The most common languages in the world. The most widely spoken language in the world. The most difficult languages in the world The most popular languages in the world by prevalence
As the world becomes more connected economically and socially, the ability to communicate and understand each other has never been more important than it is today. Whether you travel, do business or study, learning another language is a must. The article presents a list of the ten most important languages that will definitely come in handy in life.
Experts advise starting to learn the language that you like or that is extremely necessary, since the most important link in mastering a new means of communication is motivation, which forces a person to study tirelessly. If you still find it difficult to make a choice, you can refer to this list.
Languages are selected according to their global significance (degree of prevalence, influence in the field of politics and economics), ease of learning and usefulness for a particular person (for example, when traveling or getting a job).
10. Portuguese
Compared to Spanish, Portuguese has a separate, distinct history, including influences from Latin and Celtic. This language is more difficult to learn than Spanish. More than 230,000,000 speakers of Portuguese consider it their first language of communication. In fact, it is the official language in ten countries. It is spoken in places as far away as Angola in Africa and East Timor in the Pacific.
9. Russian
With over 250,000,000 native speakers, Russian is the most widely spoken language geographically. Using the Cyrillic alphabet may seem a little intimidating at first, but once you become familiar with it, you will realize that it provides a good basis for understanding Slavic languages such as Ukrainian, Serbian and Bulgarian. Apart from its importance in the business world, this international communication tool boasts the largest collection of scientific and technical literature in the world, making it extremely practical for those with a thirst for knowledge.
8. Japanese
The Japanese language is important to understand. When you travel in Japan, you may be surprised to find that few road signs are written in English, and most of the population does not speak English at all. Over 120,000,000 people speak Japanese, and some consider it the most difficult language in the world. It has three intricate writing systems, levels of formality, and a structural grammar that many may find puzzling. However, those who study it find it quite funny.
7. Hindi
Along with English, Hindi is the official language of the Indian government. It is a truly rich language that has expanded its vocabulary from Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Turkish and English. Although most people associate it with India, it is also the official means of communication of Fiji, as well as a regional language in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Mauritius.
6. Arabic
Arabic is an official language in 26 countries and has approximately 422,000,000 local and non-local speakers. It has become extremely important in the energy and security sectors, especially in Middle Eastern cities such as Dubai, UAE, Doha and Qatar. However, it contains various dialects (for example, there are large differences between Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic) and has a complex writing style.
5. German
There are many good reasons to learn German, primarily because it is an spoken language in the EU. Communication in business is carried out in German, since Germany is the economic center of Europe. While younger generations of people in Eastern Europe were more likely to learn English, those who grew up under the Iron Curtain were more likely to learn German. Although it has a more complex grammar compared to English, it is more logical.
4. French
After World War II, French became a European language. It was extremely necessary for business and tourism. Today there are 110,000,000 of its speakers. In addition, 190,000,000 people speak it as a second language.
Americans who want to speak French with native speakers should visit Quebec and New Brunswick. Residents of these Canadian provinces use it as their main means of communication.
3. Spanish
About 470,000,000 people speak it as their first language, in addition to 100,000,000 people who speak it as their second language. It is the official means of communication for 20 countries. Primarily, it is distributed in South America and the Caribbean. Of course, it is also a much-needed language for Americans, who are learning it due to the growing number of Latinos in Florida, Texas and the Southwest. It should be noted that it is very easy to learn.
2. Chinese
China is set to overtake the United States as the world's largest economy. Thus, the most widespread communication tool in the world (about 955,000,000 speakers) has acquired great importance. It is an extremely complex language at first: changing the tone can change the meaning of a sentence. The grammar system is relatively simple, although writing Chinese letters is notoriously difficult.
1. English
More than 400,000,000 people speak English as their first language, and another 1.1 billion speak it as a foreign language. Simply put, it is impossible to travel or conduct business internationally without knowing this medium of communication.
A good career is unthinkable without knowledge of English. In fact, commercial pilots are required to speak it, and most diplomatic positions require it as well. Difficult spelling rules and specific grammar can be a big challenge, but once you've mastered it, it's great.
Most popular languages
Among the languages, we can highlight those that are the most popular, judging by the number of speakers of these languages. So, in first place is the Chinese language. It is native to almost a billion and a quarter people; in addition, Chinese is the official language in Singapore, China, Malaysia and Taiwan.Three hundred and twenty-nine million people speak Spanish as their native language. In third place is English. He lost only one million to the Spanish. Two hundred and twenty-one million people speak Arabic as their native language. Fifth position in the ranking is occupied by Hindi, which is spoken in Fiji and India - approximately one hundred eighty-two million.
Bengali is the sixth most spoken language. He is dear to one hundred and eighty-one million people. The official language of ten countries, where one hundred and seventy-eight million people live, is Portuguese.
The Russian language ranks eighth in popularity. Among the Slavic ones it is the most common. One hundred and forty-four million people consider him family. One hundred and twenty-five million people speak Japanese as their native language. The list is completed by the German language, located in tenth position. He is native to one hundred and ten million.
How much is the Russian language in demand?
