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Sinclair James International Review: Mixture Of Asian Languages

Asia is the largest continent in the world and everyone is aware that the region is the most diversified and a home to some of the most unique cultures, religions and languages. It can be indeed be considered a melting pot of races.

The characteristics of Asian countries are distinct and different from one another even when they are only neighbors. The demographic profiles of the continent which is composed of one island countries and archipelagos with seas, mountains and terrains as boundaries also hinder each and every nation to mingle with each another. There may also be some similarities but when you are living in it, you would definitely know you are all different.

South East Asia is only a part of Asian continent, yet, it is as diversified of different cultures as well. They are all neighbors but the languages, religions and beliefs are different.

Let us look at the languages, for instance. Asia is a home to thousands of languages and countless dialects within its boundaries. Indonesia has 700 plus languages on its own. The Philippines has more than a hundred as well. Chinese, which is the leading language in the world, is also spoken in different forms and sublanguages with Mandarin and Fukien in the lead. Cantonese is also a sub unit of Chinese and is mostly spoken in sub Chinese countries like Singapore and the independent nation of Hong Kong. There may be varieties which foreigners can complain about.

The following are some of the backgrounds of the unique blend of languages in South East Asia which you may find useful in learning about them:

1. Chinese

The largest spoken language in the world with more than 1,000,000,000 speakers, Chinese language is composed of 13 individual languages. Mandarin, Fukien and Cantonese are mostly spoken in the People’s Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), Singapore and other parts of South East Asia.

1. Javanese

Javanese has been quite popular with 800,000,000 speakers and which can also be used in dealing businesses and transact with the natives. Indonesia still has a unique blend of other languages amounting to more than 700. Some spoken languages are part of history while others have words similar to that of neighboring countries.

2. Filipino

When conversing to a Pilipino (natives of the Philippines), you can easily use English. This is also the reason why many foreigners do not put an effort to learning basic greetings in the native tongue. Natives can also be multilingual, speaking in Tagalog, which is the language of most of the people in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon, in their own languages (there are 179 other languages, depending on the region you are in) and English. There are also places which have words similar to Spanish and Chinese.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by SInclair James .