Why can't they just speak ________?

Many people in the U.S. ask the question "Why can't they just speak English?" but they are all wrong! And to prove that, you will see here how people could make such a claim in almost any language. Try to read a few of these 126 ways (if you can!) and then ask yourself if you are being more than just a little bit provincial to expect others to learn your language rather than letting them speak their own? :-)

If you are using Internet Explorer, hovering over a language will cause a tooltip to appear after a brief moment that will contain the name of the language in English (in case you do not know how to read the language in question). I am simply showing this list in Windows Locale ID (LCID) order; this is an entirely arbitrary choice and I hope no one takes offense at it. If anyone has a better idea of how to order such a list, I am open to suggestions! I cannot use the ISO 639 and ISO 3166 standards for language and country names since they do not provide for a nice method of creating custom locales (the way that LCIDs do). The custom ones are kind of ugly (in my opinion), and for some reason, there is no ISO 639 standard abbreviation for languages like Klingon! On top of everything, the page looks ugly when sorted by script types (with all of the Arabic locales sorting together, for example).

The page has a few new features, now. First of all, it has its HTML and its CSS validated (see the bottom of the page for details). Second of all, it is experimentally using Microsoft's Web Embedding Fonts Tools (WEFT) to support the ability to view the page in Internet Explorer even if you do not have all of the fonts installed. So far, it seems to be working fairly well!

Explanation of icons:
.WAV A downloadable .WAV file containing the sentence being spoken.
.TTF A downloadable .TTF (TrueType font) file, if needed (only fonts marked "Installable embedding allowed" are available, so that I will not be violating licenses!).
No Font No .TTF (TrueType font) file is available. If you know of a downloadable font, tell me!
URL A URL linking to a web site with information about the language.
.JPG An image showing what the sentence ought to look like

