home
Menu
Create
Random
0
0
0
thumbnail

Languages of the United Kingdom

Guess the living native languages of the UK, as well as the most common immigrant languages.
According to Wikipedia
Some of the native languages can be considered dialects
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Featured Quiz
Last updated: December 4, 2019
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
More quiz info >>
First submittedMay 18, 2014
Times taken36,226
Average score50.0%
Rating3.97
Quiz and answer stats >>
Friends stats >>
5:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 28 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Native Languages
English
Welsh
Scots
British Sign Language
Irish
Angloromani
Scottish Gaelic
Cornish
Shelta
Immigrant Language
Polish
Punjabi
Urdu
Bengali
Gujarati
Arabic
French
Chinese
Portuguese
Spanish
Immigrant Language
Tamil
Turkish
Italian
Somali
Lithuanian
German
Persian
Filipino
Romanian
sillie
+21
Level 77
May 20, 2014
I applaud the inclusion of BSL even if I missed it completely. It's not one that easily springs to mind, but YES it should be included.
tom88
+4
Level 72
Apr 15, 2016
Indeed! I didn't get it, but I like that its on here
xyz17
+5
Level 46
Dec 31, 2019
Perhaps include a bullet point to note that not all languages included are spoken languages?
kalbahamut
+30
Level 82
May 30, 2014
Once again I forgot there are a bunch of Lithuanians in the UK. But I got "Shelta," whatever the heck that is, by trying to type in "Cantonese."
chattypenguin
+8
Level 34
May 30, 2014
Shelta is sometimes referred to as "Cant."
ElHarisonio
+14
Level 53
Jan 3, 2016
Yes, the travellers will often shout "You Cant!" at each other ;-)
Sifhraven
+2
Level 67
Jan 14, 2019
Interesting hadnt heared of either ! I wonder why (no sarcasm, I thought i'd add that, since that phrase is used with sarcasm more often then not. And this site does not have a shortage of sarcastic comments)
Findlay
+4
Level 82
Aug 14, 2016
I suspect that's how most people get it. It's certainly how I came to it.
jamesd
+6
Level 68
Jan 10, 2017
yep, me too. Looks like all Chinese languages are combined in this quiz. If you are going to combine Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, etc, why not also combine French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian? Also, Gujarathi really should be an acceptable type-in for Gujarati.
YerevanNaypyidaw
+1
Level 29
Jun 14, 2017
Haha, same
mahble
+1
Level 77
Sep 19, 2017
ditto
WelshWizard
+4
Level 83
May 30, 2014
A 2010 Scottish Government study of "public attitudes towards the Scots language" found that 64% of respondents (around 1,000 individuals being a representative sample of Scotland's adult population) "don't really think of Scots as a language", - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language.

More like a very distinct dialect.

