European Day of Languages

How many indigenous languages are spoken in Europe?

• 27

• 70

• 150

• 225

Answer explanation

There are over 225 indigenous languages in Europe. That sounds like a lot but it's actually only about 3% of the world's total of 6000-7000

How many people in Europe speak one foreign language?

• 14%

• 34%

• 54%

• 74%

Answer explanation

According to an EU survey, 54% of EU citizens speak another language, 25% speak two foreign languages.

Which is the most widely spoken mother tongue in Europe?

• English

• German

• French

• Spanish

Answer explanation

German is the most widely spoken mother tongue (18%), followed by English and Italian (both 13%) and French (12%)

Which European language capitalises nouns?

• Finnish

• Dutch

• German

• Russian

Answer explanation

German is the only language in the world to capitalise nouns

Where is the village with the longest name located?

• Switzerland

• Romania

• Lithuania

• Wales

Answer explanation

The longest village name in Wales (Anglesey) is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (58 letters)

Which was the first language to be spoken in space?

• English

• French

• Russian

• German

Answer explanation

When the first cosmonaut circled Planet Earth, Yuri Gagarin, he spoke his native language to mission control.

Which language never uses J, K, W, X and Y?

• Portuguese

• French

• Spanish

• Italian

Answer explanation

Italians can cook wonders from very few ingredients. and they also need fewer letters in their alphabet. Only 21.

How many official business languages are there in the EU?

• 18

• 21

• 24

• 27

Answer explanation

Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.

Which is believed to be the oldest language of Europe?

• Portuguese

• Celt

• Romansh

• Basque

Answer explanation

Still spoken today in parts of France and Spain it appears to have been originated prior to the arrival of Indo-European languages.

How many words are added to the dictionary every year?

• 10

• 100

• 1000

• 10,000

Answer explanation

Every year, about 1000 new words are added to the Oxford English Dictionary.