The most popular languages ​​on the planet. The most widely spoken language in the world

1.3 billion people

This unique language, listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most difficult, became the official state language in the PRC, Singapore and Taiwan. It is the working language of the UN. In total, there are more than 1.3 billion of its speakers, living mainly in Southeast Asia. This is precisely the popularity that the historical language of the Han people, who are the main language in China, has achieved over thousands of years. Chinese is one of the oldest languages ​​on the planet. The first information about its existence appeared in the 4th-11th centuries BC. in fortune-telling inscriptions made on the bones of animals for sacrifice.

Interestingly, you can say hello in Chinese by saying "nihao", and say goodbye by saying "zaizen"

Spanish language 450 million people

It is considered the second most popular language in the world. Today there is no exact information about how many people on the planet speak Spanish. According to the roughest estimates, the number of speakers has already exceeded 450 million people. They inhabit almost all countries, including the USA, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the territory of Gibraltar. This language has a second name - Castilian, derived from the kingdom of Castile, where this language group, which belongs to the Romance, originated. Chronologically, Spanish began to take shape in the 3rd century BC. and received its widespread distribution in the era of navigation, the development of trade and foreign relations. Today it is the official language of the UN.

Interestingly, the greeting in Spanish would sound like this: "Hola!", but farewell - how "Adyos!"

400 million people

It is an international language of communication and is recognized as the official state language in many countries of the world - the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Malta. There are more than 400 million native speakers, and even more people speak English - approximately one billion. English belongs to the Germanic language group. And for many centuries it has maintained its reputation as the most sought-after on the planet. This is partly associated with the colonial policy of Great Britain, during which many continents came under the country's subordination.

And now in every corner of the planet such words as "Hello"(hello) and "Good Bye"(Goodbye).

260 million people

This is, without exaggeration, the most musical language on the planet, since words in it are distinguished by duration and vocalism. Hindi is one of the most ancient languages. However, it is not known exactly when it arose. Approximate data also exists regarding the number of native speakers - there are more than 260 million of them in the world. At the same time, Hindi is recognized as the official language in India, partly in Fiji, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Hindi has incorporated both local dialects and has Arabic and Persian roots.

By the way, in Hindi, farewell and greeting can sound the same - "Namaste!", which literally means an abstract wish for all the best.

240 million people

This language is now spoken by more than 240 million people in the world. In addition, Arabic became one of the official languages ​​of the UN General Assembly in Israel, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somaliland, Somalia, and the Comoros Islands. It is recognized as a state language in absolutely all Arab countries, because the Holy Quran is written in classical Arabic. By its origin, Arabic is considered almost the most archaic representative of the Semitic language branch and the Afroasiatic language family.

Like many centuries ago, Arabs greet each other with the phrase "Assailam alaikum", and in parting they say - "Mea assaylam".

Portuguese 203 million people

In terms of its popularity and distribution in countries around the world, it is not inferior to Spanish. Now this is the state recognized language of Angola, Portugal, Brazil, East Timor, Macau, Princely, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome, Mozambique. The number of Portuguese speakers has exceeded 203 million people; in total, there are now more than 300 million people speaking it on the planet. Despite its progressiveness, Portuguese, in comparison with the closely related Spanish, is much more archaic and conservative, because the language supposedly originated earlier than the 8th century BC. And many linguistic cultures, including Arabic, left their mark on it.

The Portuguese say hello like this: "Bon Dia!", and when they want to say “Goodbye” they say - "A te avishta!".

193 million people

Bengali has received official status in West Bengal and Bangladesh. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages. The history of the origin of the Bengali language stretches back to the 10th-12th centuries and is associated primarily with the division of Bengal. This left its mark on the language vocabulary, the majority of which are words in Sanskrit.

What’s interesting is that Bengalis say hello and goodbye in the same way, saying just one word - "nomoskar".

Russian language 137 million people

The most widespread language in terms of geography of use, which is the eighth in the world in terms of the number of speakers and the fifth in the number of speakers. In pure numbers, this is about 260 million people. Russian belongs to the eastern group of Slavic languages. And today it is among the workers at UN meetings, since it is recognized as a global world language. Now Russian has also become the second most popular language on the Internet. In Russia, it is Russian that is recognized as the state language, and in other countries - Belarus, Moldova and partly in South Ossetia it is considered official. Modern Russian is the result of the influence of some East Slavic languages ​​and dialects, multiplied by Old Church Slavonic and Church Slavonic languages.

Japanese language 125 million people

The most mysterious language, because its genetic roots have not yet been established by scientists. Its main feature lies in its original writing. This language is native to 125 million people. According to one of the most famous versions, the Japanese language has Altai roots and took root at a time when the Altaians subjugated the Japanese islands. This is approximately 3rd century BC.

