languages in europe
1 This does not refer to the total population of the countries.2 40% of those who speak French are native speakers, for a total of 85%.3 Includes about 30% native speakers4 Includes more than 30% native speakers. ", https://www.politico.eu/article/we-will-all-be-speaking-german-soon-language-brussels/?utm_campaign=Brussel%20Inside&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter, "Appendix 5: Written Evidence of Advocate General Sharpston", Consolidated version of the Treaty establishing the European Community, Articles 149 to 150, European Parliament Fact Sheets: 4.16.3. In total, 22 million Europeans speak Dutch as their mother tongue, meaning that around 5% of the European population is a Dutch native speaker. Von Albanisch bis Zulu. Languages from former Yugoslavia (Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Albanian, etc.) It’s the de facto (but not “official”) language of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, but the large number of English-speaking expats residing in Europe also adds to this number. [72] Of these, English and French are used the most often. It encompasses 46 sovereign nations, 740 million inhabitants and one of the most important political institutions in the world: the European Union. Respect for linguistic diversity is a fundamental value of the European Union, in the same way as respect for the person, openness towards other cultures, and tolerance and acceptance of other people. Which are the most important? Armenian speakers are found in the Paris area and the Rhone corridor linking Valence and Marseilles. L. (2016), MATHILDE COHEN, Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, accession of Bulgaria to the European Union, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, European Parliament § Translation and interpretation, European Court of Justice § Procedure and working languages, European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages, European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, European Commissioner for Education and Culture, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism, European Commissioner for Multilingualism, Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, "European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Frequently asked questions on languages in Europe", "Publications Office — Interinstitutional style guide — 7.2.4. [23] As a Treaty Language, Irish was an official procedural language of the European Court of Justice. Van der Jeught, Stefaan (2015). German is rarely used as a true working language in the commission, and German media have called the dominance of English and French a discrimination against German (which is the most spoken mother tongue of the EU) and a violation of the regulations pertaining to the EU's working languages. [52] The Court of Auditors uses Curia Rationum in its logo. [17] According to the EU's English-language website,[18] the cost of maintaining the institutions’ policy of multilingualism—i.e., the cost of translation and interpretation—was €1,123 million in 2005, which is 1% of the annual general budget of the EU, or €2.28 per person per year. The European Union itself has a Latin motto: "In varietate concordia". Sharing with attribution helps me create more maps. [62] Following estimates there are approximately 100,000 Europeans sometimes using Esperanto (and several millions having learned Esperanto); the language has several thousand native speakers, some of them of the second or third generation. Latin is one of the languages of IATE (the inter-institutional terminology database of the European Union). It is the official language of France (of course), as well as a co-official language of Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. It also has co-official status in Cypress and is widely spoken around the Mediterranean, particularly in Macedonia, Greece and Serbia. The working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union is French. The working language of the European Central Bank is English. Germanic languages are spoken in central and northern Europe and include Danish, Dutch, English, German, and Swedish. However, the EU Parliament has stated clearly that language education is the responsibility of member states. The most widely understood language in the EU is English, which is understood by 44% of all adults, while German is the most widely used mother tongue, spoken by 18%. Ça fait longtemps (Long time no see) 2. 22) and in the Treaty on European Union (art. Other widely used migrant languages include Berber languages which are spoken by about 1% of the population of both the Netherlands and Belgium and by many Berber migrants in France, Spain, Italy and Germany. The cost of translation, interpretation, publication, and legal services involved in making Irish an official EU language is estimated at just under €3.5 million a year. That said, French’s global reach is even more impressive than its usefulness in Europe, as almost 30 countries claim French as an official language or an administrative language! In negotiations with Croatia, however, it was agreed that Croatian would become a separate official EU language.[32]. That, along with the fact that 45 million Europeans claim Spanish as their mother tongue, is reason enough to start learning this language. 3(3) TEU). The post was held by Leonard Orban. Europe is home to hundreds of languages, including some of the most widely spoken languages in the world. [61], Esperanto is not mentioned by the EU Commission as an EU language; the Commission mentions only official, indigenous regional and minority languages as well as languages of immigrants. Some of them may have some official status within the member state and count many more speakers than some of the lesser-used official languages. These include Luxembourgish, an official language of Luxembourg since 1984, and Turkish, an official language of Cyprus. Only a few of the Commissioners use a language other than English or French as their working language. 