FUN FACTS ABOUT LEARNING NEW LANGUAGES

  In many languages, nouns are either masculine or feminine - difficult enough for native English speakers. German even surpasses this: a noun can also be neuter. The gender of a word is determined purely grammatically. For example, the article of "das Mädchen" is neuter, even though it means a female person. In many languages, nouns are either masculine or feminine - difficult enough for native English speakers. German even surpasses this: a noun can also be neuter. The gender of a word is determined purely grammatically. For example, the article of "das Mädchen" is neuter, even though it means a female person.

Another of the curiosities of German is that it has different dialects, although it is the same language, it varies according to the dialect. Hochdeutsch is the standard German, the one that is learned in schools in other countries or the one used by governors when issuing communiqués to other countries. This dialect was not created in a specific region but developed over a number of years and was created to be understood in large areas. Besides Hochdeutsch there are also other dialects such as: Berlinerisch (in Berlin and its suburbs), Hessisch (in the area of Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden), Oberfränkisch (spoken in Kronach, Kulmbach, Hof and Bayreuth), Bayrisch (in southern Germany, in the area around Munich and also in parts of Austria), Sächsisch (in eastern Germany), Schwäbisch (in southwestern Germany), Plattdeutsch (in northern Germany and western Netherlands), among others.  

The Italian people are very good at keeping things simple and practical, and their alphabet is no exception. Yes, that's right, the Italian alphabet only has 21 letters, and it lacks j, k, w, x and y. Derived from the Latin alphabet, it is considered to be the closest to this "dead" language of all the languages spoken today. It shares all its letters with the English alphabet, but Italian uses a system of accents, and they are not pronounced in the same way.

  The longest word in this language has no more and no less than 45 letters and refers to a lung disease that, if pronounced by a physician, could confuse more than one tormented patient: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.  The term used to refer to lung disease caused by silica poisoning or by breathing ash from a volcano.