The European Day of

Languages

10 most popular languages:

1. Mandarin Chinese - 882 million2. Spanish - 325 million3. English - 312-380 million4. Arabic - 206-422 million5. Hindi - 181 million6. Portuguese - 178 million7. Bengali - 173 million8. Russian - 146 million9. Japanese - 128 million10. German - 96 million

1. The European Day of Languages is celebrated annually on 26 September. 2. It is a Europe-wide celebration of language

and culture involving 47 countries . 3. It is an initiative organised by the

Council of Europe . 4. It is coordinated in the UK by

CILT, the National Centre for Languages . 5. 2011 is the 10th European Day of Languages. 6. The first European Day of Languages was held

in the European Year of Languages in 2001. 7. It has a European website - http://edl.ecml.at/ 8. It's a celebration of all languages, not just European ones. 9. Everyone can get involved! 10. It’s brilliant fun!

Non-European Union Countries

Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey, Switzerland

What countries do these flags belong to?

Bulgaria Belgium

Austria

Portugal

1

2

3

4

Malta

Cyprus

ItalyFrance

1

2

34

Greece

Ireland

Finland

Spain

Netherlands1

2

3

4

5

Country Capital Language Say ‚Hello‘

Salut

Dutch

Spain

Rome

Turkish

Zdraveite

Greece

Oslo

Check your answersCountry Capital Language Say

‚Hello‘ France Paris French Salut

Netherlands

Amsterdam

Dutch Dag

Spain Madrid Spanish Hola

Italy Rome Italian Ciao

Turkey Ankara Turkish Merhaba

Bulgaria Sofia Bulgarian Zdraveite

Greece Athenes Greek Kαλημέρα

Finland Oslo Finnish Terve,Hei

Sort the following Russian words into the correct column referring to the languages they came from: English, French, German, ItalianКроссворд, банк, шляпа, журнал, сквер, лимузин, айсберг, ракета, бумеранг, бандит, бутерброд, одеколон, интернет, фортепиано, волан, шлягер, мемуары, трамвай, газета, фейерверк, суп, джинсы, режиссер, помидор, календарь, спортсмен, галстук.

English:Кроссворд, сквер, бумеранг, интернет, трамвай, джинсы, спортсменFrench:Журнал, лимузин, одеколон, волан, мемуары, суп, режиссерGerman:Шляпа, айсберг, бутерброд, шлягер, фейерверк, календарь, галстукItalian:Банк, ракета, бандит, фортепиано, газета, помидор

Language Quiz

1. What is the origin of the greeting ‘Ciao’?a) Caius, a common Latin name.b) It was the call of Venetian gondoliers to avoid hitting

other boat in the fog.c) From the Venetian phrase ‘sciao vostro’ literally

translated as ‘I’m your slave’ or ‘at your service’.

2. Which is the only European language that always places the family name first and the given name second, e.g. SMITH John rather than John SMITH?

a) Hungarianb) Icelandicc) Bulgarian

3. Which of the following is a Romance language?a) Romanianb) Romanyc) Latin

4. Who said ‘A country without a language is a country without a soul’?

d) Victor Hugoe) Patric Pearsef) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

5. Which of the statements about the Greek alphabet is true?

a) Unlike the Latin alphabet, its letters never represent numerals.

b) It only contains consonants.c) It gave rise to the Gothic, Cyrillic and Latin alphabets.

6. Which language does the word ‘robot’ come from?a) Polishb) Latinc) Czech

7. To which language does the quotation refer: ‘The language is the instrument of the Empire’?

a) Spanish b) Englishc) German

8. Which of these dances originates in Poland?a) the Polkab) the Polonaisec) the Polska

Answers to the quiz:1. C (this Venetian phrase means a polite promise from

one to another, much like ‘count on me’ any time.)2. A (Family names were descriptive phrases used to

identify people’s characteristics or their jobs.)3. A (Romance languages include French, Spanish, Italian

& Romanian as they descended from Latin.)4. B5. C6. C (The Czech ‘robota’ literally means hard work.)7. A (The Spanish used their language as a tool to unify

the empire, consolidate political power & spread the Catholic faith.)

8. B (The Polonaise means Polish in French. The Polka is a Czech dance & the Polska is a Nordic folk one.)

Enjoy studying languages and remember:

‘He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own.’

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Used resourses:

http://edl.ecml.at/Home/tabid/1455/language/en-GB/Default.aspxhttp://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/10languages.htmhttp://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/eu.htmlhttp://www.google.ru/searchhttp://www.allcountries.org/maps/world_language_maps.htmlhttp://classtools.net/widgets/dustbin_2/gQs8Z.htmhttp://edl.ecml.at/LanguageFun/LanguageQuiz/tabid/1873/language/en-GB/Default.aspxhttp://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/quiz/index_en.htm