European Language
Our next standard is:
SS6G10 The student will describe the cultural characteristics of Europe.
a. Explain the diversity of European languages as seen in a comparison of German, English, Russian, French, and Italian.
The theme and enduring understanding that best fits this standard is:
Culture
The culture of a society is the product of the religion, beliefs, customs, traditions, and government of that society.
For this standard, students should understand that Europe is a relatively small continent, made up of 50 different countries. Most countries in Europe are around the size of states in the USA. There are over 200 languages spoken on this small continent. So many languages being spoken in a small area causes problems with language barriers. The fact that so many languages are spoken in such a small area can make trade very difficult. Europeans must combat the potential problems caused by language barriers.
SS6G10 The student will describe the cultural characteristics of Europe.
a. Explain the diversity of European languages as seen in a comparison of German, English, Russian, French, and Italian.
The theme and enduring understanding that best fits this standard is:
Culture
The culture of a society is the product of the religion, beliefs, customs, traditions, and government of that society.
For this standard, students should understand that Europe is a relatively small continent, made up of 50 different countries. Most countries in Europe are around the size of states in the USA. There are over 200 languages spoken on this small continent. So many languages being spoken in a small area causes problems with language barriers. The fact that so many languages are spoken in such a small area can make trade very difficult. Europeans must combat the potential problems caused by language barriers.
Another issue to think about is language groups. Almost all European languages fall into one of three language groups: Romance, Germanic, and Slavic.
Romance languages are mostly spoken in Western and Southern Europe and include Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian. Languages in this group are all based on the ancient language of Latin, which was spoken throughout the Roman Empire; it is from the word “Roman” that the term “Romance” comes from. Germanic languages are from the languages spoken by the early Germanic peoples of Central and Northern Europe, which is where those languages are still largely spoken on the continent today. Germanic languages include English, German, Dutch, and Norwegian. Slavic languages are spoken throughout Eastern Europe. These languages include Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian. |