The sounds of words in Japanese are unique. So, the greeting looks like "oh" or "cannitiva", but the Japanese say goodbye like this - "Saoonara".

Javanese 100 million people

Javanese closes the list of the most common languages. A paradoxical story has happened with this language. Despite being spoken by more than 100 million people and by the majority of Indonesians, it has never received its official state status. In addition, it is also considered the most widespread Austronesian language. It is used by the Javanese living on the island of Java. It is studied in schools during lessons by primary school students; newspapers, magazines and television and radio programs are published on it.

We are all accustomed to the fact that the second foreign language must be English. The entire IT industry, all areas of science, as well as most foreign forums are held in English. Nowadays, knowing English opens up great opportunities for one’s development. We are accustomed to the fact that English is the international language.

But few people know that in addition to English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and French are also considered international - these languages ​​are official languages ​​of the UN.

But which language is the most widespread in the world? This question was answered by Ethnologue, the most famous reference book on the world's languages, published annually since 1951. Based on the results of research by specialists from Ethnologue and the supplement released in 2016, the site has prepared the twenty most common languages ​​in the world.

1. First place Chinese. This language is spoken by 1.284 billion people. The language is used by 37 countries around the world, the main country being, of course, China.

2. In second place, not surprisingly, Spanish. Thanks to the active colonial activities of Spain in the Middle Ages, Spanish is the official language in almost all countries of South and Central America. Spanish is the native language of 437 million people in 31 countries.


3. English language takes only third place. 372 million people speak this language in 106 countries.


4. Arabic occupies fourth position. 295 million people speak this language in 57 countries. The largest countries are Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Syria.


5. Rounding out the top five Hindi, from India. Despite the fact that almost 1.3 billion people live in India, 447 different languages ​​and 2 thousand dialects are spoken there. The most common of them, Hindi, is spoken by only 260 million people.


Hindi.

6. Bengali, 242 million people in 4 countries, the main carrier state is Bangladesh.

7. Portuguese, 219 million people in 13 countries, the main carrier state is Portugal.

8. Russian, 154 million people in 19 countries, the main carrier state is Russia.

9. Japanese, 128 million people in 2 countries, the main carrier state is Japan.

10. Punjabi(languages ​​of Indian West Punjab and adjacent areas of Pakistan), 119 million people in 6 countries, the main carrier state is Pakistan.

11. Javanese, 84.4 million people in 3 countries, the main carrier state is Indonesia.

12. Korean, 77.2 million people in 7 countries, the main carrier state is South Korea.

13. German, 76.8 million people in 27 countries, the main carrier state is Germany.

14. French, 76.1 million people in 53 countries, the main carrier state is France.

15. Telugu, 74.2 million people in 2 countries, the main carrier state is India.

16. Marathi, 71.8 million people, distributed mainly in India.

17. Turkish, 71.1 million people in 8 countries, the main carrier state is Turkey.

18. Urdu, 69.1 million people in 6 countries, the main carrier state is Pakistan.

19. Vietnamese, 68.1 million people in 3 countries, the main carrier state is Vietnam.

20. Tamil, 68.0 million people in 7 countries, the main carrier state is India.

Thus, for every third inhabitant of the earth to understand you, it is enough to know Chinese, Spanish and English. Despite everything, English still occupies a leading place among highly developed countries, but Chinese is already “sneaking on its heels.”

Culture

The development of oral communication skills can probably be considered one of the most significant achievements in the field of human relationships on our planet. Moreover, since humanity first began to develop the language of communication, many variations and varieties of different languages ​​have appeared, while the process of modification of this tool of communication continues today. Information about the number of languages ​​on our planet is extremely contradictory, but according to some data their number exceeds six thousand. However, the following ten languages ​​are used on our planet by the largest number of people (the number of people for whom a particular language is native is presented in brackets).


10. German (90 million people)


The German language belongs to the so-called Indo-European family of languages, the Germanic branch (in fact, like English). The German language is used mainly in Germany, having the status of an official language there. However, German is also an official language in Austria, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg; he is also one of the official languages ​​of Belgium(along with Dutch and French); one of the four official languages ​​of Switzerland (along with French, Italian and the so-called Swiss Romansh); as well as the official language of part of the population of the Italian city of Bolzano. In addition, it is known that small groups of citizens living in countries such as Poland, Denmark, Hungary and the Czech Republic also communicate in German.

9. Japanese (132 million people)


The Japanese language belongs to the category of the so-called Japanese-Ryukyu languages ​​(which also includes the Ryukyu language itself, which is spoken on the island of Okinawa as part of the group of islands of the same name). Most people whose native language is Japanese live in Japan. However, people for whom Japanese is also their native language can be found in Korea, the United States of America, Europe... Japanese is the official language in Japan, but it also has official status in one of the states in the Republic of Palau - an island state in the western Pacific ocean.

