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How to identify any language at a glance | The Week

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Thanks to globalization, it's very likely that at some point you've found yourself faced with a line of text written in a language you couldn't quite identify. Maybe in the international section of a grocery store, or on Facebook, for example. "What the heck is this language?" you ask yourself. To get the answer, often all it takes is a little character. One or two little characters, to be precise. Many languages written using the Latin alphabet have characters or combinations of characters that are unique only to that language. If you spot them, they can give you just the tip-off you need. Here are your lucky flags for some of the languages you're most likely to encounter in print: Ã, ã: When you see this sign of a nasalized A (as in São Paulo), you're almost certainly looking at Portuguese, especially if the language looks a lot like Spanish. Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives. From our morning news briefing to a weekly G

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Whatsapp Pinterest Share this article Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Thanks to globalization, it's very likely that at some point you've found yourself faced with a line of text written in a language you couldn't quite identify. Maybe in the international section of a grocery store, or on Facebook, for example. "What the heck is this language?" you ask yourself. To get the answer, often all it takes is a little character. One or two little characters, to be precise. Many languages

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