{"id":1063,"date":"2023-09-20T14:31:35","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T13:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/?p=1063"},"modified":"2023-10-02T13:45:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T12:45:09","slug":"european-day-of-languages-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/academic-and-employability-skills\/2023\/09\/20\/european-day-of-languages-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"European Day of Languages 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

How much do you know about European languages? To mark European Day of Languages<\/a> on 26 September, here are some interesting facts to test your knowledge.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How many languages are there in Europe?<\/h2>\n

It really depends on how we define language. As a popular adage puts it, \"a language is a dialect with an army and navy\". But it\u2019s safe to say that there are between 200 to 300 languages spoken in Europe.<\/p>\n

We can be sure, however, about official languages. There are 24 official languages in Europe. Can you name all 24 (you\u2019ll find a list of them at the end!)?<\/p>\n

The chances are you speak more than one language already. In Europe, more than 50% of the population speak more than one language.<\/p>\n

No matter how many languages you already speak, you can always develop them further or learn a brand new language.<\/p>\n

In the Skills Centre we teach six of the EU's 24 official languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese), plus three non-European languages (Arabic, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese).<\/p>\n

What is the oldest language in Europe?<\/h2>\n

Basque.<\/p>\n

Basque is spoken in regions of France and Spain. It\u2019s the only European language that isn\u2019t related to any other language and its origin is still unknown.<\/p>\n

Which European languages are spoken the most?<\/h2>\n

Based on numbers of native speakers, the languages spoken the most in Europe are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Russian, with roughly 160 million native speakers<\/li>\n
  2. German, with about 97 million native speakers<\/li>\n
  3. French, with around 81 million native speakers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    However, English has the largest number of speakers in total, including some 200 million speakers of English as a second or foreign language in Europe.<\/p>\n

    Italian and Spanish are also among the languages that have more than 50 million native speakers in Europe.<\/p>\n

    More fun facts about languages<\/h2>\n