Welcome reading: Languages

1Study the highlighted words and check the meanings in a dictionary. Then do the languages quiz. 

What do you know about languages?

  • 1How many languages are there in the world?

  • 2What place has got about 2,200 different languages?

  • 3A quarter of the world's population live in Europe. How many languages are there in Europe?

  • 4How many characters has the Russian alphabet got?

  • 5What language has got the most speakers?

  • 6Mandarin Chinese writing uses over 50,000 characters. How many characters do Mandarin speakers use every day?

  • 7What country has got the most native English speakers?

  • 8How old is the modern English language?

  • 9Esperanto is an artificial language. What number of speakers has it got?


Try again
2Find the words in the box in the quiz and answer the questions. Use a dictionary to help you. 
  • around
  • over
  • under

  • 1What two words mean approximately?

    • about
      • , around

  • 2Complete the definitions.

    a Over 50 is the same as >50.

    b Under 50 is the same as <50.


What do you know about languages?

  • 1How many languages are there in the world?

    a about 1,500,000

    b about 7,000

    c about 3,500

  • 2What place has got about 2,200 different languages?

    a Asia

    b Africa

    c South America

  • 3A quarter of the world's population live in Europe. How many languages are there in Europe?

    a about 150

    b about 370

    c about 230

  • 4How many characters has the Russian alphabet got?

    a 42

    b 26

    c 33

  • 5What language has got the most speakers?

    a Mandarin Chinese

    b English

    c Spanish

  • 6Mandarin Chinese writing uses over 50,000 characters. How many characters do Mandarin speakers use every day?

  • a 2,000–3,000

    b 9,000–10,000

    c 6,000–7,000

  • 7What country has got the most native English speakers?

    a the United Kingdom

    b the USA

    c Australia

  • 8How old is the modern English language?

    a over 10,000 years old

    b over 8,000 years old

    c under 7,000 years old

  • 9Esperanto is an artificial language. What number of speakers has it got?

    a approximately 2,000,000

    b approximately 9,000

    c approximately 1,000,000


Try again
3Read the factfile. Then choose the correct words to complete the sentences. 

English language factfile

Speakers of English as a native / first language:

around 375 million

Speakers of English as a foreign language:

around 750 million

People who use English on the internet:

around 72 million

Number of people who study English every year:

1 billion+

  • 1Over 350 million people speak English as their native language.

  • 2Approximately 750 million people speak English as a foreign language.

  • 3About 72 million people use English on the internet.

  • 4Over 1 million people study English every year.


Try again