Language quizzes mainly from http://edl.ecml.at/

1. Language Quizzes for senior high school classes– European Day of Languages, 26th
September
http://edl.ecml.at/LanguageFun/LanguageQuiz/tabid/1873/language/el-GR/Default.aspx
26th
September 2013: we are celebrating the European Day of Languages!
(not just English or Greek)
http://learn101.org/english.php (17/9/2013)
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 1

2. INSTRUCTIONS TO GROUPS:
- Choose the European languages with which you want to familiarize
yourselves. Remember that the Greek language is also included!
- Write down what you intend to do (each one of you in the group).
- THEN write your names and groups and assigned tasks in the A4 paper
on the board in your classroom and ask for feedback from your
classmates. You can’t have the same ideas or tasks planned for that
particular day with another group!
- Write down exactly how you are going to do it (what will it be?, when
are you going to do it if you have classes all day?, who the audience is
going to be? Etc.)
- Let the teacher know if you need special equipment or materials for
that day or before that and discuss all arising issues in order to make
the task feasible.
- Consult the webpage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/edl/ and check
out free materials from the Council of Europe to get some ideas.
- Check the information given on your classroom’s noticeboard!
- Try to cooperate with your peers in the same group! Try to make a good
presentation of your work!
- Check out you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDlM3pVsny4 to
see what our school did last year! Check out http://edl.ecml.at/ for
information about the EDL!
- Remember: WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER! LET’S have a fab day!
Warm up questions:
• How much do I know about languages in the world? About
languages in Europe?
• What is L1? What is L2?
• What is my L1? What is my L2?
• What is a bilingual person?
• How many bilingual friends do I have?
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 2

3. Names: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Task 1: Please put the right languages under the right label in the following table
Croatian, Danish, French, Slovak, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Slovenian, Icelandic,
Czech, German, Dutch, English, Yiddish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian, Russian,
Macedonian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Serbian, Bulgarian
GERMANIC FAMILY
LNGS
ROMANCE LANGUAGES SLAVIC LANGUAGES
Task 2: Fill in the gaps in the following sentences:
Most European languages belong to the large ………………………………. Family.
Most European languages use the ……………. alphabet. Some Slavic languages use the
…………………. alphabet. Greek, Armenian, Georgian and Yiddish have …………………….. alphabet.
The non-European languages most widely used on European territory are …………….,
……………………….. and ……………………., each with its own writing system.
(A country)……………………….. (148 million inhabitants) has by far the highest number of
languages spoken on its territory: from 130 to 200 depending on the criteria.
Task 3: Discuss withing your groups: What are the benefits of bilingualism/plurilingualism?
BENEFITS: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
......................................................................................................................................................
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 3

4. Answer key:
Most European languages belong to three broad groups: Germanic, Romance and Slavic.
14 The Germanic family of languages includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic,
German, Dutch, English and Yiddish, among others.
15 The Romance languages include Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian,
among others.
16 The Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak,
Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and others.
17 Most European languages use the Latin alphabet. Some Slavic languages use the Cyrillic
alphabet. Greek, Armenian, Georgian and Yiddish have their own alphabet.
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 4

5. Language facts – EDL (European Day of Languages)
http://edl.ecml.at/LanguageFun/LanguageFacts/tabid/1859/language/en-
GB/Default.aspx (16/9/2013)
Did you know that...
01 There are between 6000 and 7000 languages in the world - spoken by 7 billion people
divided into 189 independent states.
02 There are about 225 indigenous languages in Europe - roughly 3% of the world’s total.
03 Most of the world’s languages are spoken in Asia and Africa.
04 At least half of the world’s population is bilingual or plurilingual, i.e. they speak two or
more languages.
05 In their daily lives Europeans increasingly come across foreign languages. There is a
need to generate a greater interest in languages among European citizens.
06 Many languages have 50,000 words or more, but individual speakers normally know and
use only a fraction of the total vocabulary: in everyday conversation people use the same
few hundred words.
07 Languages are constantly in contact with each other and affect each other in many
ways: English borrowed words and expressions from many other languages in the past,
European languages are now borrowing many words from English.
08 In its first year a baby utters a wide range of vocal sounds; at around one year the
first understandable words are uttered; at around three years complex sentences are
formed; at five years a child possesses several thousand words.
09 The mother tongue is usually the language one knows best and uses most. But there can
be “perfect bilinguals” who speak two languages equally well. Normally, however, bilinguals
display no perfect balance between their two languages.
10 Bilingualism brings with it many benefits: it makes the learning of additional languages
easier, enhances the thinking process and fosters contacts with other people and their
cultures.
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 5

