Languages Facts for Kids
Weird and wonderful language facts
Pig Latin is a language game where you move the first consonant of a word to the end and add 'ay'. So 'hello' becomes 'ellohay'!
Research suggests there is a 'critical period' for language acquisition. Children who are exposed to language before puberty acquire it far more easily than adults, due to the greater plasticity of the young brain.
Silbo Gomero is a whistled form of Spanish used on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands. It can be understood from over three kilometres away across the island's deep valleys.
English spelling is famously tricky because words like 'cough', 'through', 'though', and 'bough' all use the same letters '-ough' but are pronounced differently.
Zulu, spoken by about 12 million people in South Africa, uses three different types of click consonants. These clicks are full-blown speech sounds, not sound effects.
Studies show that newborn babies' cries already reflect the melody patterns of their mother's language, meaning language learning begins before birth.
Many older languages, including ancient Greek, had no specific word for the colour blue. Homer described the sea as 'wine-dark' instead!
Language isolates are languages with no known relatives. Basque in Spain, Korean, and Ainu in Japan are all examples — their origins remain a mystery to linguists.
Klingon from Star Trek was developed into a complete language with its own grammar and dictionary. Some fans can hold entire conversations in it!
In some countries, people start counting on their thumb, while in others they start with their little finger or index finger. How you count on your fingers can reveal which country you are from!