Albanian, Shqip

	Albanian is not related to other languages! Like a rare winter plum, Albanian is the sole surviving member on its branch of the Indo-European family tree.
	6,000,000 speakers
	It's the official language in Albania and Kosovo and is spoken in Serbia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Macedonia.
	Latin.
	The earliest traces of written Albanian date from religious fragments found in the fifteenth century. There's a short Catholic baptismal formula from 1462, and some New Testament verses from the same period. The first dictionary was the 1635 Latin-Albanian dictionary of Frang-Bardhi.
	Since 1908 Albanian has been based on the Latin alphabet, but before that the same language could be - and was! - written in 4 different alphabets: Latin, Greek, Turkish Arabic and Cyrillic.
	BBC World Service in Albanian.

Key Phrases Po. Yes. Jo. No. Mirë se vjen! Welcome! Gëzohem që po takohemi. Pleased to meet you. Tungjatjeta. Hello. Mirupafshim. Goodbye. Faleminderit. Thank you.
	Unë quhem ... My name is ... A flisni anglisht? Do you speak English? Më vjen keq, nuk flas shqip. I'm sorry, I don't speak Albanian. Më duhet ndihmë. I need help. Ku është tualeti, ju lutem? Where is the toilet, please?

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