Languages of Venezuela
The languages of Venezuela refers to the official languages and various dialects spoken in established communities within the country. In Venezuela, Castillian is the official language and is the mother tongue of the majority of Venezuelans. Although there is an established official language, there are countless languages of indigenous villages spoken throughout Venezuela, and various regions also have languages of their own.
Languages of Venezuela
There are at least forty languages spoken or used in Venezuela, but Spanish is the language spoken by the majority of Venezuelans. The 1999 Constitution of Venezuela declared Spanish and languages spoken by indigenous people from Venezuela as official languages. Deaf people use Venezuelan Sign Language (lengua de señas venezolana, LSV).
Chinese (400,000), Portuguese (185,000)[1] and Italian (200,000),[2] are the most spoken languages in Venezuela after the official language of Spanish. Wayuu is the most spoken indigenous language with 294,000 speakers.[1]
Foreign languages[edit]
Languages spoken by immigrants and their descendants are found in Venezuela. The most important are Chinese (400,000), Portuguese (254,000), Italian (200,000),[2] Arabic (110,000), German (20,000) and English (20,000).[1]
Some people who live next to the border of Brazil speak Portuguese. In the areas located near to Guyana English language is used by some inhabitants, especially on San Martin of Turumban. Colonia Tovar dialect, a dialect of German language, is spoken in the Colonia Tovar.
Languages taught in schools[edit]
English[edit]
English is a foreign language with a great demand in Venezuela. It is spoken by many academics and professionals and by some members of the middle and high social classes. There is an English language newspaper in Caracas: The Daily Journal, founded in 1946. The use of English arose in part due to the presence of oil companies from English speaking countries (especially from the United States) since the beginning of the 20th century.
English is taught as a compulsory subject in the secondary education and in the bachillerato for five years. Bachillerato is a segment of secondary education similar to the baccalaureat, secondary school or American high school and is divided into two branches: sciences and humanities. According to the syllabus approved by the Venezuelan Ministry of Education in 1986 English language is considered as a tool to communicate with people from other countries and to obtain information in the areas of humanities, technology and science.[5] For that reason it is taught using a Notional Functional Approach.[5] In the bachillerato a Structuralistic Approach is used. Despite the lines provided by the syllabus, few people learn to speak the language with only the knowledge acquired at school.
In some universities degree programs to train teachers or translators of English language are offered. In the rest of universities English is studied as a compulsory subject to understand texts written in this language.
English is also used in shops and products together with Spanish.
Italian[edit]
In the second half of the twentieth century, more than 200,000 Italians mostly from Veneto moved to this oil rich country.
According to the Italian Embassy in Caracas the "....Italian language is available in a few private Italian schools and institutions. Other similar courses are organized and sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Associations.
Portuguese[edit]
The Portuguese speaking community in Venezuela is very large at 260,000 (especially in Santa Elena de Uairen). As such, serious consideration is being given to include the study of Portuguese as a foreign language in the school curriculums of Venezuela. There are also many Brazilians living in Venezuela. Portuguese has become a very important language of the world economy. Geographically widespread, Portuguese is officially spoken on 5 continents by 270 million speakers, and is the 6th most natively spoken language in the world, and the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere.
French[edit]
French language is taught as a compulsory subject in the branch of humanities of the bachillerato or high school for two years. Students learn French grammar in their first year of study, then construct and translate French texts in the second year. In some universities degree programs to train teachers or translators of French language are offered.
Latin and Greek[edit]
In Venezuela Latin is taught as a compulsory subject in the branch of humanities of the high school for two years. Students learn Latin grammar in their first year, then construct and translate Latin texts in the second year.[6]
At university level, the University of the Andes offers a degree program for Letras Mención Lengua y Literaturas Clásicas (Classical Languages and Literatures). In this program (the only one of its type in Venezuela), the students learn Latin, Ancient Greek and the literature of both languages for five years.[7] In other Venezuelan universities, Latin is a compulsory subject of the program for Letras (Hispanic Literature) and Educación, mención: Castellano y Literatura (Education of Spanish language and Hispanic Literature).
Latin and Koine Greek are also taught in Roman Catholic seminaries.