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 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 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 Slavic East 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 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?