¿No sabías que Paraguay es un país bilingüe? Pensé que todos hablaban español.

Interesting. Why is it that in the first phrase, the second part of the phrase is in the present ("es") while in the second phrase, it's in the past/imperfect ("hablaban")? Would it be also be correct to say: - "Pensé que todos hablan español." "No sabías que Paraguay era un país bilingüe?" somehow doesn't sound right (i.e., like this would imply that the country is no longer bilingual).

Steven: Bing Translator says this means "You didn't know that Paraguay was a bilingual country?" Not that it is correct, Bing gives me some muy raro translations sometimes. But it does make more sense than the country is no longer bilingual. Although, I have read that there are factions in Quebec Province that want to eliminate English there.

Did you know that Paraguay is no longer bilingual? I thought everybody spoke or were speaking Spanish? This is great! I am still only comfortable with the present tense. This will force me to move forward. I will ask Diana what she thinks. Oh, I have another resource. Vikki, my Spanish teacher at the Senior Center. I will ask her also. I will see her Wednesday.

I think the translation should be something like this: Didn't you know that Paraguay is a bilingual country? I thought everybody spoke Spanish. In the English, the first part of the sentence is in the past tense while the second part is in the present. The second sentence is in the past tense. So it makes some sense that the Spanish starts out in the past imperfect tense and states the bilingual part in the present. Likewise the second sentence states that they speak Spanish in the imperfect past tense. There seem to be a lot of similarities between the English and Spanish grammars here.

¡Bien dicho Robert!

Nice work Robert C7. What's your first and second or even third language in order of proficiency?

My first native language is English. My second learned language is Spanish (4 years study in high school plus recent study) of which I would rate myself high intermediate. My third language is Chinese (Mandarin) and I would rate myself as an advanced beginner.

Awesome!