Languages

German is one of Europe's 'big three' languages, alongside English and French. Spoken in Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland, German has linguistic similarities to English and the Scandinavian languages. However, an approach to word order, cases, articles and the general structure of sentences, make it unique among European languages.

Swedish is the sole official language in Sweden and is spoken by over nine million people. It is known as a North Germanic language, with its origins in Old Norse from the Viking era. There are 29 letters found in the Swedish alphabet. Several Swedish words have been adopted by English speakers, for example, orienteering.

French is the national language of France. It is one of the most commonly learned languages in the entire world. It is a Romantic tongue, which means that it has origins in Roman Latin. It currently has around 80 million speakers. It is a popular language because it is easy to learn.

Chinese is the national language of China. It is rightfully thought of, as one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world. There are over one billion speakers of Chinese. There are several varieties of the language. Standard Chinese is the most recognised of these. Those who learn it are able to understand other versions better.

Danish is known as a North Germanic language, spoken mainly in Denmark, but also in Danish colonies such as Greenland and The Faroe Islands. Danish is somewhat mutually intelligible with Swedish and Norwegian and to a lesser extent Icelandic and Faroese. When spoken, it is known for a reduction of final consonants and vowel-less syllables.