One hundred and forty-four million people on earth consider Russian to be their native language. It is official not only in Russia, but also in Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, several communes of Romania and in the American state of New York.It is known that interest in a language and the need to study it depend not only on the territorial factor, but also on trade relations. Despite the fact that Russian occupies only the eighth position in popularity, interest in it in the world has recently been growing. It is studied in many countries.
For several years in a row, Russia has been participating in the Paris Forum of Linguists, where there is always increased attention to the Russian language. It is this forum that establishes a certain “popularity index” of languages.
How far has the Chinese language spread?
The leader in prevalence is the Chinese language; it is also one of the oldest on the planet. It is the official language of four countries, but it remains the mother tongue of millions of Chinese living around the world, where many cities have large Chinese communities. Chinese dialects are spoken by about a fifth of the world's population. 
In the American state of New York, there is an amendment to the electoral legislation according to which in those cities where the number of residents exceeds a million, all documents relating to the election process are printed, including in Chinese, and in its three dialects.
The most ancient writing also originated in China. It is known that this hieroglyph is used along with its own alphabet, also by the Republic of Korea and Japan.
As the world's trade relations with China are constantly expanding, learning Chinese has become a necessity in many countries. The number of people studying Chinese abroad has grown particularly rapidly since the early 2000s. Learning Chinese has become a fashionable trend, and the so-called “Chinese language fever” has begun in a number of countries.
China's influence on the world stage has increased significantly, which is why knowledge of the Chinese language is a factor for a successful career for many.
There is a non-profit public organization called Confucius Institutes and Classes, created to spread Chinese culture and study the Chinese language. More than three hundred and fifty such institutes have already been created in one hundred and fifteen countries of the world.
The most widely spoken language in the world
English has been the language of international communication for many years. Often its knowledge is necessary for career growth. It is prestigious to study it; therefore, courses and schools for learning English are opened in every country. According to sociologists, English is a necessity of civilization, and not just a skill. 
English today is the most common language of communication between representatives of many countries. In the world, approximately one and a half billion people know this language and can speak it fluently. It is important in culture, in politics, and in trade relations.
As one of the official languages of the UN, English is also widely used in computer technology. More than eighty percent of information of various kinds is stored and transmitted in English. About half of all world literature is written on it.
Every year the number of people learning English is growing, as they understand how important it is to master the world’s universal language of communication. The spread of the English language in the world is also facilitated by its linguistic characteristics - high linguistic capacity with fairly simple rules. A remarkable fact, according to the site, is that the longest word in the world is in the English language.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen
Did you know that the world's most popular language is spoken by 1/7 of the world's population? And this is not English at all! There are more than 7,000 languages in the world, but 10 of them are the most popular. Is there Russian in this top ten? The answer is under the cut...
No. 10 French - 150 million speakers
French is spoken in 53 countries around the world, the main one being France. About 150 million speakers in the world. French is the official language of many international organizations: the European Union, the International Olympic Committee, the UN, etc.
No. 9. Indonesian language - 200 million speakers
Indonesian is spoken in 16 countries, including Indonesia, and has working language status in East Timor. Indonesia is an island state with more than 13 thousand islands.
The Indonesian language evolved from Malay in the 20th century and is the most widely spoken dialect of the Malay language.
No. 8. Portuguese language - 240 million speakers
Portuguese is spoken in 12 countries around the world. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil.
In the 12th century, Portugal became independent from Spain and expanded its possessions around the world thanks to seafarers. Having founded colonies in Brazil, Angola, Macau, Mozambique, Venezuela and other countries, the Portuguese made their language one of the most common languages in the world. Portuguese is one of the official languages of the European Union and other international organizations.
No. 7. Bengali language - 250 million speakers
Bengali is spoken in Bangladesh and some states in India. For Bangladesh, Bengali is the official language, and for India it is the second most popular language.
No. 6. Russian - 260 million speakers
Russian is spoken in 17 countries around the world. Russian is the official language of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Widely distributed in Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia. To a lesser extent in countries that were part of the Soviet Union.
Russian is one of the six official languages of the UN, the most widely spoken language in Europe and the most widely spoken Slavic language in the world.
No. 5. Arabic - 267 million speakers
Arabic is spoken in 58 countries around the world. The largest number of Arabic speakers is concentrated in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.
The Arabic language is also spreading around the world thanks to the main book of Muslims - the Koran. Arabic became the sixth official language of the UN in 1974.
No. 4. Spanish - 427 million native speakers
Spanish is spoken in 31 countries around the world. The Spanish language originated in Spain in the Middle Ages and spread throughout the world during the Great Geographical Discoveries. Spanish is the official language of international organizations: the UN, the European Union, the Union of South American Nations, etc.
No. 3. Hindi - 490 million speakers
Hindi is spoken in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Many predict that Hindi will soon become the most spoken language in the world, overtaking China, but when or if this will happen remains unknown.
No. 2. English language - 600 million native speakers
English is the most widely spoken language in the world in terms of the number of countries it covers - 106 countries. English is the official and main language in Great Britain. Countries such as India, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and the Philippines use English as their official language, but in addition to it they also have their own official languages.
