In today's lesson, we are going to talk about the names of some major countries, the main languages they speak, and the adjectives used to describe somebody from that country. Usually the noun for the language spoken is the same as the adjective for somebody from that country. For instance in France, the French speak French. But there are also exceptions: In the United States, most Americans speak English. Note too that in English, unlike many other languages, even the adjectives are usually written with a capital letter!

Let's start off with two countries whose names have only one syllable. 

And where would I like to go? That's easy: France.

Caption 8, Parts of Speech - Question Words

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People speak French in France, and as noted above, the adjective for something from France is also "French." One of the few national adjectives in English that is not standardly written with a capital letter is in the term "french fries." This is what is called a "misnomer" or mistaken name, because so-called french fries probably came from Belgium or the Netherlands! 

He was throwing french fries at you?

Caption 38, 7-10 Split - Short Film

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And on to the Greeks in Greece, who speak Greek: 

...especially those who were considering going to Greece.

Caption 15, Job Interviews - Mr. Alan Hint Monologue

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"K" is a very old letter. It comes from the Greek letter "kappa."

Caption 12, The Alphabet - The Letter K

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There are a lot of countries whose languages and nationalities end in the letters -ish. Note that the adjective for somebody from Britain is "British," but they usually speak "English" in the form of "British English":

The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day in Britain.

Caption 38, Christmas Traditions - In the UK

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We also drop the letter "r" at the end of words in British English.

Caption 29, British vs American -  English Pronunciation Lesson

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And on to Spain, where the Spanish speak Spanish: 

I should speak in Spanish because Custo Barcelona is a Spanish designer.

Caption 13, New York Fashion Week - Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA Take Over

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Here I am in Southern Spain in the height of summer

Caption 2, Tara's Recipes - Delicious Fruit Salad with Greek Yoghurt

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Further Learning
Go to Yabla English and find more videos that use some of the following country names, languages, and nationalities. You can also see a more complete list of countries, their people, and their languages here.

Country          Language          Nationality
France             French                French
Greece            Greek                  Greek
Britain              English                British
Denmark          Danish                Danish
Finland             Finnish                Finnish
Poland              Polish                  Polish
Spain                Spanish              Spanish
Sweden            Swedish              Swedish
Turkey               Turkish               Turkish

In English, there are many words that sound and are spelled the same but have different meanings. These are called homonyms. It may sound confusing, but in this second lesson in the series (the first lesson was back in October), we'll look at some examples to help clarify the differences so that mixing them up can be avoided!

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A good example of a homonym is the different meanings of the noun "bat":

And they'd go in. Skill Cole had a baseball bat. You know they don't play baseball.

And they'd go in. Skill Cole had a baseball bat. You know they don't play baseball.

Caption 28, The Wailers - Talk About the Early Days with Bob Marley

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Well, he'd tell you it was because of that time a bat flew through his window.

Well, he'd tell you it was because of that time a bat flew through his window.

Caption 37, Pop Psych - Batman Goes To Therapy

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Thus "bat" can mean the large wooden stick used in the game of baseball, as well as the flying mammalian species for whom the superhero Batman is named.

I guess you were right, Linus. I shouldn't have picked this little tree.

I guess you were right, Linus. I shouldn't have picked this little tree.

Caption 3, A Charlie Brown Christmas - True Meaning

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Turn left and carry on going until you reach Brushfield Street

Turn left and carry on going until you reach Brushfield Street

and turn right down it.

and turn right down it.

Captions 26-27, Giving Directions - with Lauren and Matt

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In the above, you can see that "right" can mean either "correct" or the direction that is the opposite of "left."

We're putting out special little clips that aren't in the film.

We're putting out special little clips that aren't in the film.

Caption 28, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World - Electric Playground Interview

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Fill a glass with water and challenge your friends to float a paper clip

Fill a glass with water and challenge your friends to float a paper clip

on top of the liquid. Every time they place something into the glass.

on top of the liquid. Every time they place something into the glass.

Captions 9-10, Richard Wiseman - 10 Bets You Will Always Win

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A "clip" can be a segment of film or video footage, or the small metal object used to hold papers together.

Let's start with the letter "r".

Let's start with the letter "r".

Caption 18, British vs American - English Pronunciation Lesson

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We're going to explore how to write a successful cover letter.

We're going to explore how to write a successful cover letter.

Caption 2, Business English - Cover Letter

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The noun "letter" can thus be referring either to the alphabet or to the piece of paper you write upon to send in the mail.

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Further Learning
To find more instances of homonyms like these, have a look at Yabla English and see if you can find more examples in a real-world context.