لماذا لا يتكلمون اللّغة العربية فحسب؟
Защо те просто не могат да говорят български?
Per què no poden simplement parlar en català? Catalan (79.6kb)
他們爲什麽不說中文（台灣）？ Code2000 936kb Chinese - Cantonese (54.8kb)
Proč prostě nemluví česky?
Hvorfor kan de ikke bare tale dansk?
Warum sprechen sie nicht einfach Deutsch? German - Standard (44.3kb)
Μα γιατί δεν μπορούν να μιλήσουν Ελληνικά; Greek - Modern (73.1kb)
Why can't they just speak English?
¿Por qué no pueden simplemente hablar en castellano? Castillian (64.5kb)
Miksi he eivät yksinkertaisesti puhu suomea?
Pourquoi, tout simplement, ne parlent-ils pas français ? French - Standard (46.3kb)
למה הם פשוט לא מדברים עברית?
Miért nem beszélnek egyszerűen magyarul?
Af hverju geta þeir ekki bara talað íslensku?
Perché non possono semplicemente parlare italiano? Italian (64.9kb)
なぜ、みんな日本語を話してくれないのか？ Code2000 936kb
세계의 모든 사람들이 한국어를 이해한다면 얼마나 좋을까? Code2000 936kb
Waarom spreken ze niet gewoon Nederlands? Dutch (43.2kb)
Hvorfor kan de ikke bare snakke norsk?
Dlaczego oni po prostu nie mówią po polsku? Polish - WMA file (14.4kb)
Porque é que eles não falam em Português (do Brasil)?
Oare ăştia de ce nu vorbesc româneşte?
Почему же они не говорят по-русски?
Zašto jednostavno ne govore hrvatski?
Pse nuk duan të flasin vetëm shqip?
Varför pratar dom inte bara svenska? Swedish (64.9kb)
ทำไมเขาถึงไม่พูดภาษาไทย
Neden Türkçe konuşamıyorlar?
Mengapa mereka tidak bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia? Indonesian (81.1kb)
Чому б їм не розмовляти українською?
Чаму яны не гавораць па-беларуску?
Zakaj vendar ne govorijo slovensko?
Kāpēc viņi vienkārši nerunā latviski?
Kodėl gi jie nekalba lietuviškai?
Čaro onho ba zaboni točiki gap namezanand?
خب، چرا فارسى صحبت نمى كنند؟
Tại sao họ không thể chỉ nói tiếng Việt?
Ինչու՞ նրանք չեն խոսում Հայերեն  Code2000 936kb
Zergatik ezin dute Euzkeraz bakarrik hitzegin?
Čehodla da woni serbsce njerěča?
Зошто тие едноставно не говорат македонски?
Waarom kan hulle nie net doodgewoon Afrikaans praat nie?
რატომ არ ლაპარაკობენ ისინი ქართულად? Code2000 936kb About Georgia - Georgian Language and Script
यह लोग हिन्दी क्यों नहीं बोल सकते हैं ? Code2000 936kb
Carson nach eil iad a'bruidhinn na Gàidhlige?
פֿאַרװאָס רעדט מען ניט פּשוט ייִדיש?
Олар неге қазақ тiлiнде сойлемейдi?
Емне үчүн алар кыргызча сүйлбйт?
Nega ular uzbek tilinda gapirmaidilar?
Нишләп олар татарча сүләша алмыйлар?
ওরা েকন বাংলা বলেত পাের না ? UT Bengali Khulna 123kb
બદ્ધા લોકો ગુજરાતી કૅમ નથી બોલતા? Sorry, no font available, unless you have Windows XP. I am looking for one, though! In the meantime, you need Arial Unicode MS.
ସେମାନେ ଉଡିଯାରେ କହିନ୍କି କହିବେ ନହିଁ? Code2000 936kb
அவர்கள் ஏன் தமிழில் பேசக்கூடாது ? Code2000 936kb
తెలుగులో ఎందుకు మాట్లాడరు? Sorry, no font available, unless you have Windows XP. I am looking for one, though! In the meantime, you need Arial Unicode MS.
ಅವರು ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾತನಾಡಬಹುದಲ್ಲಾ? Code2000 936kb
लोकांना मराठी का बोलता येत नाही? Code2000 936kb
ते किं संस्कृतः माम वदन्ति ? Code2000 936kb
ག་རེ་བྱས་ཁོ་རང་ཚོས་བོད་སྐད་ཆ་དེ་ག་རང་བཤད་ཀྱི་མ་རེད། Sorry, no font available. I am looking for one, though! In the meantime, you need Arial Unicode MS. Tony Duff (http://www.tibet.dk/tcc/page1.htm) provides a font which although it does not support Unicode is so much better looking than any of the Unicode fonts that they are almost two diferent languages! See a picture of the sentence with his font, here.
Pam dydyn nhw ddim yn siarad Cymraeg?
¿Por que non poden simplemente falar en galego?
ಕಒಂಕಣಇ ಕಸಲಯಆಕ ಉಲಐನಾ ? Code2000 936kb
ܠܡܢܐܠܐܡܡܠܠܝܢܣܘܪܝܝܐ؟ Code2000 936kb
අැයි ඔවුන්ට ඉංගරිස කතා ෛනබ ? Sorry, no font available. I am looking for one, though! Bhikkhu Mettavihari helpfully gave me this picture of what the sentence should look like, if there were a Unicode font available!
ᓱᒻᒪᓂᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓄᑦᑎᑐᑐᐃᓐᓇᔭᙱᓚᑦ NunacomU 69.7kb
