The most spoken languages in the world
1. English (1.132 million speakers)
- Native speakers 379 million
- Non-native speakers: 753 million
As Latin or Greek during the past, English is today’s universal language. It is the language of choice for international travel, business, and technology, among others.
A person who is bilingual, who speaks Spanish and English can comprehend one out of three users who are connected via the Internet (Internet World Statistics 2019). In addition, he / is able to access 60% of the content published online (W3Techs 2019,). [FB2].
2. Mandarin (1.117 million speakers)
- Native speakers 918 million
- Non-native speakers: 199 million
If native and non-native speakers are merged, Mandarin is the second most used language spoken in the world. But, it’s the first language if the native language is considered.
Mandarin isn’t really the name of a language, it is merely the dialects that make up the Chinese language. The reason why they all have dialects is the fact that their speakers communicate with each other.
3. Hindi (615 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 341 million
- Non-native speakers: 274 million
Hindi is, alongside English as well, among the officially recognized languages in India as the second-highest-populous nation on the planet. The diversity of the linguistics of this area (more than 1600 different languages are coexisting) can be explained by the large number of non-natives who utilize Hindi as a lingua Francisca.
4. Spanish (534 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 460 million
- Non-native speakers: 74 million
It is the second-most spoken world language by the number of people who speak it. It is also the third most frequently used language by users of the Internet.
The huge expansion of colonialism led it not just to America but also across Africa in addition to Asia. Thanks to the migration process it is believed that the United States is the country that has the second-largest amount of Spanish people in the world.
5. French (280 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 77 million
- Non-native speakers: 203 million
Colonialism helped the French to spread across the globe. It is now an official language in more than 29 nations across different continents.
In the event that English is the preferred language for the business world, French was considered one of the languages of culture. Its importance is illustrated by the fact that it is the one with the third-largest number of non-natives.
6. Arabic (274 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 245 million
- Non-native speakers: 29 million
Arabic is considered to be the language of the state of 26 nations. Due to the territorial spread, it’s in reality a dialect collection. Also, it is the official language of Islam.
It’s not just the language that reflects the vast cultural legacy from this region of the Arab globe, it is is also an essential tool for the business world in this region in the globe.
7. Bengali (265 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 228 million
- Non-native speakers: 37 million
Bengali is considered to be the national language spoken in Bangladesh. It could be an unanswered question that a language spoken within the smallest of areas would be included in the list of the most widely spoken languages. The reason for this can be due to the high population density in the area. The language is also spoken in areas that are part of India in addition to Burma.
8. Russian (258 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 154 million
- Non-native speakers: 104 million
Not as surprising is its inclusion in Russian as one of the most spoken languages when we look at its territorial expansion. Russian is the language that’s official in four nations but it is also used in every country that was a member of the old Soviet Union. It is the language that has the highest percentage of people who speak it in Europe.
9. Portuguese (234 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 221 million
- Non-native speakers: 13 million
Portuguese is one of the languages that developed in the European colonial era. Nowadays, it is the official language in 9 countries, which are split between Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. The largest speaker regarding territorial expansion and the people who speak it is Brazil. Also, it is one of the languages that is frequently spoken language in the southern hemisphere.
10. Indonesian (198 million speakers)
- Native speakers: 43 million
- Non-native speakers: 155 million
The language is used as the national one in Indonesia which is the fourth largest nation on the planet. It is distinct in that it isn’t the primary language spoken by most of its inhabitants. It is, therefore, an important second language for understanding and understanding in a world with over 200 different languages.