Unexpected Language Pockets: 7 Surprising Places Where Languages Are Spoken
By
Laura Studarus
3mo ago· 4 min readenNews
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Summary
The article explores unexpected linguistic geography, highlighting seven places where languages are spoken in surprising locations due to historical factors like colonization, migration, and cultural exchange. It features examples including Swedish in Finland, German in Namibia, Portuguese in Goa (India), and other unexpected language pockets around the world, with a connection to language learning through Duolingo.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledWhen we think about where languages are spoken, we often picture tidy borders and tidy rules, like French in France or Japanese in Japan. But real-life linguistic geography is rarely that neat!
Centuries of colonization, migration, and cultural exchange all have created pockets of unexpected languages in countries across the world.
Here are seven places where you'll hear languages you might not expect—all featuring languages you can learn on Duolingo!
Sure, Finland is the land of the Finns, but the country has two national languages: Finnish and Swedish.
Learning a language can broaden your horizons—sometimes more than you realize!
