English Vocabulary:

Countries, Nationalities, And

Languages

One big vocabulary and pronunciation problem in

English is knowing how to pronounce the English names of countries,
nationalities, and languages. In today’s lesson, I’ve organized the
words into categories that can help you remember them better.
You can also practice your pronunciation of the country and nationality
words.

-IAN / -EAN

Country Nationality Language

Argentina Argentine/Argentinean Spanish

Australia Australian English

Bolivia Bolivian Spanish

Brazil Brazilian Portuguese

Cambodia Cambodian Cambodian

Cameroon Cameroonian French/English

Canada Canadian English/French

Chile Chilean Spanish

Colombia Colombian Spanish

Ecuador Ecuadorian Spanish

 Egypt Egyptian Arabic

El Salvador Salvadorian Spanish

Estonia Estonian Estonian

Ethiopia Ethiopian Amharic

Ghana Ghanaian English

India Indian Various

Indonesia Indonesian Indonesian

Iran Iranian Persian

Italy Italian Italian

Jordan Jordanian Arabic

Korea Korean Korean

Lithuania Lithuanian Lithuanian

Nigeria Nigerian Ibo, Hausa etc.

Panama Panamanian Spanish

Peru Peruvian Spanish

Romania Romanian Romanian

Syria Syrian Arabic

Ukraine Ukrainian Ukrainian

-AN
Notice that some of these words end in -IAN, but the “I” is silent.

Country Nationality Language

Afghanistan Afghan Persian-Pashto

Belgium Belgian French/Flemish

Costa Rica Costa Rican Spanish

Cuba Cuban Spanish

Dominican Republic Dominican Spanish

 Germany German German

Guatemala Guatemalan Spanish

Haiti Haitian French/Creole

Honduras Honduran Spanish

Kenya Kenyan Swahili

Malaysia Malaysian Malay/Malaysian

Mexico Mexican Spanish

Morocco Moroccan Arabic/French

Nicaragua Nicaraguan Spanish

Norway Norwegian Norwegian

Paraguay* Paraguayan* Spanish

Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Spanish

Russia Russian Russian

South Africa South African Afrikaans, English, etc.

United States American** English

Uruguay* Uruguayan* Spanish

Venezuela Venezuelan Spanish

* There are two ways to pronounce the syllable: GWAY (like “way”) and GWAI
(like “eye”).
**Although “American” is the most common way to refer to someone from
the U.S., I recognize that this can be considered offensive to citizens of other
countries in North America, Central America, and South America. So
sometimes it’s better to say “from the U.S.” instead of “American.”
-ISH / -CH

Country Nationality Language

England English English

Finland Finnish Finnish

Denmark Danish Danish

Netherlands/Holland Dutch Dutch

France French French

Ireland Irish Irish/English

Spain Spanish Spanish

Sweden Swedish Swedish

Poland Polish Polish

Turkey Turkish Turkish

Wales Welsh Welsh/English

-ESE

Country Nationality Language

China Chinese Chinese

Japan Japanese Japanese

Portugal Portuguese Portuguese

Taiwan Taiwanese Chinese

Vietnam Vietnamese Vietnamese

OTHER

Country Nationality Language

Czech Republic Czech Czech

Greece Greek Greek

Iceland Icelander Icelandic

Iraq Iraqi Arabic

Israel Israeli Hebrew

New Zealand New Zealander English/Maori

Pakistan Pakistani Urdo

 Philippines Filipino Tagalog/Filipino

Qatar Qatari Arabic

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabic

Switzerland Swiss Swiss

Tajikistan Tajik Tajik (Persian)

Thailand Thai Thai