Countries and nationalities — Unit 27, Beginner English
Countries, their nationalities and their languages — the four endings that cover almost every one, and the capital letter rule that learners forget most.
Reading: Friends from Different Countries
There are eighteen students in Ms Brown's English class. They are from different **countries**, but they all live in the same city now. One student, Kenji, is from Japan. His **capital city** is Tokyo, and he speaks Japanese and English.
Maria is from Brazil. She is Brazilian, and Portuguese is her first language. Her favourite food is rice, beans and chicken. Omar is Egyptian. He tells the class about Cairo and the River Nile. He wants to **visit** London one day because he loves English football.
On International Day, every student brings a photo or an object from home. They put small flags on a map and say, "I am from …" The class learns that a person's country and **nationality** are connected, but people can speak more than one language and live in more than one place. At the end of the day, Ms Brown says, "We are all different, and that makes our class interesting."
During the break, the students ask each other simple questions about their homes. They want to know what food people eat, what weather is common and what places visitors should see. Kenji shows a picture of cherry trees in Japan, and Maria shows a photograph of a carnival costume from Brazil.
At the end, Ms Brown asks students to make a poster in pairs. Each poster has a country, its capital city, a flag, one language and three interesting facts. The students put the posters on the classroom wall for everyone to read.
At the end, Ms Brown asks students to make a poster in pairs. Each poster has a country, its capital city, a flag, one language and three interesting facts. The students put the posters on the classroom wall for everyone to read.
Vocabulary from this unit
| Ending | Countries | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| -ish | Turkey · Britain · Spain · Poland · Sweden | Turkish · British · Spanish · Polish · Swedish |
| -an / -ian | Germany · Russia · Italy · Iran · America | German · Russian · Italian · Iranian · American |
| -ese | China · Japan · Portugal · Vietnam | Chinese · Japanese · Portuguese · Vietnamese |
| -i | Azerbaijan · Iraq · Pakistan · Israel | Azerbaijani · Iraqi · Pakistani · Israeli |
| Country | Nationality | Language |
|---|---|---|
| France | French | French |
| Greece | Greek | Greek |
| the Netherlands | Dutch | Dutch |
| Switzerland | Swiss | German, French, Italian |
| the USA / the UK | American / British | English |
This is the free sample from this unit. The full unit adds 1 more reading passage, comprehension questions with an answer key, the listening exercises, flashcards for the vocabulary above, and a speaking task — with your progress tracked so the next unit unlocks when you are ready for it.
Common questions
What level is this unit?
Beginner — roughly CEFR A0–A1. If you are not sure of your level, the course places you with a short diagnostic before you start rather than making you guess.
Do I need to pay to use this?
The reading passage and vocabulary on this page are free to read. The rest of the unit — the remaining passages, the exercises, the listening, the answer key and the progress tracking — is part of the paid General English course.
Is this British or American English?
British English spelling and vocabulary, which is what most learners in Azerbaijan are taught and what IELTS expects, though both are accepted in the exam.