True or False?
The English word “alphabet” comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet – alpha and beta.
TRUE!
___________ uses three different writing systems: Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana.
Japanese uses three different writing systems: Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana.
The Pope tweets in nine languages, which of his accounts has the most followers?
a) English
b) Italian
c) Spanish
Letter c!
The Pope's Spanish twitter account has the most followers.
There are about 3,500 languages worldwide.
FALSE - There are actually over 7,000 languages worldwide
_________ was the first language spoken in outer space.
Russian was the first language spoken in outer space.
How many artificial languages are there in books, movies, and TV shows?
a) Over 200
b) Over 300
c) Over 400
Letter a!
There are over 200 artificial languages in books, movies, and TV shows, such as “Klingon.”
German is the main foreign language taught in the UK.
FALSE - French is the main foreign language taught in the UK.
About 30% of English words come from ______.
About 30% of English words come from French.
How many letters do the smallest and the longest alphabets have?
a) 9 and 64
b) 12 and 36
c) 11 and 74
Letter c!
The Papuan language of Rotokas only has 11 letters, making it the smallest alphabet.
Cambodia has the longest alphabet with 74 characters.
At least half of the world’s population is bilingual.
True! Isn't this fascinating?
________ is the most spoken language in Europe. Four countries have it as their official language.
German is the most spoken language in Europe. Four countries have it as their official language.
Which country has the most official languages?
a) India
b) South Africa
c) Russia
Letter b!
South Africa has the most official languages with 11.
The United States has no "official" language.
True.
Even though most people just assume it’s English, the US does not have any official languages.
________ _______ is the most spoken language in the world.
Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world.
If you speak it, you can speak to 13% of the world’s population!
Hawaiians have over 200 different words for what?
a) sun
b) water
c) rain
Letter c!
Hawaiians have over 200 different words for “rain.”