2,000 speakers), Skolt Sami (400) and Inari Sami (300) have limited local recognition in certain municipalities of Finnish Lapland. Italian ranks as the fourth most commonly spoken language in Europe and has more than 65 million speakers across the continent. To redeem this offer simply quote promo code 60041. The language of philosophers and thinkers, German comes in second for the largest native-speaking population in Europe. After Russian and German, the next most spoken language in Europe is French, with about 80 million native speakers. Moreover, Romani mass media and educational institution presences are near-negligible. But what do people speak in Europe? English may not have the most native speakers in Europe, but given its global importance, it’s the most widely spoken. [citation needed], Many immigrant communities in the EU have been in place for several generations now, and their members are bilingual, at ease both in the local language and in that of their community. Russian is the native language of about 1.6 million Baltic Russians residing in Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, as well as a sizeable community of about 3.5 million in Germany and as a major immigrant language elsewhere in the EU, e.g. [3][4] The three procedural languages are those used in the day-to-day workings of the institutions of the EU. Her studies of German and American literature and philosophy took her to Mainz, New York and Berlin. As a Babbel subscriber you’ll enjoy a 10% discount on any Intrepid trip departing before December 31, 2018. Ukraine is actually the largest country by area in Europe (when one excludes France’s overseas territories and the asian continental portion of Russia). English is the fourth most widely spoken language in Europe with approximately 70 million native English speakers – the number of English-speaking expats residing in Europe significantly adds to this figure. French is an official language in all three of the cities that are political centres of the Union: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France) and Luxembourg City (Luxembourg). English. It is serving as honourable and ceremonial language in some of the oldest European universities in the 21th century, and has operated as the official language of the Roman Catholic Church until today. (By the way, did you know that Spanish is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn?). To encourage the member states to cooperate and to disseminate best practice the Commission issued a Communication on 24 July 2003, on Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity: an Action Plan 2004–2006 and a Communication on 22 November 2005, on A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism. Thanks to our friends at Intrepid, you can now experience Europe for less! [5] Though the EU has very limited influence in this area, as the content of educational systems is the responsibility of individual member states, a number of EU funding programmes actively promote language learning and linguistic diversity.[6]. So what are the top 10 languages of the world? We’ll break down the 10 most widely spoken languages in Europe, so you can decide which one is the most practical for your travels. Sharing with attribution helps me create more maps. Parlez-vous Français? Citizens belonging to minorities, which traditionally and on long-term basis live within the territory of the Czech Republic, enjoy the right to use their language in communication with authorities and in front of the courts of law (for the list of recognized minorities see. The European Commission has also supported some initiatives to produce digital technologies that can better support signers, such as Dicta-Sign and SignSpeak.[55]. Regional & minority languages. The study concludes that there are unmet needs in this field, and proposes two options: creating an agency or setting up a European network of "Language Diversity Centres." star Easy apply. Palgrave. was originally drawn up or was translated due to enlargement, are legally equally authentic. English was considered the number one language to learn in all countries where the research was conducted except for Ireland and Luxembourg. [46], Luxembourgish (Luxembourg) and Turkish (Cyprus) are the only two national languages that are not official languages of the EU. French is most commonly studied and used in southern Europe, especially in Mediterranean countries, in Germany, Portugal, Romania, and Ireland. This is nine points higher than reported in 2001 among the 15 member states at the time. Why not add it to your list for your trip to Germany? The EU has 24 official languages, of which three (English, French and German) have the higher status of "procedural" languages[1] of the European Commission (whereas the European Parliament accepts all official languages as working languages). While documents for and communication with citizens are in every official EU language as a right, day-to-day work in the European Commission is based around its three working languages: English, French, and German. Although not an EU treaty, most EU member states have ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.[82]. [25] This followed a unanimous decision on 13 June 2005 by EU foreign ministers that Irish would be made the 21st official language of the EU. 2003. [60] 30 years ago, in 1990 there were only 2083 Esperanto speakers in Hungary following the census. Versions of this are increasingly being developed in member States and were at the heart of the European Year of Languages (2001). Regulations and other documents of general application are drafted in the twenty-four official languages. Irish was also listed in that treaty and all subsequent EU treaties as one of the authentic languages of the treaties. After Russian and German, the next most spoken language in Europe is French, with about 80 million native speakers. A genome-wide analysis of 69 ancient Europeans reveals the history of population migrations around the time that Indo-European languages arose in Europe, when there was a … We dive into five reasons why everyone should try it at least once in their life. Russia is a huge country. Levantine Arabic is spoken by migrants in Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Greece. Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremin stated that in 2021 Ukraine is negotiating with the European Association of Language Institutions. Surprisingly, there are over 150 different languages spoken in this small continent. Here we break down the 13 most useful phrases for traveling around Europe, and translate them into the six most common European languages. These languages belong to their own language … The national language of Ukraine is spoken by 45 million native speakers, with the majority residing in Europe. Italian is the official language of Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and Croatia. In addition, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Hungarian, Italian, Slovak, and Slovene are official languages in multiple EU countries at the regional level. All languages, in which[word missing?] For example, the European Court of Justice has its website at "curia.europa.eu". Important families include the British, French, and German sign language families. Europa:Languages and Europe. For internal purposes the EU institutions are allowed by law to choose their own language arrangements. Why are more and more people travelling alone and how can you benefit from the experience? The Official Journal of the European Union is published in the twenty-four official languages. [31], Due to similarities between Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin, there were some unofficial proposals to accept only one hybrid language as an official EU language as opposed to four separate ones (as in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) in order to reduce translation costs. As for second language speakers, about a third of older Europeans can speak English, while nearly half of 15- to 35-year-olds have a mastery of the language. Do you like the map? Work from Home > Work From Home. From 2007 until 2010, the European Commission had a special portfolio on languages, European Commissioner for Multilingualism. With the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007, Cyrillic became the third official script of the European Union, following the Latin and Greek scripts. When Ireland joined the EEC (now the EU) in 1973, Irish was accorded "Treaty Language" status. Under the European Company Regulation, companies can be incorporated as Societas Europaea (Latin for "European Company", often shortened to "SE" after the company's own proper name). Plus, if you have knowledge of Ukrainian, you’ll also end up understanding a lot of Russian! Only a small part is in Europe, but still, it is one of the Indo-European languages,... German. French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Rules governing the languages in the institutions", "COM(2003)449: Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity: an Action Plan 2004–2006", "EUROPA – Education and Training – Action Plan Promoting language learning and linguistic diversity", European parliament has 24 official languages, but MEPs prefer English, English will remain the working language of the EU after Brexit, English will not be an official EU language after Brexit, says senior MEP, Britain is leaving the EU, but its language will stay, "EUR-Lex - 01958R0001-20130701 - EN - EUR-Lex", "Languages of Europe – Official EU languages", "Federal law on the legal status of Austrian minorities", "National minorities andminority languages". This is exactly what the following map (based on data by Eurostat) shows: Do you like the map? It is the official language of France (of course), as well as a co-official language of Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Yet when it comes to deciding which language to learn for your vacation, all of these choices make for a difficult decision. They are based on the conclusions of the Grin Report,[64] which concluded that it would hypothetically allow savings to the EU of €25 billion a year (€54 for every citizen) and have other benefits. At the same time, the balance is being changed in the opposite direction by growth of the French-speaking population and decrease of the German-speaking population. Youth exchanges, town twinning projects, and the European Voluntary Service also promote multilingualism. If you’re going to Europe and plan on visiting multiple countries, how do you decide what phrases to learn? Spanish’s prestige grows even more when leaving Europe: 20 countries have Spanish declared as an official language and over 480 million individuals are Spanish native speakers throughout the globe, making it the second most widely-spoken language in the world. Old and recent Chinese migrants speak a number of Chinese varieties, in particular Cantonese and other southern Chinese varieties. As of 1 July 2013 , the official languages of the European Union, as stipulated in the latest amendment of Regulation No 1 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community of 1958, are: Some countries have Chinatowns. trip departing before December 31, 2018. Coming in at number 5, Turkish is the official language of Turkey and has about 70 million native speakers. Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, and Swedish are all official languages at the national level in multiple countries (see table above). Ready to discover the magic of Europe for yourself? The EU is home to over 60 indigenous regional or minority languages, spoken by some 40 million people. For those looking for a special vacation, experiencing Istanbul — the city half in Europe and half in Asia — cannot be beat! Répondre à ces difficultés tout en faisant évoluer ce cursus, l’un des plus attractifs de la filière LEA, pour lui donner plus de visibilité encore et augmenter ainsi les chances de nos étudiants sur le marché du travail européen et mondial a … English, either as a native language or as a second/foreign language, is spoken by 44% of EU citizens, followed by German with 36% and French with 29%. [74] The language situation also disappoints many in France,[75] and Kristalina Georgieva, who is from Bulgaria, gained a round of applause when she told Parliament she would learn French while in the commission.