6. 11 Bilingualism and plurilingualism entail economic advantages, too: jobs are more easily
available to those who speak several languages, and multilingual companies have a better
competitive edge than monolingual ones.
12 Languages are related to each other like the members of a family. Most European
languages belong to the large Indo-European family.
13 Most European languages belong to three broad groups: Germanic, Romance and Slavic.
14 The Germanic family of languages includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic,
German, Dutch, English and Yiddish, among others.
15 The Romance languages include Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian,
among others.
16 The Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak,
Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and others.
17 Most European languages use the Latin alphabet. Some Slavic languages use the Cyrillic
alphabet. Greek, Armenian, Georgian and Yiddish have their own alphabet.
18 Most countries in Europe have a number of regional or minority languages – some of
these have obtained official status.
19 The non-European languages most widely used on European territory are Arabic,
Chinese and Hindi, each with its own writing system.
20 Russia (148 million inhabitants) has by far the highest number of languages spoken on
its territory: from 130 to 200 depending on the criteria.
21 Due to the influx of migrants and refugees, Europe has become largely multilingual. In
London alone some 300 languages are spoken (Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Berber, Hindi,
Punjabi, etc.).
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 6

7. LANGUAGE QUIZ – COUNTRIES AND LANGUAGE
1. Question: In which of the following countries is German an official language?
2. Question: Which are the two varieties of standard modern Norwegian?
Nynorsk
Norse
Faroese
Bokmål
3. Question: The official language of Azerbaijan is called?
Azerbaijanian
Azerbaigianic
Azerban
Azeri
4. Question: Where is Aleut spoken?
Alaska
Siberia
Norway
Greenland
5. Question: In which country is the language Cymraeg spoken?
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Faroe Islands
6. Question: What is the Albanian language called in Albanian?
Albanski
Albani
Shqip
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com
Liechtenstein
Switzerland
Austria
Belgium
Luxembourg
7

8. Answer key:
1. German is the official language (or one of the official languages) of all of them.
2. Nynorsk and Bokmål are the two varieties of standard modern Norwegian.
3. The official language of Azerbaijan is called Azeri.
4. Aleut is spoken in parts of Alaska and Siberia. It is now spoken by only 500 or fewer
people. In the 19th century, when Alaska was still Russian territory and Aleut speakers
were much more numerous, some were literate. Aleut was written in the Cyrillic alphabet
with extra characters. This tradition is dead, and the language itself dying.
5. Cymraeg is the name of the Gaelic language spoken in Wales.
6. The Albanian language is called 'Shqip' and the country 'Shqipëria' in Albanian. The
name Albania is derived from the Latin Albani – the name of a tribe that lived in that area.
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 8

9. ETYMOLOGY – LANGUAGE QUIZ
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 9

10. Answer key:
1. All of them share the same etymological origin, from an old
German word meaning ‘yard’.
2. The adjective Lusitanian refers to Portugal. Strictly speaking,
it refers to Lusitania, an ancient region of the Iberian
Peninsula; a Roman province from 27 BC to the late 4th century
AD
3. Vodka is made up of the Russian
word 'voda' meaning 'water' and the diminutive suffix –ka: 'little
water.' Needless to say, its composition is far from that!
4. The word Eskimo means 'stranger'. Eskimo is a loanword from
an Athabaskan language of North America.
5. The word tulip comes from the Turkish word 'tülbend', which
means 'turban'. Tulips were exported to West Europe around
1560.
6. The region around the Italian town Abella (close to Naples) was known
for its delicious apples, which led to the designation of the fruit name
apple. Now many European languages have a name for apples which are
linked to the town name of Abella, cf. German Apfel, Icelandic epli,
Swedish äple, Irish ubull, Dutch appel, Breton aval, Latvian ābols, Czech
jablko and many more.
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 10

