Indonesia, the land of many languages

The Republic of Indonesia is one of the largest countries on Earth. About 240 million people live in the insular state. These people belong to many different ethnic groups. It is estimated that there are almost 500 ethnic groups in Indonesia. These groups have many different cultural traditions. And they also speak many different languages! About 250 languages are spoken in Indonesia. There are many dialects on top of that. Indonesia's languages are typically classified under the ethnic groups. For example, there is the Javanese or Balinese language. This multitude of languages naturally leads to problems. They hinder an efficient economy and administration. Therefore, a national language was implemented in Indonesia. Since their independence in 1945, Bahasa Indonesia is the official language. It is taught alongside the native language in all schools. Despite this, not all inhabitants of Indonesia speak this language. Only about 70% of Indonesians are proficient in Bahasa Indonesia. Bahasa Indonesia is the native language of ‘only’ 20 million people. Thus, the many regional languages are still of great importance. Indonesian is especially interesting for language lovers. Because there are many advantages to learning Indonesian. The language is considered to be relatively easy. The grammar rules can be learned quickly. You can rely on the spelling for pronunciation. The orthography isn't difficult either. Many Indonesian words come from other languages. And: Indonesian will soon be one of the most important languages… These are enough reasons to start learning, right?

Guess the language!

Greek is counted among the Indo-European languages. However, it is not closely related to any other language in the world. Modern Greek must not be confused with Ancient Greek. Ancient Greek is still taught at many schools and universities. In the past it was the language of philosophy and science. It was also used as a common language by those traveling through the ancient world. On the other hand, Modern Greek is the native language of about 13 million people. It evolved from ancient Greek.

It is difficult to say when exactly Modern Greek originated. One thing is certain: it is more simply constructed than ancient Greek. All the same, numerous archaic forms remain in Modern Greek. It is a very uniform language too, in which no strong dialects are present. It is written with the Greek alphabet that is almost 2500 years old. An interesting fact is that Greek is counted among the languages that have the largest vocabulary. So if you like to learn vocabulary you should start with Greek.