Multilingual Countries Trivia Quiz

Answer: German, French, Italian

Switzerland is located in the middle of France, Italy, Germany, and Austria. The country itself is made of 26 cantons that were, at some point in history, independent. As a result, the populations of the different regions have differing cultural practices and speak languages that have been influenced by their neighbouring nations.

Some cantons have one official language (German is the only official language in 17 of the Swiss cantons) and some cantons have a combination. French, German, Italian, and Romansh are official languages in at least one canton. Romansh is only an official language in the canton of Graubunden, where Italian and German are also official.

Answer: Eleven

Throughout history, a number of cultures have inhabited the area that is now South Africa. The indigenous languages include Swazi and Zulu, with other languages, like Xhosa, spoken locally. Afrikaans was developed by French, Dutch, and German settlers who began to arrive in the 17th century.

In 1795, the Dutch Cape Colony was seized by the British, which was when English (another official language) was introduced to the area.

Answer: Spanish

Spanish is the predominant language used in Peru as a result of Spanish colonialism beginning in the 16th century. In areas where they are spoken by a large proportion of the population, some indigenous languages also have official status. Quechua and Aymara predate the Spanish conquest, and are still used by some people.

Answer: English

Much of Ireland's population has Gaelic roots, but the Irish language was ostracised while the country was part of the British Empire (and for some time afterwards). In 2003, the "Official Languages Act" attempted to bring Irish onto equal footing with English. One of the main aims of the act was to ensure that as many citizens as possible were bilingual in both Irish and English.

As part of the act, government documents would be published in both official languages.

Answer: Mexico

Djibouti is a small African nation with three official languages: Somali (spoken mostly at home), Arabic, and French (used mostly for official documents and signs). Belgium has three official languages (French, Dutch, and German), though other European languages are also spoken there. In some Canadian regions, English is spoken as a first language. In others, French is predominantly learned at home. As a result, Canada has two official languages. The 1985 "Official Languages Act" aims to ensure that no matter which language citizens learned first, they will have equal opportunities in federal workplaces.

Apart from a short period in the 19th century, France hasn't had much to do with Mexico and the languages spoken there.

Answer: Singapore

In Singapore, English is the language of education and business. It is taught in schools alongside pupils' first language. Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil are taught to maintain cultural heritage, so almost all of Singapore's population is bilingual or multilingual.

Malay was the indigenous language of the island before it came under British rule. Mandarin is spoken by Chinese settlers in Singapore and their descendants, and Tamil is used by citizens with southern Indian heritage.

Answer: New Zealand Sign Language became an official language.

New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) became an official language in New Zealand in 2006. At the time, it was one of very few sign languages across the world that was recognised in law.

Maori (the indigenous language of New Zealand) became official in 1987. Although English was spoken by the majority of the population and was the language of schools and government, it didn't have official status in law. It wasn't until 2018 that the "English an Official Language of New Zealand Bill" was proposed to give English the same legal standing as Maori and NZSL.

Answer: Kinyarwanda, French, and English

Kinyarwanda was the pre-colonial native language of most people who lived within the borders of what became Rwanda. For many who don't speak Kinyarwanda as a first language, Swahili is their mother tongue. French was the colonial language of Belgian rule after German East Africa was divided up following World War I. English also became an official language in the 20th century. Controversially, in 2008, it replaced French as the language of instruction in Rwandan schools.

Answer: It has two written forms.

Norwegian is an official spoken language in Norway, but there are two written forms of the language: Bokmal and Nynorsk. Bokmal developed from Danish and is a remnant of a time when the two countries were united. At the start of the 21st century, it was the language most commonly taught in schools. Nynorsk developed from spoken dialects and is more prominent in rural areas. Some municipalities have Sami as an official language, too.

Unfortunately there are quite a few languages that have fewer than 50 native speakers as colonial languages became predominant, or populations moved apart. Luckily, Norwegian isn't one of them.

Answer: Tok Pisin

Papua New Guinea declared three languages official when it became independent in 1975. Tok Pisin is a creole language with influences from English, German, and indigenous languages. Hiri Motu, a lingua franca historically used for trade in the area, was also made official. The English language arrived in the 19th century and was made an official language upon independence, despite only a small minority of the population being fluent in it at the time.

The Abaza and Zazaki languages originated in the area around Turkey, and Punjabi comes from the Indian subcontinent.