Each May the 4th, the entire world celebrates Star Wars Day, because of the phonetic likeness of the date with the saga’s iconic catchphrase “May the force be with you. This wordplay is just one of the many links between the saga and languages, since Huttese, Ewokese or Aurebesh – invented for the films – are inspired by real languages such as Quechuan, Tibetan, Nepali and Finnish.
The saga, premiered in 1977, was bought by Disney in 2012 and currently generates more than 7 billion dollars annually in toys, clothing, video games, films and TV series, since more and more people are becoming one with the force.
Even if you know the movies by heart or you barely know the characters, we invite you to pick your favorite and we’ll tell you which language you should learn on Duolingo, based on their background or personality. You can also choose randomly, although, “in our experience there’s no such thing as luck”:
- C-3PO: If you chose this golden paranoid android as your favorite character, you’re most certainly a language lover. C-3PO was fluent in more than 6 million languages and communication forms, but since not all of them are available in Duolingo, you should at least learn German, since this robot was inspired by the 1927 film Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, and one of the most important films of German expressionism.
- Han Solo: Famously played by Harrison Ford, he’s one of the saga’s main characters, appearing in Episodes IV, V VI, VII and IX. If you chose him because of your affinity for the classics, we recommend you to take Spanish lessons, especially if you’re looking for a fun activity to do… solo (which is Spanish for “alone”).
- Leia: You’re a rebel at heart, who loves transcending time and space, so you’re a shoo-in for taking French lessons. For a piece of interesting trivia, this characters’ iconic hairstyles arebased on the Hopi community, located in northern Mexico, and although Carrie Fisher didn’t exactly warm up to them, they became Leia’s trademark. She’s one of the few leading female characters, and it was set apart from her fictional contemporaries because of her leadership.
- Ewoks: These little critters resembling teddy bears have a peculiar dialect based on several languages, including nepali. If you chose them we recommend you try a language from a neighboring region and similar roots: Hindi. India is one of the countries in which nepali is spoken, and holds a strong, spiritual culture that values nature greatly, similar to the Ewoks themselves.
- Darth Vader: Not only do you like the Dark Side of the Force, but you’re also interested in the story behind that change and things outside the conventional. That’s why Finnish is for you, the official language of Finland and the inspiration behind Huttese, spoken by evil gangster Jabba the Hutt and shady trader Watto, who owned Vader as a child in Episode I, when he was known as Anakin Skywalker.
- Padmé Amidala: If you chose Anakin/Vader’s true love, you’ll surely be interested in learning a millenary language such as Chinese, Additionally, some of the character’s outfits are inspired by traditional royalty fatigues from Mongolia, a nomadic empire covering territories from China, Mesopotamia, India and Russia. This regal character’s clothing and make-up stand out for their beauty, and she shows great power without losing her virtuousness and longing for peace.
- Yoda: Good choice you have made! By picking such a legendary character, we suggest you learn Latin, a language as ancient as this wise and ornery Jedi Master. Interestingly, this language uses the anastrophe, a figure of speech that mixes the word order in a sentence, like this character does. Although it’s an unusual and complex language, remember that “impossible, nothing is. Difficult, many things are.”
- Porg: If your favorite character is this lovable winged creature, you’ll surely appreciate the term aegyo, a Korean concept that encompasses sweetness and everything adorable such as porgs. It also helps that this language has now become highly popular and host of a culture that favors actions or characters displaying tenderness.
We also invite you to visit Duolingo’s blog where you can find more fun facts and trivia about languages and cultures, or even learn Klingon in the Duolingo website or mobile app if you wish totrek into brave new worlds. Meanwhile, happy learning and may the force be with you!
