Pearls: Language Quotes

“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own.”

• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Learn about the languages, cultures, and history of the world through daily quotes from other languages!

Generations of wisdom are baked concisely into a language's proverbs. Famous works of literature, poetry, or music embed themselves in the culture. Jokes and wordplay are a fun way to learn languages and make people laugh.

What is the difference between Chinese and Mandarin? Spanish and Castellano? Where is Tagalog spoken? How does the writing system work in Korean? These types of questions are answered for each supported language, in its Wikipedia-style information page. While you're there, you can learn some basic vocabulary - "hello", "please", "thank you", and more - to sprinkle into your everyday life.

Who was Confucius? José Rizal? Miguel de Cervantes? Or even Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the fellow that said the quote above? Read about notable figures throughout world history in the new "People" page to learn about the legacy behind the wise words that we still remember today.

LANGUAGES:

• Spanish
• German
• Chinese (Mandarin)
• French
• Filipino
• Korean
• English

PLANNED:

• Basque
• Hindi
• Zulu
• Ojibwe
• Irish
• Japanese