languages of europe

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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 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Languages of Europe
Page 2: Languages of Europe

Languages of Europe

Page 3: 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!

Page 4: Languages of Europe

Most European languages fall into three main categories:

•Germanic languages•Romance languages• Slavic languages

Page 5: Languages of Europe
Page 6: Languages of Europe

• 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

Page 7: Languages of Europe

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

Page 8: Languages of Europe

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

Page 9: Languages of Europe

Romance Languages in dark blue

Page 10: Languages of Europe

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

Page 11: Languages of Europe

Slavic Languages

West SlavicEast Slavic

South Slavic

Page 12: Languages of Europe

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.

Page 13: Languages of Europe

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?

Page 14: Languages of Europe