Languages in Europe from the sales perspective
Every sales process is starting with communication. And communication is primary depending on the language.
There is a general belief that in the 21st century English is the language of business, especially in the world of technology. In relation to the CE&SEE region, this is of course true – with a small correction that the knowledge of English is not at the level encountered in the Netherlands or Sweden. When planning sales activities at CE&SEE, it is essential to take into account the languages of the countries concerned. Also because of historical events and their impact on people’s decision-making processes.
MAIN LANGUAGES IN CE&SEE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and are spoken by more than 300 million people, primarily in Eastern Europe and parts of Central Europe. The Slavic language family can be further divided into three main groups:
- East Slavic languages: This group includes Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. Russian is the most widely spoken Slavic language, with more than 150 million speakers.
- West Slavic languages: This group includes Polish, Czech, Slovak, Sorbian, and several other minority languages spoken in Central Europe. Polish is the most widely spoken West Slavic language, with more than 50 million speakers.
- South Slavic languages: This group includes Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Slovene. Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian are closely related and are often considered to be a single language with regional variations. Bulgarian and Macedonian are also closely related and share a common literary tradition. Slovene is the smallest of the South Slavic languages, spoken by only around 2 million people in Slovenia.
The Slavic languages share many common features, such as complex grammar, case systems, and verb aspect. However, they also have significant regional variations and differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
| POLISH | CZECH | SLOVAKIAN | UKRAINIAN |
| Polish is spoken by around 50 million people, primarily in Poland, but also in other parts of Europe, the Americas, and Australia. | Czech is spoken by around 10 million people, primarily in the Czech Republic. | Slovak is spoken by around 5 million people, primarily in Slovakia. It is the official language of Slovakia and is also spoken by minority populations in neighboring countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ukraine. | Ukrainian is an East Slavic language spoken by around 40 million people, primarily in Ukraine. |
Polish is a highly inflected language, which means that it has a complex system of noun and verb endings that indicate grammatical gender, case, number, and tense. The language also has a rich vocabulary and a complex system of phonology and pronunciation, with nasal vowels and a wide range of consonant sounds. | Czech is a highly inflected language, which means that it has a complex system of noun and verb endings that indicate grammatical gender, case, number, and tense. The language also has a rich vocabulary and a complex system of phonology and pronunciation, with distinctive vowel sounds and the use of diacritical marks to indicate stress and other features. | Slovak is a highly inflected language, which means that it has a complex system of noun and verb endings that indicate grammatical gender, case, number, and tense. The language also has a rich vocabulary and a complex system of phonology and pronunciation, with distinctive vowel sounds and the use of diacritical marks to indicate stress and other features. | Ukrainian is a highly inflected language, which means that it has a complex system of noun and verb endings that indicate grammatical gender, case, number, and tense. The language also has a rich vocabulary and a complex system of phonology and pronunciation, with distinctive vowel sounds and the use of diacritical marks to indicate stress and other features. |
| The Polish alphabet has 32 letters, including several special characters such as ą and ę, which are nasal vowels. | The Czech alphabet has 42 letters, including several special characters such as ř and ě, which are unique to the Czech language. | The Slovak alphabet has 46 letters, including several special characters such as ŕ and ľ, which are unique to the Slovak language. | The Ukrainian alphabet has 33 letters, including several special characters such as і and ї, which are unique to the Ukrainian language. |
HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE
Hungarian is a member of the Uralic language family and is spoken by around 13 million people, primarily in Hungary, but also in several neighboring countries, including Slovakia, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine.
Hungarian is a highly agglutinative language, which means that words are formed by adding suffixes to a root word. The language also has a complex system of vowel harmony, which means that the vowels in a word must agree in terms of front/back and rounded/unrounded qualities. The grammar of Hungarian is also characterized by a complex system of cases and postpositions.
The Hungarian alphabet has 44 letters, including several special characters such as the double acute accent (˝), which indicates a long vowel. The language also has a rich vocabulary, with many loanwords from other languages, including Latin, German, and Slavic languages.
baltic lanGUAGES
Lithuanian
This is the most widely spoken Baltic language, with around 3 million speakers in Lithuania and other parts of the world. Lithuanian is known for its complex grammar, including seven cases and numerous verb forms, as well as its archaic vocabulary and unique sound system.
Latvian
This is the second most widely spoken Baltic language, with around 1.5 million speakers in Latvia and other parts of the world. Latvian also has a complex grammar, including seven cases and a complex system of verb forms. It is also known for its distinctive sound system, including the use of the phoneme “ņ” and other unique sounds.
estonian
Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language spoken by around 1.3 million people, primarily in Estonia, but also in neighboring countries such as Russia, Latvia, and Finland. Estonian is a highly inflected language, which means that it has a complex system of noun and verb endings that indicate grammatical case, number, and tense. The language also has a rich vocabulary and a unique sound system, including the use of the phoneme “õ” and several other distinctive sounds. The Estonian alphabet has 27 letters, including several special characters such as õ, ä, and ö, which are unique to the Estonian language. The language also has a rich literary tradition, with many famous works of literature, poetry, and drama.
