Language Quiz: Alphabets, Scripts and Words Around the World

This language quiz explores how the world speaks and writes, from Portuguese in Brazil and Korea's Hangul alphabet to Switzerland's four languages, right-to-left Arabic, Esperanto, the hundreds of languages of Papua New Guinea, Danish hygge, Basque and Turkish script reform.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 90s

Americas
What is the official language of Brazil?
Scripts
Which language is written with the Hangul alphabet?
Europe
How many national languages does Switzerland have?
Scripts
Which of these languages is written from right to left?
Invented Languages
Who created Esperanto in 1887?
Records
Which country has the most living languages, around 840?
Words
The word hygge, meaning a cozy feeling of comfort, comes from which language?
Europe
The Basque language of Spain and France is related to which other language?
Scripts
Kanji characters, borrowed from Chinese, are used to write which language?
Turkey
In which year did Turkey switch from the Arabic-based script to a Latin-based alphabet?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What is the official language of Brazil?
Answer: Portuguese
Brazil is the largest Portuguese-speaking country, with more than 200 million speakers, far more than Portugal itself. The language arrived with Portuguese colonists in 1500.
Q2: Which language is written with the Hangul alphabet?
Answer: Korean
King Sejong the Great introduced Hangul in the 1440s so ordinary people could learn to read easily. South Korea celebrates Hangul Day every October 9.
Q3: How many national languages does Switzerland have?
Answer: 4
Switzerland's national languages are German, French, Italian and Romansh. Most Swiss people speak at least two languages.
Q4: Which of these languages is written from right to left?
Answer: Arabic
Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu are all written from right to left. Traditional Mongolian script is written from top to bottom.
Q5: Who created Esperanto in 1887?
Answer: L. L. Zamenhof
Ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof created Esperanto hoping a shared, easy language could improve understanding between peoples. Esperanto means one who hopes.
Q6: Which country has the most living languages, around 840?
Answer: Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea's mountains and islands kept communities apart for thousands of years, so hundreds of languages developed. Tok Pisin is widely used to communicate between groups.
Q7: The word hygge, meaning a cozy feeling of comfort, comes from which language?
Answer: Danish
Hygge became popular worldwide in the 2010s. Many languages have words that are hard to translate, like the Portuguese saudade, a longing for something missed.
Q8: The Basque language of Spain and France is related to which other language?
Answer: No known language
Basque, or Euskara, is a language isolate, unrelated to any other living language. It is believed to be older than the Indo-European languages around it.
Q9: Kanji characters, borrowed from Chinese, are used to write which language?
Answer: Japanese
Japanese uses three scripts together: kanji, which came from Chinese characters, and two syllable alphabets, hiragana and katakana.
Q10: In which year did Turkey switch from the Arabic-based script to a Latin-based alphabet?
Answer: 1928
The new Turkish alphabet was introduced in 1928, and literacy rates rose sharply in the following decades. It has 29 letters, including ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş and ü.

Language Quiz – How the World Speaks and Writes

There are around 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, and each one carries its own history, ideas and ways of seeing things. Some, like English, Mandarin and Spanish, have hundreds of millions of speakers, while others are spoken by only a few people in a single village. Learning about languages is a way of learning about the people who speak them.

Languages spread with trade, migration and empire. Portuguese reached Brazil with colonists, Arabic spread across North Africa and the Middle East and Latin grew into the Romance languages of Europe. Other languages, like Basque, have survived for thousands of years without any known relatives.

Writing systems are just as varied. Some use alphabets, like Latin, Greek and Korean Hangul. Others, like Chinese characters and Japanese kanji, represent words or ideas. Arabic and Hebrew are written from right to left, and some scripts, like Turkish, have been reformed to make reading easier for everyone.

Many languages are in danger. Experts estimate that a large share of the world's languages could disappear this century as younger people switch to bigger languages. Communities, linguists and apps are working to record and revive them.

This quiz covers languages, alphabets and words from around the world.

Language learning has never been easier. Apps, online classes and streaming shows with subtitles let people practice languages from anywhere, and many learners now pick up Korean, Japanese or Spanish through music, dramas and games. Studies suggest that speaking more than one language can also help keep the brain active later in life.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz suits language learners, travelers and anyone fascinated by words.

Which language is spoken in Brazil and why
How Korean Hangul and Japanese kanji work
How many languages Switzerland uses
Which languages are written from right to left
Why Papua New Guinea has so many languages
What makes Basque and Esperanto unusual

Quick Facts About Languages

The most common letter in English is e.
Hawaiian has one of the smallest alphabets, with 13 letters.
Sign languages are full languages, with their own grammar.
The United Nations has six official languages.
International Mother Language Day is celebrated on February 21.
The longest place name in Wales has 58 letters.