Say Cheese! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Germany

German is the most widely spoken language in the European Union, with almost 90 million people world-wide using it as their primary language. It is also the third most commonly taught language in English-speaking schools, behind French and Spanish.

The zwiebelkuchen is an onion pie from Swabia in south-central Germany. Once a year in Autumn, winemakers serve the traditional onion pie with new wines. Visitors trying the pie and 'green' wine for the first time should be cautious. The mix of onions and wines may have disastrous consequences!

Black Forest cake really needs no introduction. Layers of chocolate liqueur cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Add more cream over the cake, add maraschino cherries and shaved chocolate and watch it disappear.

Answer: Denmark

The Danish language is a West Germanic language that evolved into Old Norse by the 8th Century. It further split and evolved into Old West Norse and Old East Norse, the latter being the version spoken in Denmark.

The Little Mermaid is a character created by Danish legend Hans Christian Andersen. The statue, sculpted by Edvard Eriksen, is situated in the harbour in Churchill Park.

The Christiansborg Palace had been extensively remodelled following fires at the end of the 18th and 19th centuries. It is home to the Supreme Court and the Danish parliament.

Answer: Wales

The Welsh language in recent decades has seen a move to revive itself, and it is now taught in many schools, with a lot of children now being bilingual. In 2002 it gained official recognition from the European Union as a regional or minority language.

Answer: Netherlands

The Dutch language is the native tongue for the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname. The Cape Dutch (Dutch and Flemish)dialects of Southern Africa have evolved to become the Afrikaans language of today.

From March until May, the Keukenhof flower garden near Lisse is home to one of the most spectacular flower shows in the world. During the Dutch Spring, an area of 17500 hectares is covered in a carpet of flowers. More than half of these are the traditional tulip.

Answer: Finnish

Finnish is spoken as the primary language by over 90% of the population of Finland. The other languages of the country are Swedish and Sami. It is used as a minor language in Sweden and Estonia and is an official language of the European Union.

Answer: Poland

Polish is one of the West Slavic languages and is spoken by almost 97% of the inhabitants of that country as well as in the Polish diaspora. It is written using the Polish alphabet which has more letters than ours. It is most closely related to Russian and has similar grammatical rules.

Answer: Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language derived from the Dutch dialects of the 17th century. While it is spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia, it is also spoken to a lesser degree in Botswana and Zimbabwe.

The Kruger National Park is one of the world's largest game reserves. It is well known for its vast landscape, spectacular African wildlife and unique biodiversity. Not only can you see lions, elephants, leopards, Rhinoceros and buffalo in the wild but there is also an abundant bird life to watch.

Answer: Portuguese

Portuguese is the official language in nine different countries, including Portugal and Brazil. It is classified as a Romance language, and has been called sweet by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes and playwright Lope de Vega.

The giant statue of Jesus Christ, known as 'Christ the Redeemer' is situated atop Corcovado Mountain and is considered to be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Answer: Italy

While we throw our coins into the Trevi fountain in Rome we reflect on the fact that Italian is one of the Romance family of languages, spoken mainly in Europe. It is one of the four official languages of Switzerland. There are pronounced differences in regional dialects throughout Italy, as well as between north and south.

Answer: Japanese

Cherry blossom time is very important in Japan. Families make a virtual pilgrimage to see the trees in full blossom, taking picnics with them and having a blossom party. The weather bureau give out a daily blossom forecast.

Japanese is not widely spoken outside of Japan. There are immigrant communities in various countries that speak it, but it is not normally taught as a second language in schools around the world. This is possibly due to the fact that how you address someone in Japanese depends on their status, and is quite rigid and formal. A certain knowledge of how Japanese society functions is needed to master this.