For example, Japan is called Nippon in Japanese, and Korea is Hanguk in Korean.

Hungary is Magyarország, Finland is Suomi, and Greece is Hellas—there are lots of countries where the native name and the English name are totally different.

So I was wondering, for people from countries where the English name doesn’t match what they call it themselves, how do you feel about the English version of your country’s name?

In your opinion, of course. Having lived in Scotland, Croatia, and Germany i can say:

• Aberdeen. I always hated the combination of city + rural accent that amalgamates there. They say "eh" more often than Canadians
• Dalmatian. It sounds like its stuck in the 1800s, and the bounciness of it makes it hard for me to take them seriously
• Saxon. Predictable answer, but I mean really, what the hell is that?

Our president speaks Spanish and Quechua, an indigenous language. Too bad that doesn't translate to good governance in the slightest.

(This is an all-inclusive list, so both heads of state and heads of government if held by two different people are included)

In some nations, like France and China, non-standard languages and dialects are heavily suppressed (picture: "Speak French Be Clean"). However, in others, like the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the use of minority languages is promoted. How are minor languages and dialects viewed in your country?

Where I live in the USA, bilingualism is over 20% of the population. I always thought the USA was one of the most monolingual countries but its more bilingual than any other country in the Americas.

Maybe I'm biased but I truly believe my own country has the best insults some of which include

• gobshite
• Bowzy (not commonly used)
• knacker
• scanger (not commonly used)
• Thick (means your stupid not curvy)

None of the insults above are racist in nature

I live in Australia so obviously most people here speak English as their first language but for Asian Australians a common mistake (especially among the older ones who may not speak English well or at all) is plurals (e.g. "Apples cost two dollars" = "Apple cost two dollar").

What about in your country?

Of course, the word must not already be used as a first name in real life.

What are some typical sayings and phrases from your country?

Here’s some Norwegian sayings:

"Doing someone a bear-favour" Despite trying to do the right thing, you do more harm than good.

"There’s owls in the moss" Something is not right, something’s fishy.

"To be out picking berries" Someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing/saying.

Whenever I'm in Sweden, Norway or Denmark I can't help but giggle when I see the word "slut"

US, UK, Black Caribbean, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand are obvious as almost everyone there speaks it as its the native language. The best country at English as a second language is Iceland at 99% with i presume the only non-English speaking people being elderly people out in the country. How widely spoken is English in your country?

Our second most spoken language is Spanish. I speak it at a conversational level, but I’ll admit I’ve never been in a situation with a Spanish speaker where my Spanish was a more efficient means of communication than their English.

Edit: Whoops, forgot English is going to be the answer for many countries. I guess I would rephrase the question as “What is the second most common first language in your country and how well do you speak it?”

I want to test myself!

In Peru, it would be French and Portuguese.

Foreign language equivalents of "uncle" or "auntie" count for this question too.

If you are reading this, you probably know English. But is that the language your thoughts use? How much of your thoughts are in English versus another language?

I am aware that worldwide English is a very hard language to learn for many non native speakers. And when I was in college, many non-native speakers said that it's slang words that tend to confuse them. So what are some words that confuse you?

For me, Eastern Slavic languages are most pleasing to my ears. Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian. Very nice sounds, including ы. A good runner up is Arabic.

My least favorite would be Vietnamese. No offense, Vietnamese people are very nice and friendly and they make good food. But their language just sounds odd to me. Maybe because it's tonal, idk.

What say you, world?

It’s like kee-vee in Romanian

I MEANT WORD

So, I'm from Japan and nobody speaks much English or any foreign language here. But I noticed that many Europeans speak good English.

I assumed that's because Europeans often use English to communicate with people from other European countries. And I think that’s because Europe has many countries and they are well connected by continental geography and by political system like Schengen.

On the other hand, Japan is not connected by geography and we don’t have Schengen and we don’t interact with foreigners so much. I believe this geographical and social isolation reduce the opportunity to use English.

What’s your thought?