General Awareness: World Languages Quiz

1. It is estimated that this country has more English speakers than the United States.    

a) UK
b) China
c) India
d) Japan

The correct answer is b) China

2. The Mazateco language is the native language of the Mazatec peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico. Besides by words, messages in this language can be conveyed by what other means?    

a) By tramping
b) By whistling
c) By singing
d) By clicking one's tongue

The correct answer is b) By whistling

3. The creator of the most widely used constructed international language, Esperanto, philologist L. L. Zamenhof, had what other profession?    

a) Psychologist
b) Cook
c) Librarian
d) Ophthalmologist

The correct answer is d) Ophthalmologist

4. Which of the following languages does not use a definite article?    

a) French
b) Russian
c) German
d) Modern Greek

The correct answer is b) Russian

5. In which country should you be careful with any objects labelled "gift" (when the word is used as a noun)?    

a) Germany
b) Finland
c) Norway
d) Sweden

The correct answer is a) Germany

6. Which of these words begins with one and the same sound in a great percentage of the languages in the world?    

a) Bread
b) Smile
c) Mother
d) Love

The correct answer is c) Mother

7. Which is the only South American country that uses English as its official language?

a) Suriname
b) Ecuador
c) Guyana
d) Brazil

The correct answer is c) Guyana

8. Most of the traditional Indo-European languages capitalise "I," the pronoun denoting the first person singular.    

a) False
b)True

The correct answer is a) False

9. Which is the common official language of Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland?    

a) French
b) English
c) Swedish
d) German

The correct answer is d) German

10. What is the country with the greatest number of official languages?    

a) USA
b) South Africa
c) China
d) India

The correct answer is d) India