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The Top 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World


 
The Top 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World
Written by Anna Read by 1601 Travelers
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Language is the most important tool we have !!!
It allows us to get sustenance as a child, get virtually anything we want as an adult, and grants us loads of hours of entertainment through radio, music, and TV. Here are the most important languages in the world !!!

1 ---> Mandarin

Speakers: 1 billion+

As you probably know he most widely spoken language on earth is based in China, the most populated country. Beating second place English by a 2 to 1 ratio, but don?t let that full you into thinking that Mandarin is easy to learn. Speaking Mandarin can be really tough, because each word can be pronounced in four ways, a beginner will invariably have trouble distinguishing one tone from another. But if over a billion people could do it, so can you. Try saying hello!

To say ?hello? in Mandarin, say ?Ni hao? (Nee HaOW). (?Hao? is pronounced as one syllable, but the tone requires that you let your voice drop midway, and then raise it again at the end.)

2 ---> English

Speakers: 508 Million
While English doesn?t have the most speakers, it is the official language of more countries than any other language. Its speakers hail from all around the world, including New Zealand, the U.S., Australia, England, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Canada. I would tell you more about English, but you probably feel pretty comfortable with the language already. Let?s just move on to the most popular language in the world.

3 ---> Hindustani

Speakers: 497 million

Hindustani is the primary language of India?s crowded population, and it encompasses a huge number of dialects (of which the most commonly spoken is Hindi). While many predict that the population of India will soon surpass that of China, the prominence of English in India prevents Hindustani from surpassing the most popular language in the world. If you?re interested in learning a little Hindi, there?s a very easy way: rent an Indian movie. The film industry in India is the most prolific in the world, making thousands of action/romance/musicals every year.

To say ?hello? in Hindustani, say ?Namaste? (Nah-MAH-stay).

4 ---> Spanish

Speakers: 392 million
Spanish is spoken in just about every South American and Central American country, not to mention Spain, Cuba, and the U.S. There is a particular interest in Spanish in the U.S., as many Latins immigrated to the states.

5 ---> Russian

Speakers: 277 million
Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin are among the millions of Russian speakers out there. Sure, we used to think of them as our Commie enemies. Now we think of them as our Commie friends. One of the six languages in the UN, Russian is spoken not only in the Mother Country, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the U.S.

To say ?hello? in Russian, say ?Zdravstvuite? (ZDRAST-vet-yah).


6 ---> Arabic

Speakers: 246  million
Arabic is of the world?s oldest languages, Spoken in the Middle East, with speakers found in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Furthermore, because Arabic is the language of the Koran, millions of Moslems in other countries speak Arabic as well. So many people have a working knowledge of Arabic, in fact, that in 1974 it was made the sixth official language of the United Nations.

To say ?hello? in Arabic, say ?Al salaam a?alaykum? (Ahl sah-LAHM ah ah-LAY-koom).

7 ---> Bengali

Speakers: 211  million
In Bangladesh, a country of 120+ million people, just about everybody speaks Bengali. And because Bangladesh is virtually surrounded by India (where the population is growing so fast !!!), the number of Bengali speakers in the world is much higher than most people would expect.

To say ?hello? in Bengali, say ?Ei Je? (EYE-jay).

8 ---> Portuguese

Speakers: 191 million
In the 12th Century, Portugal won its independence from Spain and expanded all over the world with the help of its famous explorers like Vasco da Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator. (Good thing Henry became a navigator . . . could you imagine if a guy named ?Prince Henry the Navigator? became a florist?) Because Portugal got in so early on the exploring game, the language established itself all over the world, especially in Brazil (where it?s the national language), Macau, Angola, Venezuela, and Mozambique.

To say ?hello? in Portuguese, say ?Bom dia? (bohn DEE-ah).

9 ---> Malay-Indonesian

Speakers: 159 million
Malay-Indonesian is spoken to your surprise in Malaysia and Indonesia. Actually, I kinda fudged the numbers on this one because there are many dialects of Malay, the most popular of which is Indonesian. But they?re all pretty much based on the same root language, which makes it the ninth most-spoken in the world.

Indonesia is a fascinating place; a nation made up of over 13,000 islands it is the sixth most populated country in the world. Malaysia borders on two of the larger parts of Indonesia (including the island of Borneo), and is mostly known for its capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

To say ?hello? in Indonesian, say ?Selamat pagi? (se-LA-maht PA-gee).

