Do Australian people speak other languages?

Answer 1

No.

There is no official language for Australia: English is the default language throughout the country. However, Australians have developed and adapted a number of interesting slang terms which truly leave some overseas visitors completely baffled as to their meaning. Some of these words are derived from Australian aboriginal dialects, and some of them have simply developed from the wide mix of local English and Irish dialects which came with the early convicts.

Answer 2

There are twelve Aboriginal language regions nationally and many dialects or subsets within each of those regions. From an estimated 250 languages in the 1770's, it is currently thought that only 145 are still spoken, and many of those are in danger of disappearing.

The average Australian would have no idea of any Aboriginal language other than what they have learned from various place names, such as Canberra, the national capital, which means "meeting place".

Answer 3

The question suggests that English is the official language in Australia. It is not.

Australia has no official language and no declared national language. English is merely the default language throughout the country.

According to the official CIA World factbook, English is spoken by 78.5% of Australia's population. After English, Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Mandarin and Vietnamese, in that order, are the most widely-spoken languages, and languages of most cultures are represented and spoken by Australians.

The CIA World Factbook lists, after English: Chinese 2.5%, Italian 1.6%, Greek 1.3%, Arabic 1.2% and Vietnamese 1%.

Another 8.2% have been recorded as speaking other languages, and 5.7 % are unspecified. These include indigenous Australian languages, spoken, as well as English, by 50% of indigenous Australians. 11% of indigenous people speak an indigenous language as their main language.

There are many remaining Aboriginal languages (about seventy) spoken by the Indigenous people, and these are all unique. For example, Ngarrindjeri is the dialect of the lower Murray and Coorong area, and this is quite different to, say, the Arrernte or Arunda of central Australia.

A large number of people in the original German-settled areas of the Barossa and Riverina maintain their German heritage, customs and language; as with all countries where the population is largely immigrant, this is common throughout Australia, and communites everywhere celebrate their heritage - including their languages - from all parts of the world, in daily life and regular festivals.

Answer 4

Other than those taught French at school, there would not be many French speaking Australians. English is the language spoken in Australia.