Vernacular Vernacular A vernacular, or vernacular language, is the language or variety of a language used in everyday life by the common people of a specific population. It is distinguished from a standard, national or literary language or a "lingua franca", used to facilitate communication across a large area. It is usually native, mostly spoken rather than written and usually seen as of lower status than more standardized forms. It can be a language, dialect or sociolect. Some linguists use "vernacular" and "nonstandard dialect" as synonyms. Usage of the word "vernacular" is not recent. In 1688, James Howell wrote: Concerning Italy,
Swedish as a foreign language an "equal status" as an official language of the state. This situation remains to this day, despite the near-complete switchover to Finnish in practical usage in governmental affairs. There is compulsory teaching and language testing at all levels of education, and a basic working knowledge of Swedish is required for state government officials. Swedish as a foreign language Swedish as a foreign language is studied by about 40,000 people worldwide at the university level and by over one million people on Duolingo. It is taught at over two hundred universities and colleges in 38 countries. Swedish is the Scandinavian language