Just like in England, the country you visit on your year abroad will host a variety of different accents, dialects, customs and lifestyles. The French, however much they love to be French, also have an intense regional pride which is expressed not only in accent and dialect but in local food, décor, lifestyle and etiquette. One of the best bits of your year abroad will be discovering the uniqueness of the town, city or region you reside in, as well as the country of course.

Surely you’ll be absolutely fine speaking Italian in Italy? Well, presumably, but Standard Italian is quite a modern thing – just think back to when Italy was unified: 1861! Until then, what we now call Italy was just lots of different states, and each one had their own language or dialect. For several reasons (its literary prestige, amongst others), the Tuscan/Florentine dialect was taken as the language of modern Italy, but its standardisation was slow. Italian wasn’t widespread and spoken by everyone in Italy until the 20^th century, but nowadays it is spoken by around 60 million people. Because Italian was adopted so late, some dialects survived despite being spoken only in small and remote regions. Here’s a list of the most common regional languages and dialects you’ll find in Italy nowadays (as you can see, Italy’s neighbours have a lot of influence!)

More than 130 million people speak French as their native language, and most of those are based in France. When travelling (and living) in France, you should also bear in mind that it is rich in minority languages and dialects as well. During the French Revolution, the French language was favoured over the different regional languages. The revolutionaries thought that the monarchists preferred regional languages because they “kept the masses uninformed”. Regional languages started to be referred to as patois, a derogative term in its beginnings. Sometimes patois refers to non-Parisian French as well as regional languages. An example of standard, Parisian French is spoken by TV news anchors.

German is the most widely spoken language in the European Union – with around 120 million native speakers! – so it's no wonder so many students choose to study it at university. But if you’re thinking of spending your year abroad in Germany, how far will your Standard German take you?

No matter how many language classes you've had or grammar books you've drilled through, nothing will compare to how much you'll progress in your language learning by actually hearing it spoken by a native and having a conversation with them. Spanish, French and German-speakers are just a few who'll have their work cut out for them in terms of getting to grips with regional dialects and foreign languages outside of their comfort zone. Catalan, Breton and Frisian might just be some of the foreign tongues you've come across or are just about to, as you're packing away. Why not refresh your memory or get a head-start here for some (there are literally hundreds) of the dialects and languages you're most likely to encounter on a year abroad in Europe...