11. Language quiz- Miscellaneous Questions:
Who was the founder of Esperanto?
Ferdinand de Saussure
J. R. R. Tolkien
Naom Chomsky
Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof
Question: Which is considered the oldest book?
The Koran
Adam Bede's Historia
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Chanson de Roland
Question: The name Edda stands for:
a collection of Illyrian poetry?
a collection of Old Norse literature?
a collection of Old French literature?
a collection of Shakespearean poetry?
Question: What is a reverse dictionary?
A dictionary which starts with the letter 'z' and ends with the letter 'a'
A dictionary listing words alphabetically from their last letter
A dictionary which provides etymological information
A dictionary which provides phonological information
Answer key:
• The artificial language (AL) Esperanto was founded by the Polish oculist Ludwig
Lazarus Zamenhof. It was first published in Russian in 1887 under the title Mezhdunarodny
yazyk (‘An International Language’) using the pseudonym ‘Doktoro Esperanto’ (‘Doctor
Hopeful’).
• The Epic of Gilgamesh is believed to be the first ever written book. It is known to have
been written down in Sumerian soon after 2000 BC.
• Edda is the name of two separate collections of Old Norse literature. The Elder Edda,
dating from the 9th century, consists of heroic and mythological poems; the Younger or
Prose Edda was written (mainly in prose) in the earely 13th century by the Icelandic poet
Snorri Sturluson.
• A reverse dictionary lists words alphabetically from their last letter, e.g. mankind would be
listed under letter 'd' and not, as in a 'normal' dictionary, under letter 'm'. Reverse
dictionaries help linguists analysing word endings and word-formation processes.
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 11

12. Scripts and writing quiz – EDL – …. Λύκειο …………. – English class
http://edl.ecml.at/LanguageFun/LanguageQuiz/tabid/1873/AreaID/2/language/el-
GR/Default.aspx (16/9/2013)
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 12

13. Answer key:
1. Cuneiform was used for over 3000 years throughout the Near
East by such cultures as the Sumerians, Babylonians,
Assyrians, and Hittites.
2. Alphabet is derived from the first two letters of the Greek
Alphabet, which are Alpha and Beta.
3. Russian and Bulgarian are written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
4. The Latin alphabet was borrowed from the Etruscan language.
5. The Rosetta Stone, dating from 196 BC, contains texts in
hieroglyphs and in Greek in honour of King Ptolomeus V
Epiphanus. Its discovery by soldiers of Napoleon’s Egyptian
expedition provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphs in the
19th century.
Warm-up activities:
• How much do you know about sign language?
• Have you ever talked with someone who uses or knows that language?
• Have you ever attempted to learn it yourself?
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 13

14. Sign Language – EDL
Question: Choose the correct answer:
Everyone knows sign language but deaf people are very fast in using it
To communicate with each other deaf people use a form of mime
Learning and becoming fluent in a sign language requires a similar amount of time as for any foreign language
When using a sign language, each word is spelt according to a manual alphabet called fingerspelling
Question: How many deaf children have at least one deaf parent who can pass on his/her language and function as
a linguistic model?
around 10%
around 50%
around 90%
around 100%
Question: Where do sign languages come from?
They have been copied from the great apes living in Africa
They were invented by the French Abbé de l'Epée between 1760 and 1789
They have been created in the language laboratory from the Gallaudet University (USA)
They emerged naturally where deaf people were gathered together and are present also in some indigenous
populations
Question: Sign language is universal - true or false?
True
False
Question: American and British deaf people use the same sign language. - true or false?
True
False
Question: Sign languages constitute language families as oral languages do. - true or false?
True
False
Question: Two deaf persons who have no common language communicate more easily than hearing people in the
same situation. - true or false?
True
False
Question: In some schools deaf pupils are taught to transcribe their sign language with a writing form invented by
a dancer. - true or false?
True
False
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 14

