languages of europe europe is slightly larger than the united states, but the population is more...
TRANSCRIPT
Languages of Europe
Europe is slightly larger than the United States, but the population is
more than double.We speak English in America, but
there are over 200 languages spoken in Europe!
Most European languages fall into three main categories:
•Germanic languages•Romance languages• Slavic languages
• Germanic languages have the most speakers.• They live mostly in northwest and central
Europe.• 20% of Europeans speak either English or
German as their native language• Most Europeans learn to speak English even if
they don’t speak it at home
GERMANIC LANGUAGES
Germanic Languages
Countries where a Germanic language is the first language of the majority of the population
Countries where a Germanic language is an official but
not primary language
ROMANCE LANGUAGES
• Includes French, Italian, and Spanish• Found in the south and west of
Europe• Comes from Latin – language of the
Roman Empire•We use the Roman alphabet
Romance Languages in dark blue
SLAVIC LANGUAGES• Includes Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak, &
Polish among many others• Found in central and eastern Europe• Do not use the Roman alphabet• They use a Cyrillic alphabet
Slavic Languages
West SlavicEast Slavic
South Slavic
Having so many different languages in such a small space can present problems!
It’s hard to live, work, and trade with people who cannot communicate with each other! So to prevent language problems, most students learn one or two languages other than their home language.
The European Union has 23 “official” languages to ensure that people can understand laws and decisions made by the government
Europe even has special laws to protect their languages – they want to keep all their languages alive, even if only a few people speak it.
In what ways are the French and Italian languages alike?
Which European language has the largest number of native speakers?
Is English---Slavic, Romance, or Germanic?
