Europe
SS6G11a. Explain the diversity of
languages as seen in a
comparison of German, English,
Russian, French, and Italian.
Do Now: Copy “DRC Major
Languages of Europe” (NB p.10)
Origin
Example
Language
Official
Language in
# of Native
Speakers
West German
Languages
•Largest of 3
groups
German
Germany, Austria, 100 million
Switzerland, EU…
English
United Kingdom,
Ireland, EU
62 million
Slavic Languages
Russian
Russia, United
Nations…
140 million
Romance
Languages
French
France, Belgium,
EU…
65-80 million
Italian
Italy, Switzerland,
EU…
63 million
Comparing European Languages
Germanic
German:morgen
English: morning
Slavic
Russian: Первая половина дня
Romance
Italian: mattina
Spanish: mañana
French: matin
Historical Maps of Europe
1 AD
100 AD
200 AD
1200 AD
1000 AD
800 AD
1400 AD
1600 AD
1800 AD
400 AD
600 AD
2000 AD
History of the English Language
Timeline
• 200 + languages are spoken in Europe.
• They are grouped into 3 categories
1. Germanic
• has the most speakers
• Speakers live mostly in northwest & central Europe
2. Romance
• Includes French, Italian, & Spanish
• Speakers live mostly in south & west Europe
• Comes from the Romans, who spoke Latin
3. Slavic
• Example is Russian
• Speakers live in central & eastern Europe
• Uses Cyrillic alphabet
Cyrillic Alphabet
Problem
• It is hard to live, work,
and trade with people
who can’t talk to each
other.
Solutions
• Kids learn other
languages at school
• European Union has 23
official languages
• Special laws protect
languages spoken by
only a few people
Diversity in European languages
today
• Many countries have more than 1 official
language
• People have many ethnic backgrounds
• People immigrate to other countries for jobs
• Many people speak English as a 2nd language
Problems
• It is hard to communicate.
• In school, the official language is taught.
• Documents are written only in official
languages.
• Government workers speak the official
language.
Class work (NB p. 13)
• CRCT Test Prep pp. 127-131 Write
questions 326-337 and correct answers in
your notebook
• What have Europeans done to solve the
problem of so many languages?
• They require schoolchildren to learn 1 or 2
other languages.
• Which languages come from the ancient
Roman Empire?
• French, Italian, and Spanish
• Besides differences in words, what other
challenge do Europeans face in
communicating with each other?
• They use 2 different alphabets
Schoolchildren in Europe learn more than 1 language
The European Union records all its business in 23
languages
Laws have been written to protect languages spoken
only by a few people
• What do these statements show about
Europeans?
• Europeans respect the languages of other
cultures
bon jour-----buon giorno
• In what way are the French and Italian
languages alike?
• They are both Romance languages that
derived from Latin
• Which European language has the largest
number of native speakers?
• Russian
• Which describes a way that Russian is
different from the other languages?
• It is not an official language of the
European Union
• Which group is less likely to learn the
language of a new country?
• Older citizens
• What is a problem caused by many
languages spoken in the same country?
• It is difficult to read and understand official
forms.
• What did children of German immigrants
to Russia have to do in school?
• Learn the Russian language
• Which question can be answered using
the graph?
• What percentage of people in France have
Italian as their native language?
• What part of the people in France speaks
German as their native language?
• 3%