LarryLovage
+2
Level 55
Jun 11, 2015
I once saw a map of Europe's languages, and was surprised to see Scots listed as a separate language, while the inhabitants of Sicily were labelled as speaking Italian. I guarantee Sicilian is more a different language to Italian than Scots is to English.
Tyacke
+2
Level 61
Dec 24, 2020
Are you a Scots and Scicilian speaker? If not, how can you guarantee?
ljhb48
+2
Level 44
Jan 27, 2021
a survey of the non-linguistically inclined scottish population is of less worth than the academic linguistic community which generally (but not universally) consider scots to be a separate language.
nordicpug1
+2
Level 21
May 11, 2022
people are surprisingly bad at categorising their own language. for example most people in jamaica consider patois a dialect of english whereas to most english people its completely incomprehensible and is considered a language by linguists. so the thoughts of scottish people , although it may seem counterintuitive, dont necessarily mean too much
brandybuck96
+2
Level 83
Dec 16, 2022
'A language is a dialect with an army and a navy'
Glitschko56
+12
Level 58
May 30, 2014
Manx?
lolrobbielol
+2
Level 53
May 30, 2014
It has no native speakers, unfortunately.
ponnuki
+2
Level 58
Jun 1, 2014
Which does however mean that at least we won't have to discuss whether Man is part of the UK for the purpose of this quiz.
fizzcroak
+3
Level 29
Dec 27, 2017
but surely the same rule should apply to BSL?
tts937
+2
Level 79
Jul 28, 2021
Aren't deaf people native BSL speakers?
onegonecat
+2
Level 74
Jun 14, 2017
No native speakers? What are you talking about? Wikipedia lists ~1,800 speakers.
brandybuck96
+1
Level 83
Mar 13, 2024
It lists 2,200 second language and 23 first language speakers in 2021. Only the first language ones are presumably counted under 'native speaker', and it's not impossible that when OP commented there were in fact no native speakers, although it's likely there was just a negligible amount.
Spam286
+2
Level 50
May 30, 2014
Bah, I have a friend who speaks Gujarati and it didn't even occur to me. Good quiz.
DiscoBayGolfer
+3
Level 79
May 30, 2014
So, I first try American Sign Language. I live in California. Then, hello, it's UK. Did get BSL after a second or two.
Almariel
+1
Level 59
May 30, 2014
Argh I kept typing Welsch instead of Welsh -_-
Mogysht
+1
Level 50
May 31, 2014
I tried Punjab, but not Punjabi :D
Zefyrinus
+2
Level 71
May 31, 2014
What about the languages of the Channel Islands? Or are they not considered to be UK?
cariad
+1
Level 42
May 3, 2015
English is the language of the Channel Islands, though some people there also speak French; there is no indigenous language in the islands.
brandybuck96
+2
Level 83
Dec 16, 2022
The local varieties of French are however very distinct from Standard French. I don't believe many people speak them any more though.
cta127
+2
Level 72
Oct 4, 2023
Not exactly. They also speak Jèrriais and Guernésiais, the indigenous varieties of Norman French.
IamTHEbest
+1
Level 22
Jun 1, 2014
100 percent with 1:46 left
kevinj
+1
Level 44
Jun 3, 2014
Whit dae ye mean there's nae Doric
nanook
+1
Level 51
Jun 5, 2014
What is Scots? That's like saying Brummy or Geordie?
TinkyFitchFeeley
+1
Level 26
Sep 5, 2015
Scots or Scots Gaelic, to give it its full name, is a Celtic language spoken in Scotland. It's entirely different from an accent, like Brummy or Geordie.
helenap13
+11
Level 65
Dec 20, 2015
Scots and Gaelic are completely different. Scots is more of a dialect of English, according to those of us that speak it. Gaelic is a completely different language with nothing in common with English whatsoever.
donniedarko
+4
Level 56
Jun 7, 2014
So, I must still be asleep or something because I totally forgot English...
Shikari
+3
Level 33
Nov 18, 2014
Angloromany??? Nobody (except perhaps a linguist) calls it that - please, please add the usual name of Romany as an optional spelling. I tried to think of the names of the Jersey and Guernsey dialects of Norman French, but you're right to exclude then as not formally being part of the UK.
Quizer
+1
Level 40
Nov 25, 2014
I don't understand why you have put Cornish in here. By that ruling all English accents should be included.
geolg123
+7
Level 14
May 18, 2015
Cornish have their own language. It is known as 'Kernor' which is Cornish for Cornish.
OfficerDibble
+1
Level 80
Apr 7, 2018
Yep. It did die out, but has been resurrected - few genuine native speakers even now, but it has to qualify as a native language that is spoken.
FadKrashmor
+2
Level 71
Apr 21, 2020
Indeed, Cornish is spoken by about 0.0008 % of the population. And is not actually the first language of many of these. For comparison, native speakers of Punjabi make up nearly 0.5% of the population. In other words there are about 500 times as many native Punjabi speakers as Cornish speakers in the UK. There are about as many native Polish speakers in the UK as the entire population of Cornwall, of whom perhaps 0.1 % can speak Cornish.
APHill
+2
Level 75
Dec 17, 2014
Where is Scouse?
cariad
+1
Level 42
May 3, 2015
I have never heard of either Angloromani or Shelter and have lived here all my 67 years.
nordicpug1
+2
Level 21
May 11, 2022
shelta is the language of the irish travellers and angloromani of the british roma. it is unsurprising you've never heard of it
Yamaneko
+3
Level 73
Sep 22, 2015
What surprises me the most is the absence of Yoruba, as there is a lot of Nigerians in UK...
Shikari
+1
Level 33
Jan 19, 2016
Angloromani? Can't you call it Romany? No-one uses that very technical name. Romany appears in the various Oxford dictionaries, where Angloromany (or Anglo-Romany) doesn't (except perhaps in the full 20-volume OED). You could use Roma except it would catch Romanian too.
Yossarian
+2
Level 64
Nov 2, 2016
I tried straight up Romani and was surprised when it wasn't accepted.
Walacama
+2
Level 81
Nov 23, 2016
I tried Romani, Romany, and Gypsy. I went and looked it up and "Angloromany" appears to be different than Romani. It is a combination of Romani and English. Learn something new everyday on Jet Punk.
beccimoo
+2
Level 56
Feb 16, 2016
Like cariad, I have lived in the UK all my life and have never heard of Shelta or Angloromani. Although according to wiki, Angloromani has not been spoken in the UK since the 19th century. And if APHill wants Scouse included, I want Geordie!!
Senlac
+1
Level 47
Apr 18, 2016
Doric should be included in native languages.
WishfulThinker
+1
Level 31
Jul 24, 2016
Any chance of accepting gaellic?

