is unique among German consonants in that it's never found at the beginning of a word. Though you can sometimes substitute "SS" for "ß" if you're using a non-German keyboard, this only works for certain words: Masse and Maße, for instance, mean entirely different things ("mass" and "dimensions", respectively).

English and German share 60% of their vocabulary.

Given their close relation, German and English share more than half of their vocabulary - so if you know English, you're already halfway there to speaking German! In comparison, English and French share just 27% of theirs.

Of course you're familiar with the works of famous German musicians like Ludwig van Beethoven: now you also know how Beethoven told time in his day!

As the most spoken language in Europe, it's worth your while to get a good understanding of German under your belt. So if you're thinking about joining the millions of other German language learners across the world, consider taking personalized German courses taught by a native speaker. Contact us to get more information about the third-most commonly taught language in the world.

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9 Surprising Facts About the German Language - Listen & Learn USA

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Germany is renowned for its famous scholars and musicians: Sigmund Freud transformed the study of psychology, Albert Einstein revolutionized our understanding of science, and Johann Sebastian Bach changed the way we think about music. And though these Germans are household names in the English-speaking world, we tend to not know quite so much about the(...)

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Guten Tag! September 12 th is German Language Day so put together some fun facts all about the German language...

1. 79 letter word

German is famous for its excessively long words with the longest word being made up of 79 letters! Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft means "association of subordinate officials of the head office management of the Danube steamboat electrical services" (the name of a pre-war club in Vienna). It must be noted that this word is not really useful; it's more of an attempt to lengthen the word Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän which means "Danube steamship company captain".

2. 130 million people speak German as their Mother tongue or as a second language

Approximately 130 million people speak German as their mother language, or as a second language. German is the most widely spoken mother language in the EU and is an official language in 7 countries.

3. German words have three genders

In many Romance languages, nouns are either masculine or feminine, which has historically caused headaches for some language learners. German is even more complicated as it has a third gender known as neuter for words that are neither masculine nor feminine.

4. Time is counted with reference to the upcoming hour

In German if someone tells you that it is halb drei ("half three"), you might assume that it's 3:30. However, this is wrong because in German you report time by counting the minutes to the next hour, so "half three" means that it's half an hour until three: in other words, it's 2:30.

5. English and German share 60% of their vocabulary

Due to their close relation, German and English share more than half of their vocabulary! In comparison, English and French share just 27% of their vocabulary.

6. The Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible was the first-ever printed book by movable type and it was written in German by Johannes Gutenberg in 1454.

7. Words that exist only in German

Some German words don't have an equivalent in other languages. For example, "fremdschämen" refers to shame felt on another person's behalf. And "Fernweh" (having the travel bug, lusting after adventure) is the opposite of "Heimweh (homesickness).

8. All nouns are capitalised

In English, only proper nouns like people's names and the names of countries and cities are capitalised. In German, every single noun is capitalised.

9. German has a unique letter

The German alphabet contains an extra consonant, ß, called "Eszett" representing the double-S. ß is unique among German consonants in that it is never found at the beginning of a word and it is not always interchangeable with the SS, for example, the German word masse and maße mean two different words (weight and size).

10. Some German speakers have trouble understanding one a nother

Standard "textbook" German is what you'd hear spoken in the north-central area of Germany like Hamburg. This is where they speak the language that most closely follows the grammar and pronunciation rules taught in schools and most international German courses. But that's not the dialect that all German speakers use, and some of them can even have difficulty understanding one another. For many German speakers, the dialect that's most difficult to understand pronunciation-wise is in Bavaria. It has been said that when Bavarian movies are shown in the north or in other German-speaking countries, they're often shown with subtitles!

So there you have it, some fun facts about the German language. If you have any other interesting facts about German then please comment below!

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Guten Tag! September 12 th is German Language Day so put together some fun facts all about the German language... German is famous for its excessively long words with the longest word being made up of 79 letters!

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12 Fascinating Facts About the German Language

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Dive into the impossible and fascinating world of the German language with our list of linguistic fun facts