The 5 most spoken languages in the world

Surely, you have been curious about learning a new language but you still don’t know which one to choose. Maybe a Romance language like French? Or how about a Germanic, like English? There are more than 6,900 languages spoken worldwide, with more than thirty million speakers.

If the previous figure surprised you, it will be hard for you to believe that what determines how spoken a language is, is not exactly its presence in several countries, but the number of speakers around the globe.

Let me explain: one might think that the most spoken language in the world is English given that it is the language used internationally for business and, in general, it is the “frenzy” of travelers around the world. However, to our surprise, English does not occupy the number one position among the most spoken, and the reason lies in demographic issues that you’ll see later.

Without any more preambles, and supported by the figures of Ethnologue: Languages of the world, these are the five most spoken languages in the world and why you should learn them.

Chinese

Present in 38 countries and with an approximate of 1.300 million speakers, the Chinese language is undoubtedly in the first place. It is a macro-language that agglomerates a family of unintelligible languages with each other, whose more standardized form we know as Mandarin Chinese. So if you are planning to make a trip to the Asian continent, Mandarin Chinese can be your passport to all the adventures that this side of the world awaits for you.

Spanish

Bet you didn’t see it coming! The second position is occupied by the Spanish language with its 442 million speakers in the world. A language underestimated by its English counterpart because it’s mostly present mostly in third world countries, but that has an unimaginable linguistic and cultural richness. Spain, Latin America, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, among other countries could be your next destination if you are willing to immerse yourself in the culture of the Spanish speakers.

English

One of the official languages of the European Union and the most studied worldwide as a second language, present in 118 countries with 378 million native speakers. English is known as the language of opportunities and business as it is widely used in international diplomatic negotiations and international trade. In addition, as we mentioned before, as it is the most studied language around the world, it represents a multipass when touristing in foreign-speaking countries.

Arabic

Arabic language is also part of the glorious group of macro languages on the other side of the world. Its presence in more than 50 countries with 315 million native speakers bases it in fourth place in this list, adding importance to its learning given the infinities of negotiations between the American continent and the Arabic-speaking territory. It could be said that, in addition to tourism, labor and commercial development are the main reasons why you should dare to master this new language.

Hindi

A language vast in dialects and with an interesting historical and religious past. Hindi occupies the fifth place because it is spoken in four countries by 260 million people. Its origin occurs in India and, although it’s internationally limited, Hindi is a language that is worth learning if the rich Indian culture is among your preferences.

Also take a look at this blog: What is the importance of learning a new language?

Surprised? Day by day, we live immersed in a multicultural and (therefore) multilingual society, that we know so little about due to language barriers, that it has been easy to miss out on all the opportunities the world has to offer us.

That is why in Appliin, we developed Bilingual App so that, while you take your time to learn other languages, we’ll be your communicative bridge to the rest of the world.

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