ለምንድነው አማርኛ የማይናገሩት፧  Code2000 936kb GF Zemen Unicode 180kb
Bakit hindi na lang sila magsalita ng Tagalog?
qatlh tlhIngan Hol lujatlhlaHbe' neH  The Klingon Language Institute
Prag a yl ý ewn a gows kernewek?
Ciin kiingan Yugcetun qalarcuitat?
Sapay nga dida la agsao ti Ilokanon?
Anongkot kari kai lay nan magsalita nin Zambale?
Kátse násh nu zburáscu Armánesche?
Soske ola na kerena lafi Romane?
Wieso kenne die ned änfach pälzisch sprooche ?
לְמָה לָא יאמרוּן בְּאַרָמִית?
Маг1арул мац1алда гьел щай к1алъаларел?
Arapa ma'ta' nganggui basa Madura bai? Madurese (126kb)
Kenapa kok ora nganggo basa Jawa wae? Javanese (107kb)
Хьунд оцярг нохчи кхамял ца дало? The Chechen Language Project - Chechen Republic Online
Worom kennad dia ned oifach schwäbisch schwätza?
Warum kenna de ned oafach boarisch re’n?
He aha ai  kore ratou e korero Maori noa iho !
demeuz weijnaeng baugangj vahcuengh?
Gbe fa mia vi teh de Mendeyie huu?
Kial oni simple ne parolas Esperanton? Esperanto - The International Language
Ma perchè poeuden minga semplicement parlà milanes?
他们为什么不说中文（中国）？ Code2000 936kb Chinese - Mandarin (51.1kb)
Wieso chönne dia nöd iefach schwizerdütsch redda?
¿Por qué no pueden simplemente hablar Español de México? Spanish - Mexico (80.6kb)
Kunnen ze geen Vlaams spreken?
Kvifor kan dei ikkje berre snakke nynorsk?
Porque é que eles não falam simplesmente em Português?
De ce ei nu vorbesc moldoveneşte?
Zašto jednostavno ne govore srpski?
Нийя онлар азярбайжан дилиндя данышмырлар?
Cén fáth nach labhrann siad as Gaeilge?
Нега улар узбек тилинда гапирмайдилар?
उनीहरू किन नेपाली मात्र बोल्न सक्दैनन् ? Code2000 936kb
KAX XIFAN HOL LUJAXBE' NEH  Font available from the KLI The Klingon Language Institute
Aponapa ma'ta' ngagam basa Madura saos? Madurese - High (112kb)
Kenging punapa kok mboten ngagem Basa Jawi Kemawon? Javanese - High (131kb)
ليه ما بتكلموش عربي؟
他們爲什麽不說中文（香港特別行政區）？ Code2000 936kb
Wye carnay jus stalk Strine?
¿Por qué no pueden simplemente hablar en Español? Spanish - International (59.1kb)
Pourquoi? y parlent pas français?
Зашто они једноставно не говоре Српски?
他们为什么不说中文（新加坡）？ Code2000 936kb
Woufir schwätzen si net einfach Letzebuergesch?
¿Por qué no pueden simplemente hablar Español de Guatemala? Spanish - Guatemala (72.6kb)
Zašto jednostavno ne govore bosanski?
他們爲什麽不說中文（澳門特別行政區）？ Code2000 936kb
ليش ماعم بيحكو عربي؟
¿Por qué no pueden simplemente hablar Español de Argentina? Spanish - Argentina (73.9kb)
ليش ما يتكلمون عربيعلى الأقل؟
أو ليش ما تتكلمون عربي؟
Bon sak fè ke yo paka pale Kreyòl?
وليش بس ما يحكوا عربي؟
Διὰ τὶ οὐ δύνανται τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν λαλεῖν ; Athena Roman 250kb Greek - Ancient (63.1kb)
מדוע לא דברו עברית?
Чаро онҳо ба забони точики гап намезананд?
Ⴐატომ Ⴀრ Ⴊაპარაკობენ Ⴈსინი Ⴕქართულად ? Sorry, no font available. I am looking for one, though! In the meantime, you need Arial Unicode MS. About Georgia - Georgian Language and Script
Olar nege khazakh tilinde soilemeidi?
ᓱᒻᒪᓂᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑐᐃᓐᓇᔭᙱᓚᑦ  NunacomU 69.7kb


Would you like to add a language to this list? Send e-mail to michka@trigeminal.com.

Other Unicode samplers (we are all a big mutual appreciation society, aren't we?)
UTF-8 Sampler (hosted by the Kermit Project)
What is Unicode? (hosted by the Unicode Consortium)
The "I Can Eat Glass" Project (hosted by the I.G.P.)
The Chunk Monkey poem (hosted by the Chunky Monkey Translation Society)
I don't know. I only work here. (hosted by Christopher R. Maden)
Example Unicode usage for business applications (hosted by Tex 'i18n Guy' Texin)

I am also working on adding more .WAV files for some of the languages, so you can actually hear the language (as spoken by a native). You may contribute such files as well, if you would like (be sure to ask if I already have that language before you send it!).

Valid HTML 4.01! Valid CSS!

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