Category: Culture

Haiti has two official languages: Creole and French. They are mutually comprehensible to some extent, but Creole has a different grammar structure and influences from various languages, and is the language mostly spoken at home and in informal settings, while French is the language of commerce, business and education. Creole is a special type of language that starts when speakers of a language adopt a simplified version of another language, often in the context of conquest. This simplified language, called “pidgin”, becomes a “creole” when it establishes grammar rules of its own and is spoken and taught as a native language to children. Haitian Creole is in fact originally based on French.

Mining for gemstones is a growing industry in Greenland, where beautiful stones such as rubies and sapphires are to be found. One day, mining for gemstones may become the biggest industry in the still underdeveloped country.

The Hungarian language has two words for the colour red. Although they refer to the same shade, they are used in different contexts. Different conventions apply, depending on whether one is speaking about blood, wine, roses, and so on. In some cases only one of the two words will do, but in others they are interchangeable.

Chess, one of the most popular games in the world, was probably invented in India in about the sixth century AD. Chess is still widely played in the country.

In Vietnam, a popular breakfast is an egg in which the bird embryo is partly developed. The eggs are boiled and eaten from the shell.