Twenty questions (most of the answers can be found in the above website!):
- What is a mother tongue?
- What word means “the love of long words”?
- How many people in the world speak two or more languages?
- About how many languages are spoken in the world’s 189 countries?
- How many indigenous languages are spoken in Europe?
- Which language contains the most words?
- Is there one universal sign language?
- What sound does an English frog make!?
- What does “higgledy-piggledy” mean?
- What does “yaourt” also mean in French?
- From what language does the word “plubairnigh” come from?
- How many languages does Natalie Portman speak?
- Which is the longest word in the English language?
- What is your favourite word?
- How do you say “talk to me!” in sign language?
- Are you able to say "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed" without making a pronunciation mistake?
- Who initiated the European Day of Languages?
- What is the purpose of the European Day of Languages?
- How many languages do you speak?
- Which foreign languages would you like to master (better) and why?
JWhat is a mother tongue?
A mother tongue is the language one knows best and one uses most (most
often the language one learns first).
JWhat word means “the love of
long words”?
Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
JHow many people in the world
speak two or more languages?
At least half of the world’s population is bilingual or plurilingual.
JAbout how many languages are
spoken in the world?
Between 6,000 and 7,000.
JHow many indigenous
languages are spoken in Europe?
About 225.
JWhich language contains the
most words?
Many linguists consider it is the English language (estimates range from
one to two million words).
JIs there one universal sign
language?
No, there are many varieties of sign language.
JWhat sound does an English
frog make!?
Ribbit, ribbit!
JWhat does
“higgledy-piggledy” mean?
In a mess.
JWhat does “yaourt” also mean
in French?
A song in pseudo English.
JFrom what language does the
word “plubairnigh” come from?
Irish (it is a verb meaning “bubbling” in the sentence “the porridge is bubbling”)
JHow many languages does
Natalie Portman speak?
Five!
JWhich is the longest word in
the English language?
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
JWhat is your favourite word?
Solipsism (meaning “egoistic self-absorption”)
JHow do you say “talk to me!”
in sign language?
(Cf. website TV-spot!)
JSay the following sentence
without making pronunciation mistakes: "A rough-coated, dough-faced,
thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling
into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."
JWho initiated the European
Day of Languages?
The Council of Europe and the European Centre for Modern Languages.
JWhat is the purpose of the European
Day of Languages?
To encourage the learning of other languages and intercultural
understanding.
JHow many languages do you
speak?
One very well, one quite well, and two very badly.
JWhich foreign language(s)
would you like to master and why?
Italian because I love Italian culture, Arabic to be able to understand
better what is happening in the world, and Chinese because I want to know what
my Chinese friends are really saying about me!
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