is it true that most countries know only one?
2007-04-18 14:18:48 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Depends on whether you are talking about native languages in one country or multi-lingual citizens.
For the most number of native languages, it's probably Papua New Guinea.
For multi-lingual citizens, probably Europeans.
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2007-04-18 14:31:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think most people in countries other than the US know more than one language, but I'd be willing to guess that there are more people from other countries living in the US than in any other country, therefore the US has the largest number of languages (although not spoken by the majority of the people here)
2007-04-18 21:22:35 · answer #2 · answered by wondering 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always think it is Asian.
Look at Malaysia and Singapore. They have Malay, Indian and Chinese as well as Eurasian. Most of them can speak more than 2 languages.
For Indian, it will be BM (Malay), Tamil and English. So are the Chinese, which speak BM, Mandarin and English. But Chinese do speak various chinese dialect too. Commonly spoken one is Hokkian, Tiew Chiew and Cantonese in Malaysia.
Besides, those interested in Korean and Japanese drama will learn their languages as well. And some staying in North Malaysia will also speak thai.
So, I suppose it is Malaysia.
2007-04-18 21:26:58 · answer #3 · answered by Melvin C 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many European countries know at least two languages and I've met many people in Eruope that spoke 5 (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian).. I met one person in the USA that speaks 25 languages fluently (and read/write) but she is a translator by trade.
2007-04-18 21:24:29 · answer #4 · answered by ♥Tom♥ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, it's not the US, to this country's shame. And I don't know if most countries only know one, but I do know that a lot of other countries have bilingual (or more) citizens.
2007-04-18 21:25:29 · answer #5 · answered by warriorwoman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, most Americans know only one. In Tanzania there are 120 local languages. But answering your question, no one keeps statistics on that so no one can answer.
2007-04-18 21:23:44 · answer #6 · answered by Linda R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think Africa might have a quite a few. Each tribe and country has a different language, so the merchants learn them
2007-04-18 21:34:07 · answer #7 · answered by yahoo=fasicts 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NOT UK certainly, I'm sorry to say.
Maybe east countries taking into consideration that their languages have the same origin and are quite similar...
2007-04-22 13:32:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Malaysia speaks chinese, malay, indian, english and some more tribe languages. we live in a multi-racial country, which is awesome!
2007-04-18 21:27:44 · answer #9 · answered by miza 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no becuz in china or japan each district has a different language.like in plano theyd speak spanish in dallas theyd speak french etc. followin my vibe
2007-04-18 21:23:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