15. Answer key:
• Sign languages are as complex as oral languages and follow strict rules one needs to
learn and practice. Deaf people use mime only when they must address a hearing
person who doesn't know their language, but it is a very limited means of expression.
Deaf people use manual alphabets only for proper names or concepts where they
don't know the sign – spelling each word would be far too time-consuming and
tedious!
• In Europe about one child in 1000 is born deaf, in 90% of cases the parents are
hearing. That is why for these families, unlike for other languages, there is no
natural language transmission between generations.
• The Abbé de l'Epée is the first person who recognized the importance of using a
sign language for the instruction of deaf children and is credited to have brought
together the deaf community in an institution that later became Institut Saint
Jacques (which still exists in Paris). The Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. is
the only sign language university in the world. Among other topics, research is
carried out on sign languages. Some researchers who study language ability in
animals try to teach primates a sign language (and not the other way round!) because
their vocal apparatus doesn't enable them to produce speech. Yet concerning the
evolution of human species it is not certain exactly when articulated language
emerged and some researchers think it is probable that the ancestors of Homo
sapiens first communicated by signs.
• False: Estimations say there may be as many signed languages as there are spoken
languages in the world.
• False: Sign languages are independent from oral languages, so there is no reason why
American and British deaf people should use the same language. This is also the case
for other countries using the same oral language such as in Québéc, Canada, and in
France, and Austrian and Germany.
• True: And these families don't coincide since the history of language evolution is
different for oral and signed languages. Thus for example American Sign Language
is closely related to Ancient French Sign Language, because it was a deaf
Frenchman, Laurent Clerc, who contributed to founding the first American school
for the deaf in the early 19th century.
• True: The structures of sign languages are closer to each other than those of oral
languages. In such situations, deaf people favour iconic structures that allow to
overcome lexical divergences.
• True:Due to a disease Valerie Sutton could no longer work as a dancer. So she
decided to write down the steps that she couldn't execute anymore and invented a
system that was later taken up and adapted for sign languages.
• Look at the following tongue twisters and find your own tongue twisters to
celebrate the European Day of Languages!
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 15

16. Tongue twisters
From ‘Around the rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran’ to ‘red leather, yellow leather’ one aspect of mastering
a language is being able to master its tongue twisters. They are always decidedly odd sentences:
• combien de sous sont ces saucissons-ci? Ces saucissons-ci sont six sous (French) “How much are
these sausages here? These sausages here are six cents.”)
• Zwei schwarze schleimige Schlangen sitzen zwischen zwei spitzigen Steinen und zischen (German)
(“Two black slimy snakes sit between two pointed stones and hiss”)
Other favourites in the European arena include:
• Měla babka v kapse brabce, brabec babce v kapse píp. Zmáčkla babka brabce v kapse, brabec
babce v kapse chcíp (Czech) Grandma had a sparrow in her pocket and the sparrow made a sound.
Grandma pressed the sparrow and it died
• Als vliegen achter vliegen vliegen, vliegen vliegen vliegensvlug (Dutch) If flies fly behind flies, flies
will fly like lightning
• Król Karol kupił Królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego (Polish) King Karl bought Queen
Caroline coral-colored bead
• Far, Får får får? Nej, inte får får får, får får lamm (Swedish) Father, do sheep have sheep?
No, sheep don't have sheep, sheep have lambs?
As for the English language, we are provided with the following:
• How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would
chuck all the wood that he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood
• Sister Sue sells sea shells. She sells sea shells on shore. The shells she sells. Are sea shells
she sees. Sure she sees shells she sells
• You've known me to light a night light on a light night like tonight. There's no need to light a
night light on a light night like tonight, for a night light's a slight light on tonight's light night
Some short words or phrases ‘become’ tongue-twisters when repeated, a number of times fast (try it):
• Thin Thing
• French Friend
• Red Leather, Yellow Leather
• Unique New York
• Sometimes Sunshine
• Irish Wristwatch
• Big Whip
• Look at the following unique words and try to come up with your own unique words in
your own language:
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 16

