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Portuguese is the most widely spoken language in Brazil and the official language of the country, with around 204 million residents speaking the language. Brazil is the world’s most populated Portuguese-speaking country by far, and the largest country in South America, both by land area as well as by population. Brazil is home to nearly 210 million people, out of which nearly 98% percent use Portuguese as their primary language. Brazil is known for being the only predominantly-speaking country in all of South America. Before the colonization of Brazil in the 1500s, there were dozens of indigenous languages spoken all over Brazil. After the Portuguese arrived in 1500, however, they brought their own language which began to emerge as Brazil’s primary language, a trend which has stuck to this day.
Despite the fact that Brazilian Portuguese and the Portuguese spoken in Portugal are mutually intelligible, certain differences between the two do exist. One of the main differences between the two variants of the language is pronunciation. Brazilians speak vowels longer and wider, while the Portuguese don’t pronounce the vowels as much.
Other languages that can be heard in Brazil include German, Spanish, English, Italian and some other previously mentioned indigenous languages which existed before the European colonization started taking place. Some of these include Ticuna, Kaiwa Guarani and Kaingang, which have continued to be in use to this day.
German language is spoken by about 1.9% of Brazil’s population, but despite the seemingly low percentage, German is the second most widely used language in Brazil. This is mainly due to the fact that many German immigrants arrived to Brazil in the 1940s, when the number of German speakers became particularly strong. Many German immigrants have continued to use their language within the country over time, which is why German has managed to retain its status of a commonly-spoken language in Brazil to this day. German is also taught in schools in certain municipalities in the country. Italian has found its way into Brazil similarly as German, as it was also brought in by immigrants in the 20th century. The Italian language does have a limited presence in the country, but it has not been conserved as well as the German language.
Spanish is widely understood by many Brazilians due to language similarities and the country’s close geographical proximity to Spanish-speaking countries. Spanish is not very widespread due to the fact that it is often overtaken by English in terms of popularity. English is often taught as a second language in Brazilian schools, with many Brazilians also taking private English classes. English fluency is most common among the major city centers, with approximately 3% of Brazilians who speak English, out of the estimated 5% of those who speak a second language.
While Russian is the official language of Russia at the national level, there are also 35 other languages which are considered the official languages in different regions of the country. Being home to diverse cultures, Russia’s multicultural and multilingual landscape is manifested in the high number of different languages used all over the country.
With about 260 million native speakers, Russian is the most popular language in the country. It is legally recognized as the country’s official language at the national level, which is enshrined in the Constitution of Russia. As aforementioned, however, there are 35 other languages which are used as official languages in various other regions of Russia, as well as about 100 other minority languages.
The Russian language is classified as an Indo-European language and one of the four East Slavic Languages, and is one of the most widespread languages in the world, with speakers in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Tajikistan, Georgia, Lithuania, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Russian is also used as an official language in the United Nations. Its written form uses a distinct type of alphabet based on the Cyrillic script.
Other official languages of Russia include: Ossetic, Ukrainian, Buryat, Kalmyk, Chechen, Ingush, Abaza, Adyghe, Cherkess, Kabardian, Altai, Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Karachay-Balkar, Khakas, Nogai, Tatar, Tuvan, Yakut, Erzya, Komi, Hill Mari, Meadow Mari, Moksha, and Udmurt. With thousands of native speakers, these languages make up a significant portion of the total Russian population.
Some Russian languages are also considered endangered. One such example is the Kalmyk language, which is legally recognized as the official language of Kalmykia with about 80,000 native speakers in the country. However, as per UNESCO, which has labeled the language as “definitely endangered”, the Kalmyk language is in danger of extinction. Other languages which are in danger of extinction include: Northern and Souther Yukaghir, Udege, Enets, Orok, Ter Sami, Ket, Seto, Ingrian, Chulym, Ludian, Veps, Tofalar, and Chukchi.
Some languages, which have already been declared extinct in Russia, have small populations of native speakers in other countries in the world. Such languages include Kerek, Ainu, and Yugh.
Some of the foreign languages used by thousands of expatriates who might have verbal and written knowledge of the national language, but who also use their native languages while communicating include English, German, Turkish, Ukrainian and French. These languages are mainly used among the major city centers in Russia.
Australia has no official language, English has been established as the de facto national language and is spoken by the majority of the population. Apart from English, Australians speak more than 200 other languages, making Australia one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse countries in the world.
Australian English has a unique vocabulary and accent, diversifying itself from British and American variants of the English language. Australian English is more similar to British English in this sense, however the Australian variant has a more colorful everyday vernacular – the so-called “strine” – which makes it easier to differentiate from the British variant. Strine or Ozspeak is characterized by abbreviations, profanities, hyperboles, vulgar expressions and various word-tweakings; strine is a slang which originated from the early convicts of Cockney in London and Ireland, after which it developed into a rebellious subculture. The uses of strine and slang words vary from state to state, and the Australian English is comprised of many words with an Aboriginal descent.
The Australian Aboriginal community dates back to around 60,000 years and has the longest cultural history in the world. Out of the 250 indigenous languages of Australia, only 20 have survived to this day, and they are taught in schools and spoken regularly. The most common aboriginal language is Kriol; Kriol contains many English words which have different meanings and are usually spelled in a phonetic style.
Other indigenous languages of Australia include the Tasmania or Palawa languages, which were the indigenous languages of Tasmania Island, and the Torres Strait Island languages.
The most widely spoken foreign languages in Australia include: Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi. Mandarin is the most influential non-English dialect spoken in Australia. It is spoken by around 2.5% of the Australian population, which translates to around 600,000 people. Arabic is the second most popular foreign language spoken in Australia, with around 320,000 residents speaking Arabic at home. Cantonese is spoken by around 280,000, Vietnamese by around 277,000, and Italian by around 271,000 Australians. Italian Australians are the sixth-largest ethnic group in Australia, with almost every Australian region having a considerable portion of Italian-Australians, especially in Victoria and South Australia.
There are also the Auslan Yolnu Sign Language as well as other Aboriginal sign languages in the country used by around 10,000 people with impaired hearing.
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