Official Languages II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mandarin Chinese

Although Mandarin Chinese is the official language of the Republic of China many local languages are spoken in the country. The local dialect, known as Minnan (Taiwanese), is related to the Minbei dialect of mainland China's Fujian province and is widely spoken across Taiwan. Taiwanese aboriginals speak their own indigenous tongues though many can now speak Mandarin. Since the island was once a Japanese colony many older Taiwanese can speak Japanese.

Answer: Khmer

If you chose French as your answer it was not a bad guess. Cambodia was under French colonial administration from the late 19th century until 1953. As a result many well-educated Cambodians speak French as their primary foreign language along with the country's official tongue Khmer.

Although Vietnam and Laos border Cambodia their respective languages are not widely spoken in the country.

Answer: Pashto and Dari

Pashto is the language of Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, who comprise over forty percent of the population. Dari, also known as Afghan Persian, is closely related to Tajik and Farsi. The Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in the country. Baluchi is spoken by the people of Baluchistan, which spans southwestern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Uzbek is spoken, understandably, by small numbers of ethnic Uzbeks who live along the border with Uzbekistan.

Answer: Burmese

Myanmar was formerly called Burma (which would have given the answer away!), but was renamed 'Myanmar' by its military government in 1989 because 'Burma' "made it sound like the country was still under colonial rule". The other choices are all languages of minority ethnic groups in Myanmar.

Answer: Kyrgyz and Russian

After their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kyrgyz authorities tried to reduce the Russian influence in the country. As a result Kyrgyz was the only official language. However, this also meant outmigration of ethnic Russians, who possessed most of the skills needed for economic development. Thus the legislature reinstated Russian as an official language with equal status to Kyrgyz in 2001.

Answer: English

Yes, you might not have expected that but Belize was a British colony until 1981. Spanish is the official language, as one might expect, of both of Belize's Latin-American neighbors Mexico and Guatemala. Nahuatl is a native language once spoken by the Mayans and Aztecs and now spoken by descendants of these peoples in southern Mexico. Garifuna is a collective name given to many indigenous tongues spoken by the native peoples of Belize.

Answer: They are all official

The nine official languages of South Africa are Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu. Many other non-official indigenous languages are spoken throughout the country, while South Asian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, and Gujarati are spoken by migrants from that area.

Answer: Cameroon

The two official languages of Cameroon are English and French, as after Germany's defeat in World War I both Britain and France occupied parts of what is today Cameroon. The other countries all have French as their only official language.

Answer: False

It is called Dzongkha. Although Dzongkha is spoken by a mere 16 percent of the Bhutanese population it has been granted official status.

Answer: Peru

In addition to Spanish, Quechua, the language of the mighty Inca civilization, has also been granted official status as 45 percent of the country's population is directly descended from the Incas. All of the other countries have Spanish as their sole official language.