17. Unique words:
In most languages you will find words that are unique to that language and/or culture.
Czech
• prozvonit to call someone's mobile from your own without the other person picking up with the intention of
leaving your number in their phone's memory
Norwegian
• kram snø snow which is sticky (excellent for making snow-balls and snowmen)
• fiskevaer good weather for fishing
• sjøstygg being so ugly that the tide won’t come in, if you’re on the shore (literally, sea ugly)
• giftekniv a person trying to get two people married
Greek
• kamáki the young local guys strolling up and down beaches hunting for female tourists (literally, harpoons)
• meraki doing something with soul, creativity, or love: putting something of yourself into what you're doing
Swedish
• lappsjuka a melancholy through being so isolated
Finnish
• hiukaista to feel hungry for something salty
• poronkusema the distance equal to how far a reindeer can travel without a comfort break (about 5 kilometres)
(literally, reindeer’s piss)
• kuunsilta the long reflection of the moon when it is low in the sky and shining on the calm surface of a lake
(literally, moon bridge)
Hungarian
• csókolgat to shower with kisses
• verbunkos a dance performed to persuade people to enlist in the army
Icelandic
• eldhus-fifi (Old Icelandic) an idiot who sits all day by the fire
• af-vegar (Old Icelandic) fallen on the back and unable to rise
• féauðnu-maðr (Old Icelandic) a man lucky with his sheep
Albanian
• hundekuq a bulbous nose, red at the tip
• kacadre a moustache with turned-up ends
• vetullhen an eyebrow arched like the crescent moon
• pagezuar the state of dying before enjoying the happiness that comes with being married or seeing one’s
children married
Spanish
• chupotero a person who works little but has several salaries
• piropo a compliment paid on the street (which ranges from polite to raunchy)
Russian
• zastrich to cut one’s nails too short
• deryabnut’ to drink quickly in order to warm up
• dakat’ to keep saying yes
• teplushka heated goods van used for carrying people
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 17

18. • zakurit’sya to make oneself ill by excessive smoking
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 18

19. Italian
• mammismo maternal control and interference that continues into adulthood
• abiocco deriva dal verbo abioccare, abiocarsi, nella maggioranza dei casi definisce lo stato di sonnolenza, di
affaticamento.
German
• Zechpreller someone who leaves without paying the bill
• Ohrwurm a catchy tune that gets stuck in the brain or a tune that rapidly obsesses an entire population
(literally, an ear worm)
• Torschlusspanik the fear of diminishing opportunities as one gets older, especially the fear of not having a
relationship or becoming too old for a baby.
French
• yaourt English pop music sung without any understanding of the meaning; singing to create something that
sounds like English pop music but actually isn’t (literally, yoghurt)
• metro-boulot-dodo the daily grind (literally, ‘tube-work-sleep’)
Lithuanian
• žlugtas laundry which is watered before washing
• brėkšti a verb which is used to describe a moment between the night and the dawn
• rymoti to lean on something (arms, fence, etc.) for some time
• brukti to suggest something in a very annoying and irksome way
• davatka a person who is too pious and likes to gossip
More (online) language quizzes:
http://ec.europa.eu/languages/quiz/quiz_en.htm
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/
About sign language:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cayMkVidpc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KUy6463xKQ
http://www.hsclassroom.net/teaching-american-sign-language-5-fun-activities/
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 19

20. Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 20

21. Have a wonderful EDL!
Vasiliki Papaioannou, EFL teacher, 10o Lykeio Larissas, elryab@gmail.com 21