8. Russian language (144 million people)


Russian belongs to the East Slavic subgroup of languages ​​in the Slavic group, which also includes Belarusian and Ukrainian languages. The vast majority of Russian-speaking people for whom Russian is their native language live, of course, in Russian Federation, where Russian, in fact, has the status of an official language. Besides, it is a well-known fact that a large number of Russian-speaking people live in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other republics of the former Soviet Union (and not only). It is noteworthy that in this top ten most widely used languages, Russian is the only language that uses the Cyrillic alphabet.

7. Portuguese (178 million people)


Portuguese belongs to the Romance group of languages. As is the case with other languages ​​of this group, Latin is considered one of the predecessors of the Portuguese language. Portuguese is considered an official language in Portugal and Brazil, where he lives the vast majority of the world's population speaking it. In addition, Portuguese is considered the official language in Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Uruguay and Argentina. Today, Portuguese is one of the four most frequently studied languages ​​(according to some sources, about 30 million people study it).

6. Bengali (181 million people)


The Bengali language (or Bengali language) belongs to the so-called Indo-Aryan branch, along with languages ​​such as Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. Most people who speak this language live in the Republic of Bangladesh, where Bengali is the official language. Moreover, people speak it who live in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam. This language is also spoken by some people living in Europe, the United States of America and even Saudi Arabia. The Bengali language is characterized by a rich literary tradition. In addition, the concept of Bengali nationalism is widely known in the world. The basis of Bengali writing is related to the basis of Sanskrit and Hindi writing.

5. Arabic (221 million people)


Arabic belongs to the so-called Semitic family of languages, which includes languages ​​of the Arabian subgroup such as Syriac and Chaldean (now a dead language). Arabic is the most spoken language in the Middle East and North Africa. It is official in 26 countries of the world. It is also spoken in Israel. In addition, in Europe, as in North America, there are a lot of people who speak Arabic. As you know, the holy book of all Muslims in the world, the Koran, was written in this language. To write Arabic, it uses the Arabic alphabet.

4. Hindi language (242 million people)


Hindi is a member of the Indo-European family of languages ​​and belongs to the Indo-Aryan group (as does the Urdu language). This language has many dialects, but its official forms are the so-called Standard Hindi and Standard Urdu. However, these two forms can sometimes be quite difficult to distinguish from each other. Hindi is known to is the official language of India, while Urdu is the official language in Pakistan. Hindi and Urdu are spoken in parts of Europe and North America, where large numbers of people from India and Pakistan now live. To write in these languages, the Hindi alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are used (this fact indicates the influence that Islam had on Urdu).

3. English (328 million people)


English, like German, belongs to the West Germanic group of languages. The roots of this language are considered to be Anglo-Saxon (so-called Old English). Much of English was borrowed from Latin and French due to the Norman conquerors. Despite the fact that the birthplace of this language is the British Isles, most most of people who speak English currently lives in the United States of America(more than 309 million English-speaking citizens). English is spoken in 53 countries around the world, where it is one of the official languages. These countries include Canada, South Africa, Jamaica, New Zealand, Australia and, of course, the UK. English is also spoken in many countries in the Pacific region, and in India it is considered almost another official language.

2. Spanish (329 million people)


Spanish is a member of the Indo-European family of languages ​​and belongs to the Romance group. This language has quite a lot in common with the Portuguese language. Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages ​​on our planet; it has been given the status of an official language in more than 20 countries of the world; Moreover, Spanish is considered official in almost every state of Latin America, excluding Brazil, Belize and so on. It is also known that a huge number of people whose native language is Spanish have moved to the United States of America. This is why Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the American Southwest. Additionally, Spanish is one of the six official languages ​​of the United Nations (along with English, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and French).

1. Mandarin (845 million people)


Essentially, it is Mandarin Chinese, although many people who do not know the nuances call this dialect Mandarin. In fact, it is just one of many dialects of the Chinese language, which also includes Cantonese and other dialects belonging to the so-called Sino-Tibetan family. Mandarin is the most widely spoken dialect in China. being at the same time the official language of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. It is also one of the four official languages ​​of Singapore (except English, Malay and Tamil). Large influxes of immigrants from China and Taiwan have resulted in Mandarin being spoken by many people in the United States and Europe. At the same time, the Mandarin dialect uses two writing systems - traditional Chinese and the so-called simplified Chinese.

The most popular languages ​​in the world are used for communications in the field of trade, political relations, and the study of history. English predominates due to its geographical distribution in the world. In Asia, many communications take place in Arabic and Chinese. The CIS countries have a huge number of Slavic peoples who have common roots in the Russian dialect.

