Languages of the World
Top Ten Languages of the World by number of native speakers
Top Ten Languages spoken by more secondary speakers than native
´Lingua franca´
“Arabic is the only language apart from English and French that is used in an international “field”. It is the language of Islam and as such used in countless Koranic schools between Morocco and Indonesia”
“Chinese is a language whose speakers are noticeably disinterested in spreading its use outside their own people. It is a tenet of the language business that in order to penetrate a market you have to know its language. This may apply to most markets but China is different. Like any other people, the Chinese appreciate it if a foreigner makes the effort to learn their language, but they do not appreciate it if the foreigner succeeds. To tell the Chinese that their language is fiendlishly difficult and practically impossible to learn, cheers up their whole day.” (However, as more Chinese people travel abroad and keep their culture and language, Chinese becomes sort of fashionable for people to learn).
“Despite its huge number of native speakers, Chinese is not an internationally influential language. Its use is concentrated in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and widespread communities all over the world, especially large ones in Southeast Asia. With its continent-sized home base it seems sufficient unto itself. “
“Portuguese today means above all Brazilian. The language could hitch its wagon to the advance of Spanish in the wake of Latin American economic progress”
“The sister languages of Hindi and Urdu, like all languages in the top ten group, have increased in absolute numbers of native speakers and in the spread of their influence within India, respectively Pakistan. As local lingua francas they have an unknown but no doubt large number of secondary speakers. Hindi is also the official language (i.e. the official lingua franca) of the Union of India. Since the Dravidian-speaking south does not take to Hindi and prefers English which is also the language of the educated elite in the north, the use of English is widespread and the situation has been accepted officially by making English an “associate language”. As the language of the higher administration, of secondary and university education English is in fact at least equal to Hindi as the lingua franca of India.”
“English is the most obvious example of a language on the way up. It has survived the fall of the British Empire without even slowing down, it has now gone beyond being the language of the world’s only remaining superpower (which in the long run would be a liability), becoming the first truly world-wide lingua franca. International English has become independent of any one English-speaking country, even the USA. A Korean manufacturer in an Athens hotel meeting the Brazilian buyer of a Swiss conglomerate will not only negotiate but order dinner from his room service in English. There may not be a single native English speaker in the hotel, but all non-locals staying there communicate with each other in English – as a matter of course. From, a certain level upwards, in business, sport, politics, science and many other fields, a knowledge of English has become not a matter of prestige but of necessity. Also: the level at which this occurs is moving ever downwards.”
“French was, until a century ago, in a similar position to that occupied by English today. Nobody could pass for educated without the ability to speak French. French has suffered a decline in its world-wide influence above all when measured against English. It has more or less held its position against other major languages but against English, the situation is glum. French still has a base in many parts of Africa. It also still enjoys considerable sympathy in Latin America where common Latin roots and a certain distaste for English-speaking gringos can still be found. International English is advancing there but it is still seen more as the language of the USA rather than as a politically neutral means of international communication. In Asia French has lost virtually all its ground to English. Despite a clear downward trend relative to English, French remains the world’s second most influential language. Its prestige remains extremely high, not least thanks to the tireless efforts and the vast sums spent by the French government, but also by the pride taken in their language by practically all French people.”
“The number two position of French in the league table of the ten most influential languages is not so much endangered by the top language as by Spanish. Coming up quietly from behind it is spreading rapidly in the USA and may expand further afield yet. Latin America is no longer an economically depressing and often depressed area, no longer the backyard of the USA. With growing self-confidence, despite setbacks, Latin America will boost the value of Spanish (and with it that of its closely related Portuguese in Brazil) on the world’s linguistic marketplace.”
Source: http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm
Using History
Results:
Spanish is spoken in the whole Latin America but for Brazil, the Dutch and French Guyana, and some “territoires d’outre-mer” or islands from France in the Caribbean, as well as some British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico where English is also widely spoken. In the United States, Spanish is now the second most spoken language after English, and, ironically, the United States is the country with more Spanish speakers of the World.
Arabic is a widely spoken language for all Arab countries, from Morocco through all Northern Africa and a couple more countries in Africa till Indonesia and Pakistan and somehow even in India. French keeps widely spoken in the Maghreb countries (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia) with just as much importance as Arabic. This means that learning French could be enough for going to African countries and be understood. Nonetheless, for those people interested in resolving conflicts in the Middle East, learning Arabic is highly recommended, since people in the Arab countries perceive people learning their language as more open to their culture and hence they are more keen to reach agreements that way.
French seems to be in a decline for several reasons. First, because of English spread use nowadays, not only in the EU but around the world. Prestige has lost its chance for more practicality. Even if Latin America would prefer to study French because of similar roots, the tend all around the world is to learn English as a way to communicate all over the place in the globalized world. Secondly, despite that fact, French remains highly spoken in most all African colonies, which comprise almost half of the African countries. French is also still spoken in the Quebec part of Canada and in the Caribbean excolonies as well as in the “Nouvelle Caledonie” close to Australia (also an English speaker country). This all comes to say that French keeps being a widely international spoken language, but it is to remain or decline in study as English becomes more popular.
Chinese is the most spoken language of the World since China comprises itself more than 1/6 part of the population of the whole World. However, even if Chinese people have the tendance to keep their culture and language abroad, just as much as Spanish speakers, they seem not open to spread their language. Despite that, many people seeing China as a growing market and possible future power against the United States are starting to study Chinese just as many studied Russian during the Cold War.
Japanese seems to be fashionable in many countries all over the world. However, Japanese doesn’t seem to become a world power in the near future, and Japanese people learn English, and many are also interested in Spanish culture.
German seems to be a continental language (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) rather than a widely spoken language. Despite its up and downs, German doesn’t seem to be in a position to compete with widely spoken languages such as English, Spanish or even French. As more and more German people learn English, specially to communicate with the rest of the EU, German language seems to be condemned to stay in use in its own region.
Portuguese is in high spread since Brazil is growing as a superpower in Latin America. Despite the fact that there are more Spanish speakers, Portuguese language keeps pushing really hard in that market. And it is yet to be seen if people will start learning Portuguese around the world. For the moment, it is more spoken by native speakers.
Finally, Hindi and Bengali seem to be regional languages. The reason for which they are widely spoken is because Pakistan and India comprise altogether more than 1/6 of the World, just behind China. This is translated in a high number of speakers. However, given the fact that both India and Pakistan were British colonies until 1947 and that English is still considered an official language just as important as Hindi, it doesn’t seem very clever to learn their native language, since they are perfectly capable to communicate in English. And here there is no reason such a Arabic to resolve conflicts. So, apparently, there is no legitimate reason to study Hindi or Bengali more than to study Japanese.
So, which language do you want to learn?
