There are just over 7000 official languages in the world, with many more languages and dialects without official status on top of that too. Yet despite this huge number, according to Ethnologue, just 23 major languages are spoken by over half the world’s population. In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the most spoken languages in the world and why they’re worth learning. Let’s get started!
Here’s a List of the 10 Most Spoken Languages in the World:
1. English – The Global Lingua Franca
When asked to guess the world’s most-spoken language, the majority of people would likely answer “English”, and they’d be right! As of 2022, English is thought to have some 1.5 billion speakers worldwide, with more non-native speakers of the language than native. In many ways, English can be considered the world’s lingua franca, allowing people of all different backgrounds and mother tongues to communicate.
However, English is not the same the world over! While you might be familiar with some of the differences between American and British English (think “color” versus “colour” or “faucet” versus “tap”), there are many countries who also have their own Standard English, with standard spellings, pronunciations, and sentence structures. Indian English, for example, has a huge Hindi influence, with useful words such as “lakh” and “crore” to talk about big numbers. South African English, meanwhile, takes many terms from Afrikaans, such as “domkop” for idiot!
Fun fact: English is not actually the official language of the United States of America. In fact, the USA does not have an official language recognized at the federal level at all.
2. Chinese – The Dominance of Mandarin
There is no one language that is simply “Chinese”. Rather there is Mandarin, the official language of China, Cantonese, spoken primarily in Hong Kong, and many other dialects.
If there was any debate over the most-spoken language in the world, it would have been between Mandarin Chinese and English. While English may have the most speakers in the world, Mandarin – closely following as the second most spoken language with 1.1 billion speakers – wins the trophy for the language with the most native speakers (around 918 million!).
Learning Mandarin is quite a linguistic departure for those who are only familiar with European languages. The tone system, whereby the rise or fall of pitch across a syllable changes the meaning of a word, can be tricky. “Ma” with a level tone means “mother,” but with a falling then rising tone, it means “horse.” However, for those familiar with languages like Spanish, Mandarin does not have tenses, preferring to use time words such as “yesterday” or “tomorrow” to indicate when something is happening, keeping the verb form the same.
3. Hindi – The Heart of India
Hindi, with around 600 million speakers, takes 3rd place for the world’s most-spoken language. There is no national language in India; however, as of today, the Indian constitution recognizes 22 major languages as the official languages of India in what is known as “the 8th Schedule” of the Constitution. Competing with over 120 other Indian languages, Hindi comes out on top as the one most widely-spoken across the nation and is certainly the one to learn if you’re a lover of Bollywood.
Though the different script (Hindi is written in Devanagari) and complex grammar (Hindi has three different forms of address depending on different degrees of formality) may intimidate learners, speakers of major European languages like English, Spanish, and German may be surprised to know that Hindi is actually very distantly related to them. Hindi, as well as most European languages, descended from an ancient language which linguists call “Indo-European.”
4. Spanish – Unlocking Opportunities Across the Globe
Spanish has a huge base of native speakers, spanning Central and South America as well as Spain in Europe. For this reason, it is one of the most advantageous foreign languages to learn as it unlocks a huge range of travel opportunities.
With just five vowels, getting your head around the spelling and pronunciation of Spanish is a lot easier than languages such as English, where an “ou” spelling can be pronounced in many different ways. Indeed, according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Spanish falls into category 1, requiring just 600 hours of study to reach general proficiency. This is much easier compared to category V languages like Arabic or Korean, which require 2200 hours to reach the same level of proficiency.
5. French – Language of Diplomacy and Culture
French is not just the official language of France. Other European countries, such as Belgium and Luxembourg, have also adopted it. Most importantly, many African countries also use it as an official language, including Benin, Chad, and Mali. Considering the important economic potential of this region of the world, learning French is definitely not a waste of time!
Due to the fast-growing number of its speakers, French now ranks as the 5th most spoken language in the world, just behind Spanish, with more than 280 million speakers. Despite its resemblance to other Romance languages, French is not an easy language to learn. The main difficulty lies in its complicated grammar and its many exceptions to the rule. Additionally, French has many silent letters and inconsistent pronunciations, which can lead to frequent spelling mistakes even among native speakers.
6. Arabic – A Linguistic Challenge with Cultural Richness
Arabic is a notoriously hard language for English natives to learn, but with a huge number of speakers spanning North Africa to Asia and the Gulf, this language is sure to be of interest for anyone interested in the Islamic world or anyone looking for a language-learning challenge!
There are upwards of 250 million Arabic speakers worldwide, and yet Arabic can differ dramatically across its various homelands. Each country has its own dialect of Arabic, making it harder for speakers from different regions to understand each other. That said, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) serves as the lingua franca, understood across the Arabic-speaking world.
7. Portuguese – Connecting Continents
Portuguese spans three continents as an official language. Portuguese speakers are spread across Portugal, Brazil, and a number of African countries including Mozambique and Angola.
If you know Spanish, you already have a significant advantage when it comes to learning Portuguese. Learners of Brazilian Portuguese may even find some things simpler than learning Spanish or the European Portuguese spoken in Portugal.
8. Japanese – The Language of Innovation and Tradition
Japanese has 125 million native speakers and is considered one of the most widely spoken languages worldwide. Though it is the eighth most spoken language, many people are familiar with some Japanese words or expressions, thanks to the global popularity of anime and manga.
Japanese grammar is quite easy in some respects, with no singular/plural forms or masculine/feminine gender, but the language’s writing system contains three alphabets (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji) that learners must master.
9. Russian – Language of the East
Russian is spoken by over 258 million people worldwide and is the official language of Russia and many former USSR countries. Russian is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations and is one of the two languages spoken aboard the International Space Station.
Russian grammar is complicated, as it includes six grammatical cases, and learners must master its Cyrillic alphabet. Despite these challenges, Russian remains an essential language in international diplomacy, science, and literature.
10. German – Europe’s Business Language
German is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with 130 million native speakers. As one of the most widely spoken languages in Europe, it holds significance in the world of business, philosophy, and science.
German’s complex grammar system, with three genders and four grammatical cases, can be challenging. However, German is a Germanic language, and learners will recognize many familiar words and structures, especially if they speak English.
Why Learning These Languages is Worth It
Learning any of the top 10 most spoken languages can provide immense personal and professional benefits. In an increasingly globalized world, multilingualism opens up opportunities in travel, career advancement, and cross-cultural communication. Whether you’re looking to boost your career prospects, explore new cultures, or enjoy international media, learning one or more of these languages can enhance your life in countless ways.
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