Why do you need to study foreign speech?

The most popular foreign language in the world, as already mentioned, is English. No type of international negotiation goes unnoticed by Western countries. Therefore, documents and agreements between participants are completed in this language. Leading companies are also trying to maintain common ones. After all, it will be easier to establish connections in business, culture, and political relations using common language.

English is the most popular language in the world, which millions of people continue to learn. It's easy to understand and quick to learn. The choice of direction for studying a dialect depends on the following conditions:

  • Territorial neighborhood with countries. Thus, those living in Vladivostok or Chita most often study Japanese or Chinese. By the way, after increasing your level of language knowledge, you can grow in position.
  • Your own preferences. They learn languages ​​because they like them. French is often chosen to improve erudition.
  • Traveling requires a universal method of communication. After all, it is impossible to immediately master several languages ​​when you want to visit several places at the same time. Thus, difficulties arise without English if you first go to Brazil and end your adventure in Hong Kong.

What to choose for communication

No one is left in any doubt as to why English is the most popular language in the world. Almost all continents are familiar with it, and in most countries it is included in the basic curriculum.

And for your own direction, just choose one of the 10 most popular languages ​​in the world:

  • For America and European countries: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese.
  • For the territory of the former USSR and the CIS: Russian.
  • We will separate oriental languages ​​into a separate group: Japanese, Chinese.
  • For Hindi, Arabic.

The process of learning a foreign language should be based on a person’s personal motivation. It will be impossible to force yourself, everything will turn into torture. Therefore, you should choose the direction in which positive emotions are revealed. For some, it is more native and interesting to explore European countries, while others will choose the rare Bengali dialect spoken in Bangladesh, or Javanese - from Indonesian

Europe

The most popular languages ​​in the world come from regions with developed economies. English or modified American language already permeates the life of the entire globe. Russia is no exception - a third of its population has already learned and communicates fluently in this language.

German is required for technical specialists. Germany is one of the advanced countries with developed engineering. Career advancement is guaranteed for employees who are fluent in this language. Its popularity, however, is gradually declining - it is being replaced by English.

French is a beautiful language. It is preferred by aristocrats, musicians, and artists. Politicians choose him to establish connections in the country's numerous colonies. It has not received the widest distribution.

The Russian language is used everywhere in both Asia and Europe. Official data on the number of native speakers is much smaller. In reality, the dialect is used by the CIS countries and those formerly part of the USSR.

East

What is the most popular language in the world, in countries with a billion people? China is the most populated territory in the world. Its economy still remains growing, given the fact that it is already ahead of leading countries. Perhaps in the future, Mandarin (the official language of China) will begin to predominate throughout the continent.

In terms of the number of speakers, Chinese surpasses other languages ​​in the world. A billion people officially communicate in Mandarin. Second place is occupied by English - 500 million people, but it is in the lead mainly due to its dispersion across the globe.

Japanese and Korean are not the most common languages, but they are often chosen by businessmen due to the close economic ties between the countries. Languages ​​are difficult to learn, the semantic load varies depending on the sound tone.

Asia

The most popular languages ​​in the world in southern directions are Arabic and Indian (Hindi). The first has been known for a thousand years from the famous book Koran. The second one is familiar from Bollywood films. An offshoot of Hindi is officially recognized; other dialects are used throughout Hindustan.

Arabic is required due to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and also serves as a tool for studying the peoples of the East. Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Kuwait speak this language. In Asian countries, the total number of which reaches 60, Arabic-speaking people predominate in population.

North America

The most popular languages ​​in the world have undergone changes due to the migration of the indigenous population of England and Spain. The American analogue of the language is very similar to the native dialect and is widely spoken. Most people prefer to use the Western dialect due to the US military presence on many continents.

In Canada, the local population actively uses French. You can even often meet random passers-by responding to the well-known greeting “bonjour”. The United States of America actively participates in the United Nations, which officially uses the following languages:

  • English;
  • Chinese;
  • French;
  • Russian;
  • Arab;
  • Spanish.

Latin America

Spanish and Portuguese are interesting as the most popular languages ​​in the world to learn. They are widespread on the Southern and Northern continents.

There are about 700 million native Spanish speakers. It is the official language of many South American countries, and North America is home to a huge number of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Native Americans have to interact with them almost every day. Therefore, the dialect takes second place after English.

Portuguese is the dominant language in Brazil. The country’s role as a raw materials and economic partner is growing in the world. The prevalence of the language is also gaining momentum - there are now more than 200 million speakers of this dialect.

English is still the undoubted leader among all languages ​​of the world.

Gradually, everyone who wants to develop and take a more significant place in life comes to understand the need to learn a foreign language.