10 ---> French

Speakers: 129 million
The most romantic language in the world !!!
French is spoken in tons of countries, including Belgium, Canada, Rwanda, Cameroon, and Haiti. Oh, almost forgot France too. We?re actually very lucky that French is so popular, because without it, we might have been stuck with Dutch Toast, Dutch Fries, and Dutch kissing.

To say ?hello? in French, say ?Bonjour? (bone-JOOR).
 
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cheaphols
 
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« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2010, 06:37:00 AM »
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pretty much as expected, but i was expecting cantonese to feature as well as mandarin. i also thought that spanish, french and their derivitives would of featured higher.

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« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2010, 04:33:52 AM »
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English is the most spoken language in the world with Spanish now at number 2.  Its spoken in every country in South America but not Brazil. Every country in Central America but not Belize. Its spoken in lots of countries in the Caribbean. Spain of course and several other countries and that includes the Phillipines. Yep its right round the world.From there I have no idea in what order the next most spoken languages come but visit London and you will hear everything spoken in the street but not English very much. Evidently there are 300+ languages spoken in London.


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« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2010, 08:00:57 AM »
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English remains the most commonly used languages. And, now we are using English to talk to each other.


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« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2010, 06:48:38 PM »
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Heheh Sweet, good think i'm learning Mandarin eh?
wo hui shuo yi-dianr hanyu :) Wo xuexi hanyu zai manchester daxue :D
I'm gonna take a class in spanish next year hopefully as well, so i should speak a fairly large portion of the world's first languages then :D

jim25
 
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« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2010, 07:20:26 AM »
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I dont agree English is number 2. It is the Universal language accross the world, quite unbeliveable for such a small country

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« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2010, 03:46:31 AM »
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wow very nice post thanks for sharing


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« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2010, 10:44:10 PM »
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Very impressive. I often to places using English. Yet again the most commonly used Mandarin. Thanks for sharing this info.It 's Useful.

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« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2010, 01:46:49 AM »
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Mandarin?.... this is a real surprise. I thought English would be the most spoken language.


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« Reply #9 on: November 22, 2010, 02:29:05 AM »
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Oh i thought English is the most spoken language around the world, well i mistakenly thought it was i guess.
If we would say most spoken native language in a country, mandarin would probably be the top of all for China has the largest population of all.


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« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2011, 02:17:18 AM »
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Yup that's true! Mandarin is spoken by many people. I want to learn Hindustani ( Its also Hindi right?) before i visit India.. Its been my dream to visit the place (especially Rajasthan).. I received a letter from American airways and looking forward for my job confirmation letter too. After that i will fly to India! Hurray!!


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« Reply #11 on: May 19, 2011, 02:27:46 AM »
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Thank you very much for the great information.



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« Reply #12 on: May 20, 2011, 03:11:35 AM »
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I can'r believe Mandarin is beats English language...

I thought English is on top spot being a universal language...

Anyway nice post so informative...^_^



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« Reply #13 on: May 20, 2011, 05:20:20 AM »
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I am quite surprised about this chart :) I thought English is the most spoken language may be the difference is comming from the number of local population.  For me personaly English, Spanish and Russian are the most spoken languages, of course nothing can't beat english ;)



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« Reply #14 on: May 26, 2011, 03:40:38 AM »
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Number of speakers: 508 million

While English doesn’t have the most speakers, it is the official language of more countries than any other language. Its speakers hail from all around the world, including New Zealand, the U.S., Australia, England, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Canada. We’d tell you more about English, but you probably feel pretty comfortable with the language already. Let’s just move on to the most popular language in the world.

To say “hello” in English, say “What’s up, fre


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« Reply #15 on: August 05, 2011, 05:34:42 AM »
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Language is the most important part of communication.Bt i think english is the most spoken language all over the world.It is the most important language for communication all over the world.Thnx for sharing this post its interesting to know about all the languages.


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« Reply #16 on: August 23, 2011, 04:10:06 AM »
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Am glad that in the list i know 3 languages, english, hindustani and bengali.


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« Reply #17 on: October 17, 2011, 07:11:24 AM »
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Very informative article....clapsmiley But there is a one mistake here, actual name of the language is Hindi not hindustani....



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« Reply #18 on: December 12, 2011, 08:10:53 AM »
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I've never thought that Hindi could be 3rd.


 
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