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Paraguay`s language is Spanish and Gurani
Guarani is a language in Paraguay, but it is also spoken in northeastern Argentina, parts of Bolivia and also in southwestern Brazil. The number of Guarani speakers in the world is 4-5 million.
If you include the people who have even minimal knowledge, you can reach 7 million with no problem. For many years the Paraguay language was Spanish. Guarani was associated with an important cultural trait, but its use was only related to literature. In 1992, Guarani was constitutionally elevated to the second national language alongside Spanish. Nowadays, Guarani is also used as an official language in education.
Paraguay – a bilingual country
Paraguay is officially a bilingual country, but there is almost no one who can correctly speak one of the two languages of Paraguay in its purest form. More educated people from the Eurocentric class speak a so-called Rioplatensian Spanish with few Guarani phrases. The less educated people of the peasant class speak a Guarani with Spanish phrases.
Since the national language in Paraguay was Spanish for a long time, school education is also in Spanish. Guarani is taught as a further subject. A 1992 census showed that 1.6 million people speak Guarani, 260,000 people speak Spanish, and 2 million people speak both. However, many consider themselves bilingual even though they can only properly speak one language.
20 other languages spoken in Paraguay
In Guarani in particular, the distinction between nouns and verbs is not as sharp as in the German language. Many affixes are used in Guarani and there are no genera in this language. Paraguay is the only bilingual country in Latin America. In addition, 20 other languages are spoken in Paraguay, but not so duplicated and fluent.
Of course, there are also differences in dialect, depending on the social class and geographical location. Especially the dialect in the border regions to Uruguay and Argentina is very close to the Rioplatense dialect. The language in Paraguay is also German in some areas, especially in areas where there are pharmacies and hospitals. About 5-7% of the population in Paraguay comes from Germany, some residents can also speak Portuguese.
Few Paraguayans speak English
Many immigrants and tourists find it difficult to speak the Paraguay language. English is taught in some schools, but mostly only in secondary schools. With many children dropping out of school prematurely to contribute to the cost of living, very few people in Paraguay can speak English. A lot of German is taught at private schools.
In Paraguay, Germans are welcomed in a friendly manner, many Germans have settled in Paraguay to escape the world wars, the climate there is excellent and the cost of living is not very high. This is one of the reasons why more and more German pensioners are emigrating to Paraguay, as they cannot live on their pension in Germany, but can rent a house in Paraguay with the money. Together with Quechua, Guarani is the most important Indian language in Latin America, but this does not mean that most of Paraguay are Indians, but rather has historical backgrounds.
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