Damn it. Cant believe I didn't try it with one l

Bubblecat
+1
Level 71
Jul 28, 2016
Just discovered I've been misspelling Gujarati (I thought it was Gujurati for some reason). Oh well, I know for next time.
JohnOfili
+2
Level 41
Sep 7, 2016
ultser scots?
Trix
+1
Level 48
Nov 23, 2016
Surprised that both 'Scots' and 'Scottish Gaelic' is listed. Surely Scouse or Geordie should be included as well?

And no Yiddish or Hebrew? There is a large and well-established jewish community in the UK.

BenC21
+1
Level 43
Feb 4, 2017
Scouse and Geordie are dialects, whereas Scots and Scottish Gaelic (which are very different, by the way) are languages.
mariposita
+2
Level 68
Jan 10, 2017
Where is Manx Gaelic? I believe there are still a few native speakers, and although there are not a considerable amount, it is undergoing a revival in local schools and has I believe around 3,000 total fluent speakers.
crespipal
+1
Level 63
Jun 22, 2017
Isle of Man, like Channel islands, is a Crown dependency, thus is not part of the UK. Otherwise, also French and Jersey and Guersney local languages should be included as UK native language.

On the other hand, in Akrothiri and Dhekelia Greek is an official language, while in Gibraltar Spanish and Llanito are also spoken, and different creoles appear in the Caribbean overseas UK territories.

geographic
+1
Level 61
Dec 13, 2017
I think Tagalog should be accepted.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Dec 14, 2017
It is accepted
Kazinator16
+1
Level 38
Apr 7, 2018
Greek should be on here there's a huge Cypriot community in the UK
boopuffyboo
+1
Level 44
May 4, 2018
If Scots is really a separate language as people say, why can I as a native English speaker from England understand 90% of it without a problem? It's just heavily dialected English.
Geographyearth
+1
Level 67
Oct 2, 2018
I think gaeilge should be accepted for Irish
Sifhraven
+1
Level 67
Jan 14, 2019
I agree gaeilge should be accepted. First tried that, then tried goidelic then started typing scottish something I believe, not sure it that turned scots or scottish gaelic green.
TravelingMama
+1
Level 73
Nov 13, 2018
This was tricky. I had no idea there were so many native living languages in the UK.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 67
Jan 14, 2019
after english irish scottish gaelic and welsh, ow and scots...

there were still blank spots... so I tried to remember the old tribes, so I tried saxon and picts and celtic and anglos and francs etc

dognose
+3
Level 82
Jan 26, 2019
Of course Hindi should be there. And so should Manx, which is an official language on the Isle of man.
GeoDude
+1
Level 48
Apr 7, 2019
What about American
tzhg
+2
Level 59
Jun 24, 2019
Hindi should be accepted for Urdu. It is the same language, there's just a different alphabet.
coxbury
+1
Level 56
Aug 19, 2019
Angloromani? Then also Cymroromani - there are PROBABLY more Welsh Romani than English Romani - especially still speaking any form of Romani
brandybuck96
+1
Level 83
Mar 13, 2024
According to Wikipedia, the Welsh Romani language went extinct in the 1960s.
JackintheBox
+6
Level 79
Mar 11, 2021
Surprised that Hindi isn't here. Got all but BSL and Angloromani.
Oatmeal11
+1
Level 74
Apr 22, 2021
What about Gibberish? I hear that's pretty popular in the UK
ElementVoid
+1
Level 55
Jan 5, 2023
Ulster-Scots should definitely be on here.
AlW
+1
Level 74
Feb 14, 2024
If Cornish is included then surely so should be Manx.
Save Your Progress

Copyright H Brothers Inc, 2008–2024

Contact Us | Go To Top | View Mobile Site