No. 1. Chinese language - 1.3 billion speakers
Chinese is the official language of the People's Republic of China, Taiwan and Singapore. It is spoken by over 1.3 billion people around the world and therefore ranks first on the list of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
Chinese is considered the most difficult language in the world. Chinese is one of the six official languages of the UN.
Proficiency in a foreign language in the modern world is a kind of door to additional opportunities. This applies to both career growth and personal development. For most companies, knowledge of one foreign language is the norm, and only knowledge of two or three is an advantage. Before you start filling in the gaps in the “foreign languages” column, you need to understand which languages are the most common, and which ones will be relevant.
Data on the number of languages in the world varies, but most figures hover around the 7,000 mark. Despite this diversity, only a small number are of global importance and are used officially.
80% of the planet's inhabitants speak only 80 languages, the rest, according to scientists, are endangered or rare. The United Nations considers only Arabic, English, Chinese, Russian and Spanish to be official languages.
It’s not news to anyone that English has been considered the most popular language of communication internationally for many years. It is called the language of business: most large companies, conferences and seminars are conducted using it. However, this fact does not make it the most common. What is the reason for the popularity of some languages and the disappearance of others?
The spread of a language depends on a number of factors:
- demographic situation in the country;
- military conflicts;
- geographical features of the territories.
What indicators are used to calculate?
First of all, the number of people for whom the language under study is their native language is taken into account. In addition, those who speak the language are also considered foreign. If we take into account only the first criterion, then the Chinese language is considered the undisputed leader here, and if we take into account the number of speakers, then the championship goes to the English language. To find out which languages are the most common in the world, it is necessary to group the data of two criteria.
10th place – French. Today you can hear French spoken in 53 countries around the world. For more than six centuries, French had official status in England. Number of carriers: 150 million.
9th place – Indonesian language. Indonesia is the largest island nation in the world. Such geographical diversity has led to the development of various languages (about 700 of them are recorded in Indonesia) and dialects, but the official one is Indonesian. It is the most popular dialect of the Malaysian language. Approximately 200 million carriers.
8th place – Portuguese. Due to similarities in pronunciation, Portuguese is often confused with Spanish, or considered to have Spanish roots. But this is wrong. Portuguese appeared back in 218 BC, when the Romans came to the Iberian Peninsula.
After that, he and the Portuguese colonists spread throughout Brazil, Mozambique, Venezuela and other countries. The number of people who speak it is 240 million.
7th place – Bengali. The language is considered the main one in Bangladesh, in some Indian regions (West Bengal, Tripura and Assam). An interesting feature of the language is that in modern Bengali literature only 67% of words of Bengali origin are used, 25% are of Sanskrit, 8% of words are borrowed from Arabic, Chinese, and Turkic languages. About 250 million people communicate on it.
6th place – Russian. The most popular language in European countries, residents of 17 countries around the world use it as their main or additional language. Despite the fact that Russian is considered one of the most difficult to learn, there are 260 million native speakers.
5th place – Arabic. The number of Arabic speakers varies between 267 million people, the concentration of speakers is in Egypt and the countries of the Middle East. By the way, the Egyptian dialect of Arabic is the most widespread. Speakers of different dialects often do not understand each other.
4th place – Spanish. Conquerors, missionaries and discoverers helped spread the language, so today melodic Spanish can be heard not only in Spain, but also in some countries of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Number of carriers – 427 million.
3rd place – Hindi. It is one of the most popular languages in Nepal and Pakistan. In India, it is the second official language, it is used everywhere: from Kashmir to Maharashtra. There are 490 million native speakers. According to scientists, this number is increasing every year, and Hindi has every chance of becoming the second most popular language in the world.
2nd place – English. Every seventh inhabitant of our planet knows English or is studying it. According to the official version, about 600 million are considered carriers, unofficially - more than a billion. English is used every day for communication, negotiations and study.
1st place – Chinese. Official language of Singapore, Taiwan, China. A unique feature of the language is its tonality: the same vowel can be pronounced in 5 different ways, in addition, the language lacks any punctuation. The number of carriers is more than 1.3 billion.
What languages do you speak?
According to biblical tradition, at the beginning of centuries all people on the planet used one language. The situation changed when the inhabitants of Babylon imagined themselves to be gods and decided to build a giant tower soaring into the heavens. The Lord punished the daring apostates - the city plunged into chaos, and its inhabitants suddenly ceased to understand each other's speech.
Modern inhabitants of the Earth speak approximately 7,200 languages. The rarest of them are owned by only a few people, but the most popular are known to billions. Today on the agenda are the most common languages in the world (by number of speakers). The rating was compiled based on research conducted in 2016 by employees of SIL International, the international Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Lahnda – tenth place (by number of speakers)
The Lahnda language has about 117 million speakers. The language with an unpronounceable name, belonging to the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-European family, is native to the inhabitants of the western regions of Pakistan (Punjab) and northern India. In 1947, the split of British India into sovereign states plunged the two resulting countries into the darkness of bloody clashes between Muslims and Hindus. This caused continuous flows of refugees. About 5 million homeless people fled their homes. As a result of migration, Lahnda (or Lendi) speakers today live in the UK, Canada, USA, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.